It's All in the Bag

Sometimes I over think about packing camera gear for a trip, and sometimes I don't think enough about what I should bring.  My wife and I were going for a 5 day trip to Marquette, meaning 2 of those days would be mostly traveling from Ann Arbor to Marquette and back - a minimum of 8 hours each way, and we would be visiting our daughter and her partner.  So, I packed fairly light - two film camera bags + my Nikon 1 in a small bag.  For film cameras, I chose my Nikon FE and added a Nikon EM as a backup + various lenses in one bag.  In the other, my leica M2 with the 35mm 1.4 lens and my Yashica A TLR.  At the last minute I threw on a small Yashica microtec 70 P&S.   Yes, I used all the cameras except for the backup Nikon.  I mostly shot b&w, and hope to develop the film this week.

 The lenses I chose for the Nikon reflect my typical interest -- landscapes, architecture and nature. So, I chose a 24mm 2.8, 55 mm Micro-Nikkor, 50mm 1.4, 105mm 2.5, and 35-135 Tokina zoom that I recently purchased. A selection of filters - Red, Yellow, Orange, ND4, Polarizer,  split  graduated ND filter, and one close-up diopter were all that I needed. I mostly used the Polarizer and the Orange filter.  A small flash, cable release, lens brush, extra batteries, and business cards pretty much fill the Tamrac bag.
In the second bag, The Yashica A and the Leica M2, my new Sekonic light meter, film, cable release are pretty much it.

I later added the Yashica Microtec to finish up the roll of film that was in it.

In all, I shot about 10 rolls over the course of the 5 days -- and did a lot more shooting with the Leica than I expected I would.  The Nikon 1 got a fair amount of use, as well -- and it has proven to be a reliable and quality travel camera.  What I didn't bring is just as noteworthy.  I didn't bring the Mamiya C330, nor my DSLR bag, nor the Pentax 6x7 or the F100, etc.  I kept things pretty simple, and it pays off in working better with a small amount of gear.
I'll close with a cliche sunset shot from Preque Isle, one of my favorite places to shoot in Marquette. It was taken with my Nikon 1J1 on a carbon-fiber tripod, .5 sec at f/16, ISO 100 -.3 compensation, with the 10-30mm zoom at 30mm.