Testing the Nomadic Photographer Life: Korea and Japan
After some personal events in my life, I decided to post pone my nomadic journey until March 2023 to save some more money up as well as try to start up my business with some marketing in hopes of trying to get some proof of concept rather than going in blind and hoping. I may eventually end up doing that, but I’ll at least have tried before so I’ll have somewhat of a blueprint to improve my chances of success.
In light of those events happening, I decided to use this trip I had been planning for over 6 months or so to use as a “practice” for my nomadic life next year. I had packed everything I had planned to pack for my nomadic trip. I will separate the items I brought by categories. The first category is clothes which included:
Peak Design 30L Travel Backpack
Peak Design 45L Travel Backpack
8 pairs of underwear
8 shirts
4 pairs of pants
8 pairs of socks
1 Puffer Jacket
2 pairs of glasses
1 Hat
As you might be able to guess, I definitely overpacked quite a bit. This is only the start though as I need to get through two other categories. The second category is everything related to technology which includes:
Sony A7IV
Sony A7III
100-400 mm GM
55 mm 1.8
Zeiss 85 mm 1.8
35 mm 1.4
24 mm 1.4
16-35 mm GM
Camera Blower
Sensor Cleaner Swabs and Liquid
Sony ECM B10 Mic
Haida Filters
Sirui Tripod
Go Pro 10
Manfrotto Mini Tripod
Zhiyun Weebill S Gimbal
DJI Mini 3 pro
Macbook Pro
Bose Headphones
Peak Design Tech Pouch (which held my 3 Sandisk SSD, wires for chargers, sony battery charger, iphone and macbook chargers, Sony A7 batteries, my passport, dongle for my macbook, my external battery charger, memory cards).
If you didn’t think I overpacked after reading the first section, this will definitely make you reconsider that thought. I definitely overpacked, but for somewhat of a good reason. I wanted to test what I would use and what I wouldn’t use. This would allow me to see what I absolutely needed to keep/buy and what I could sell to lighten my load for the real trip as well as be more efficient as a photographer. I will discuss what I needed for my workflow and style of photography along with what I will sell/buy for the real nomadic trip.
The last category is bathroom related items which includes:
Chapstick
Mouthguard (along with mouthguard cleaner tablets)
Toothbrush and Toothpaste
3 Reels? of Floss
Contacts
I was able to fit all of this in the outer pouch of the Peak Design 30L backpack so this wasn’t too much of a problem.
This is everything I brought with me and looking back at it now, I definitely can size it down quite a bit. I initially got the 2 backpack set up idea from Roman Fox, a photographer I follow (his work is fantastic!). The main idea is you won’t have to check in your bag so you can have a clear mind of knowing your items are safe with you on the plane. This set up is definitely a fantastic idea if you’re carrying very light or settling down in one spot for a long time. Since my trip was for 5 weeks between 4 locations (Seoul and Busan in Korea, Osaka and Tokyo in Japan), it was quite annoying to carry around when moving between cities. To size this down to a point where I won’t have a broken back in two years, I can definitely take out the following items:
Bose Headphones
3 shirts
2 pairs of pants
3 pairs of socks
3 pairs of underwear
1 of the Peak Design Backpacks
35 mm 1.4
These are the items I know I can definitely take out without having any regrets. The clothes were a pretty obvious choice. I can just wash and dry my clothes at any time so I won’t have to worry about needing extras. And if I did, I would always be able to buy some in whatever location I’m would be currently at.
As for the bose headphones, I really only used them on my flight to Korea and back from Japan for the noise cancellation. Other than that, I didn’t use them. I could definitely save that space and weight even if it’s very miniscule.
Finally getting to the 100-400 mm GM, I actually did use this lens during my trip. However, I only used it a hand full times and it was just too heavy. I loved the shots I got with them, but I believe I can find another route to get similar results, which I’ll speak about later. This is the same for the Peak Design Backpack. I will discuss my alternate plan to bringing two carry ons backpacks.
As for items I’m currently debating to myself about bringing or leaving out:
DJI Mini 3 Pro
Sirui Tripod
The DJI Mini 3 Pro is absolutely great and I love using it here in the states even though I feel like it’s illegal half the time, but that’s a story for another post. This one is a bit hard to decide because a drone is such a useful tool to get unique perspective on subjects and location, but the hurdles to even use them legally in another country is just so much trouble. For example, in Japan, you have to get it registered through a website and pay a fee which was hell in itself as paying with a foreign in Japan is very tricky. For Korea, I still have no idea if drones are even permitted there.
The 35 mm 1.4 is a wonderful lens. I would 100% recommend to anyone who loves that focal length as it’s very versatile. However, because I have the 16-35 mm 2.8, I actually felt myself taking that along with my 55 mm or 85 mm for trips rather than the 35 mm. For night outs, I would bring my 24 mm 1.4 and 55 mm or 85 mm. If I ever needed a 35 mm during nights, I would just put my camera in apsc mode and get roughly around the same focal length. This thought process really made me feel the 35 mm isn’t necessary in my kit. I will definitely be using it more in the next coming months before I start the real nomadic trip to see whether I want to sell it or not.
The Sirui Tripod is a terrific tripod. It is very stable and for the price, it does wonders. However, the downside is it is a little too big for my liking. It barely fits in my backpack. I don’t like putting my tripod on the side pockets of my backpack as that just screams out “Hey, I’m a photographer and I have a bunch of gear on me”. I much prefer to lay low when going out. I will discuss what I am thinking of replacing the Sirui Tripod in the following section if I do end up not bringing it.
With many of the things that I am deciding not to bring, there are items that I realized would make my life much easier/needed during this trip. These items include:
Sony 24-105 mm
Carry On Suitcase
Peak Design Travel Tripod
Sony A7RV
During my first day in Korea, I realized I needed some type of zoom lens within the mid range focal length, especially for an area I’ve never explored before. When in a familiar place such as LA, I’m able to go around with a prime lens and I’m able to pick my shots with just that as I know exactly what I need for specific areas and what I would be able to get. However, as Korea was very new to me, I found myself changing lenses way too often. So I chose the 24-105 for that reason. I decided the 24-105 would be a better choice for me than the new 24-70 2.8 is because of two reasons. The very obvious reason is the price. The 24-105 f4 is 3 times cheaper than the 24-70 so that saves me a lot. The second reason is I would mostly be using this lens during the day time. As it is very bright, I would be stopping down to f/6.3 or f/8, I would never use this during low light situations as that’s when I would use my prime lenses. I do see myself using this lens for long exposures, but again, I would be stopping down to f/9 or so to do that.
I actually bought a carry on suitcase on my last day in Japan as I knew I would want to use it in place of one of the peak design travel backpacks. Even though I’m planning on bringing less next time, I would prefer to have the option of rolling my things in a small carry on suitcase than have to carry both backpacks. It lessens the weight on my back. It is also more spacey so I can fit my clothes and both my tripod and gimbal with excess room for other things I may end up needing to fit in. This allows me to put all my camera gear in my backpack and not have to worry about carrying too much on my back. Also, with the peak design backpacks, they have a strap where you can carry on it or in this case, put on your suitcase so I could roll everything I have without needing to carry anything on my back.
The Peak Design Tripod and the Sirui Tripod actually weigh pretty much the same. The main difference for me is the build of the tripods. The Sirui Tripod is longer which makes packing it in my backpack a bit of a pain. The Peak Design Tripod is thin and short enough to fit in the side pockets of the Peak Design Travel Backpack. This would make bringing it on trips way easier. However, it is not anywhere close to a cheap tripod so I will definitely be thinking about this and will make my decision later down the road.
The Sony A7RV really intrigues me as another hybrid camera that can shoot up to 4k60. The camera being 61 mp as well is great for cropping which would also help with my decision to possibly sell the Sony 100-400 mm.
I will definitely be making updates about this matter so until then, please enjoy the above pictures I got from Korea (my pictures of Japan will be coming in the following post). I will also be making a video and talking more about my setup as well as my potential setup so if you are interested in that, feel free to follow my IG and Twitter for updates!