When do you leave your camera at home?

tcole1983

I went caving yesterday and the camera stayed at home. I think it would have been an awesome time taking pictures, but there was no way physically to take the camera. Also after doing it I don't think it would have stood a chance of surviving. My wife did bring her P&S which struggled with the lighting in the cave (headlamps and flashlights) and it didn't fare without some scratches on the LCD and some dust and muck on the lens, but it was in a small case and in another small bag most of the time.

So would you bring your camera? Bring a backup one you don't care about as much? Leave them all at home and just enjoy it?

rschnaible

Sometimes you just leave it at home

PB_PM

Sometimes it is good to leave the camera at home, even when you can take photos. Why? Give yourself some time off, look at the world with your own eyes rather than through a viewfinder for a change. Doing so can help you see better the next time you look through the viewfinder.

Ade

I struggle with this question too.

The first time I went to China (Beijing), I was in assignment mode. Everyday I meticulously planned where in the city I was going to be at what time of the day, made a list of shots I needed to get at each location, noted things like the weather & sun angle in advance, memorized sunrise & sunset times to the minute, etc.

When I got home I realized I accomplished my goals -- but I didn't experience anything. I didn't enjoy it or not enjoy it. It was just photography. It was all work.

More recently I took a long trip and although I had two camera bags with me, I had to stop taking pictures. I just needed to get immersed in the journey. I passed by entire cities without taking a single picture. It's like I went from one extreme to another.

Nowadays I have my cell phone camera all the time, and I try to bring my new Coolpix when I can. But I don't always take pictures.

It's hard for me to find the balance.

Gareth

I don't leave it at home by choice.

But when my wife gets that look I know what the consequences will be.

Msmoto

If I carry a big camera, it becomes a very large part of the activity. However, I almost always have my small Olympus in my bag and it does a great job of capturing images. The drawback is the lack of convenience in that all adjustments are menu driven, as the lack of its ability to perform some technical duties.

Golf007sd

For me the key is to find the balance between enjoying the "moment" and then capturing the moment. One of the main reasons I purchased the D4 is its outstanding build quality to be able to handle and perform in extreme settings/environments. That said, one of the way I hedge against causing harm to myself and my gear, is to scout the area I intend to explore and take picture of. This provides me with a base in order to better prepare for the adventure. Thus, sometime I do not take my gear with (though it is close by) me until I know what I'm about to embark upon. It is better to be safe than not in a venue that one is not familiar with.

KnockKnock

I'd probably take one of the 1" cameras - either a cheap Nikon 1, or an RX-100, along with a little Joby so it can take long exposures. Otherwise nothing.

I took a long time off from photography because my creativity was in a rut, and I didn't like 'living' with the 3rd eye. Kind of a depressing time actually. Life and photography are strange bedfellows.

TaoTeJared

This is part of the reason why I love my X100 - DSLR IQ but much smaller. 35mm equiv lens is also a good "documentary"/street style length so it fits almost every situation. I have thought about picking up the Sony RX100 for a compact but I always pull away and want to spend the $$ on something that I need.

When that new Nikon 1 32mm f1.2 comes out, depending on the package price, I may go towards that system. If the price is really high, and I have justified it, I may just sell my x100, a few lenses I don't use and get the Sony RX1. I can easily double duty it for work as well.

Basically I want a compact body, large sensor, and be able to have 35, 50, & 85 (f2 or faster) focal ranges. If can stick in a coat pocket and maybe a lens pouch on my belt my money is there.

That said I always have a camera with me, but many times it doesn't come out. If I'm with my extended family is rarely comes out - they are all mortified when they see a camera.

tcole1983

I was actually surprised my wife took hers at all. It is a small thin camera so it was ok size wise. But really anything bigger wouldn't have worked. The cave starts by a head first crawl into a hole barely big enough to fit through followed by a 1000 ft army crawl on your stomach. At several points crawling through water and barely being able to squeeze through spaces with your back and stomach touching the floor and ceiling.

Symphotic

If I carry a big camera, it becomes a very large part of the activity.....

My feeling exactly. It used to be I could carry a Leica M4P with a 35 f/2 in my briefcase and take pictures anywhere. I bought it used and pre-dinged, so I didn't worry about scratches or dents. Now I stuff the V1 (there are very good deals on V1s now) with the pancake lens and a zoom in my briefcase, and I do use that for work when I don't need to worry about the finer points of shooting or where there is a risk of loss or damage. (Having said that, I have already destroyed one D800 on the job-I should have been using the V1 then!)

I'm thinking of following TTJs lead and getting an X100S. And I always have a camera phone, which is better than my early point and shoots.

MikeGunter

Hi all,

I have a camera most of the time, but sometimes I'd rather be the action than record the action. And in the past, I have been guilty of not carrying a camera. But not any more.

I'm old enough and experienced enough to know that all things fade, including memory.

Having a record, any record, is important to me. At some point, it will be lost to memory. Someone might like to see what happened.

I have a Micro 4/3s system, too, so I lug something around and shoot or ask someone to shoot all the time, period. It's better than any cell phone, and not a lot more difficult to nurse along.

My best,

Mike

mikep

I struggle with this question too .... It's hard for me to find the balance.

agree.

sometimes its exhausting travelling with the intention of taking pictures, and you miss out on the experience of actually being somewhere because you are constantly looking for a shot of something .. but then you do get the nice pictures afterwards ..

JJ_SO

I got a Canon G11 some years ago and still am very happy with it. Whenever I want to travel light (and there's enough light) this incredible piece is with me, also daily in my bike bag.

But I balanced the times to be with and without cam and try to enjoy as much as possible in both ways. I'm aware the moment I catch (and am busy to frame it) is a moment my attention is somewhere else, yet not completely in real life.

FlyingOko

I take my D3200 with me everywhere, without even thinking. It's fast and responsive, not too heavy, and unlike FX cameras, doesn't look 'pro', so I resemble a tourist rather than photo-reporter. Because I have my camera with me at all times, I can snatch remarkable moments as they happen. Some are newsworthy (I recently sold five photos to NBC of this event), earning me a thousand bucks, most are not - like this moment last week, when a hare charged past me as I waited at a suburban bus stop. Caving? I'd buy or rent something small and waterproof...

tcole1983

I don't leave it at home by choice.

But when my wife gets that look I know what the consequences will be.

Lol I didn't include these times. I like to just enjoy sometimes also.

Myrddin

I have a Nikon V1 precisely so that I don't have to make that choice. My choices are to take the D800 plus lenses, take the V1 with the 10-100 or take the V1 with one of the compact lenses.

For business trips where I am unlikely to see anything more than the inside of the airport, hotel and meeting room I take the V1. If there is any chance of some useful sightseeing I take the D300/D800.

At this point I have the D800 but I only have FX primes and some very elderly consumer zooms. I am off to Warsaw in a couple of weeks, trying to decide if I can buy one magic trio lens and if so, which one.

kyoshinikon

I don't. If I leave the house with just my D7000 and my 10.5mm that is the equiv of travelling light (usually I carry 3 bodies and 5 lenses on me...

Vipmediastar_JZ

I took my camera lens flash and laptop to my in-laws 3 hours away. I left it alone for our relaxing time at the lake swimming and taking a nap in the shade. Great choice. I had fun taking my daughter to the pier to look at the fish.

On Sunday I took an unexpected shoot of my cousin in law's pregnancy. Great choice not leaving it at home.

But on mondays I usually don't carry my camera or when it rains for street.

I have ordered the Fuji Xe1 with 18-55 (goodbye 24-70?) And 35 1.4 so that I dont have to leave it again on Mondays or on rainy days or when my neck hurts like today after all the driving this past weekend.

NSXTypeR

Sometimes it is good to leave the camera at home, even when you can take photos. Why? Give yourself some time off, look at the world with your own eyes rather than through a viewfinder for a change. Doing so can help you see better the next time you look through the viewfinder.

I agree- sometimes you can be too wrapped up with getting a photo and you just want to enjoy the moment.

I also leave it home if I'm going somewhere where I know a camera with the bag is going to be cumbersome- a family dinner or perhaps inappropriate- a museum maybe. Also, I leave it home when the weather is bad- yes the D7000 can take it, but the lenses probably won't.

rschnaible

Interesting insights and thoughts from everyone.....

DenverShooter

I always put the camera bags in the car...

Denver Shooter

kyoshinikon

Sometimes it is good to leave the camera at home, even when you can take photos. Why? Give yourself some time off, look at the world with your own eyes rather than through a viewfinder for a change. Doing so can help you see better the next time you look through the viewfinder.

I agree- sometimes you can be too wrapped up with getting a photo and you just want to enjoy the moment.

I also leave it home if I'm going somewhere where I know a camera with the bag is going to be cumbersome- a family dinner or perhaps inappropriate- a museum maybe. Also, I leave it home when the weather is bad- yes the D7000 can take it, but the lenses probably won't.

I live photography so oddly I cannot enjoy the moment without a "camera". Now my definition of camera varies but I literally dont do well "taking a break"... In an event my nikons might be inappropriate Ill take a speed graphlex or rangefinder or some other picture making tool...

Symphotic

I have a Nikon V1 precisely so that I don't have to make that choice. My choices are to take the D800 plus lenses, take the V1 with the 10-100 or take the V1 with one of the compact lenses.

The V1 gets a lot of use around the house and in the lab, but when I hit the road I usually take the D800 and the X100s or the X100s alone. Since business travel for me usually means photography as part of the job, the D800 goes whenever I know I have serious work. I am finding I can do a lot with the X100s, especially in "macro" mode, but I can't get the great crops from it that I can with the D800. The real question, as with Myrddin, is: what lens?

I've got my 24-70 with me on this trip to the UK, together with a compact tripod and an external microphone in case I want to take some videos. I usually take the 105 Micro as well but this time I am using the X100s in macro mode to save weight and size in my kit. Not great, but good enough. I struggled with the 24-120 vs the 24-70, but the 24-70 takes such great portraits and it is fun to take pictures of people as well as things, so I packed it this time.