For the next two months I am fortunate to be travelling to the Southern Hemisphere visiting Argentina, Uraguay, Chile, Bolivia and Colombia and that means photography, lots of it.
Going away for an extended period such as this presents its own problems, pack too much gear and you’re carrying unwanted weight for months and pack too light and you can feel you’re missing that lens or accessory when you need it. I was really torn what to bring. With the 16mmf1.4, 23mmf2, 35mmf1.4, xf50-140f2.8 and legacy glass it was going to be a tough choice, these are all fantastic tools but come with a weight and size caveate.
My chosen kit in the end is going to be the 16mm, 23mm and 50-140 plus a manfrotto spider tripod. The 16mm should serve well for architectural shots in the cities and wide vistas in places like Patagonia while the 23mm is a great everyday lens. The 50-140 is a bit of a beast but since buying it in the autumn I have loved its versatility and image quality, this will be used extensively for landscapes and I’m sure it’ll be used for the odd street shot. My biggest worry is not having packed a proper tripod, it’s an extra 2kg to carry for two months and a bulky item. There is a huge amount of light in Patagonia and I’m hoping for any sunset shots that I can push the ISO to 1200 and still produce clean images.
Whatever happens I can’t wait for the experience of seeing new things everyday for 2 months!
