I Left My Professional Glass At Home And Didn’t Miss it For A Second

After rolling around in bed for the better half of a half hour I decided to check my phone to see how long before my 4 am alarm. It was 30 min ago. Wonderful. I have been trying to pack lighter and rely less on my professional zoom lenses when I go in the mornings hiking before the suns up. Up until this trip I have been the photographer who takes EVERYTHING with him on his back and starts to complain halfway into the hike. I have known that I have this problem for a long time now but I have just pushed through every time. This morning was different. All I am allowing myself to take anymore is my Nikon Z7, a 50mm F/1.8, my Three Legged Things aluminum tripod and 1 other piece of “exotic” glass.

This means I cannot take my 24-70 F/2.8 and my 70-200 F/2.8 together anymore. Which for the last decade has been my go-to working compo along with a 16mm DX lens I am very happy to be getting rid of. I will admit I did bring my 70-200 with me in its case just on the off chance that a would encounter some wildlife on the road there. But everything else was left at home in the old bag because I am determined to not over pack anymore. After the first few moments on the trail had sunken in and the sun began to tint the sky around me I felt something I had not felt in a very long time with my photography. I was having fun.

This isn't to say that I don’t genuinely enjoy what I do but I was no longer spending time planning on how to get all my gear out, set up, and ready before the moment was gone. Finally, I was not that guy ripping his bag open and setting out 10 different pieces of gear just to capture 1 shot. The 50mm was beautifully flexible for walking around. I found it to be incredibly lightweight and sharp in all scenarios. Having the fast aperture meant that I was never needing a tripod, which I absolutely love. The other piece of glass I choose to bring was my brand new Irix 15mm F/2.4 and it also performed beautifully. The only issue I had this trip was that the 15mm felt very wide for what I was actually looking to capture. Had it been a 20 or 24mm I think I would have enjoyed using it just a bit more. But that was more just an issue with the area I was in rather than the lens itself.

I would really like to find a more lightweight tripod. I will need to weight mine out and see what it comes in at because I may be approaching the limit of what I can afford to lose. One thing I don’t want to avoid is introducing a burden because I have limited or cheaped myself on something. I will soon be adding a 200-500mm F/5.6 to my collection in order to round out my wildlife kit. That will be the heaviest lens I own but I do not plan on carrying it around everywhere with me. Maybe I will end up getting a 24mm prime for the Z mount with it comes out later in the year or next year. I could see my standard kit being 50mm, 24mm, and 200-500mm. It would leave a hole right in the idea portrait focal length which is something I do not usually need while hiking. Whatever I end up doing if you are in the same boat I highly advise you looking at a minimalist set up. I promise you will not miss your old kit one bit!