FinePix X100 (23mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO250)

This years vacation was the first time since I started to travel in 1989 that I did not bring a SLR or DSLR for a trip that takes longer than 7 days. Why? Because it was the only way to find out if I would miss something by totally relying on my Fuji X100 and Sony NEX 5. Kind of real world experiment. Did I miss something? Well read on.

First I want compare the gear of this trip with the gear I took on my USA trip.

USA: Canon 5D, Canon 500D, 17-40L, 24-105L, 70-200L, 35L, 100mm Macro, 1.4TC, Sony NEX 5 with 16 and 18-55, small carbon fibre Gitzo tripod

Croatia: Fuji X100, Sony NEX 5 with 16 and 18-55, 11 inch MacbookAir

And for my USA trip I was already sensible! In my best days I took essentially everything I had. Even a 180mm Macro lens or a 300mm tele beside a 2.8/70-200VR!

What a difference! Instead of a 10kg+ Lowe Backpack I used a ThinkTank Retrospective 5  which is their smallest shoulder bag but most of the time I used an even smaller brown shoulder bag that is not a camera bag at all. To protect the display of my Fuji I used a Neopren sleeve from Samsonite which is made for small PDAs but the X100 fits in perfect and sleeve plus camera fits into the pocket of my winter coat or winter jacket. So I started to use that on my business trips instead of a camera bag.

I can tell you one thing from the start. I surely didn’t miss to lug my big backpack around for one second.