During this time when actually getting out and "doing photography" has been more difficult than usual, I've been using some of the time available to consider my photographic approach and how I prepare myself to be ready when it does come time again to go out into the world. Some people say that it can be dangerous when I start thinking, but I thought I'd share a little bit about what's been running through my mind and where I've gone with it. This process has been going on for a while and has actually turned out to be pretty interesting to me. So I thought I'd share it here and ask whether any of you might have gone through something similar.

Here's a little background to start:

When I was more active as an amateur radio operator involved with storm spotting and emergency response, I maintained a two-part "Go Kit." The first part of the kit was the equipment that I needed in order to effectively complete my task that was not permanently installed in my vehicle. It included things like a couple of bottles of water, flashlight, compass, two or three pieces of reference material, binoculars, small camera, and the like. It emphatically did not include every piece of radio equipment that I owned, nor did it include a complete kit of photographic equipment. The second part was larger and included headphones, a wired microphone, subsistence meals and snacks for three days, and a change or two of clothing.

Fifteen years ago, any outing that might involve photographic activity meant that I took just about everything I owned with me. One bag with my D200 (no lens attached), all of my lenses, and extra batteries and memory, and a second bag with a couple of SB-800 flashes, extra batteries, Pentax Spotmeter, and you can probably guess what all else.

Since retiring, I've been fortunate to update and expand my collection of cameras to include a couple of full frame bodies and, added last year, a couple of DX bodies. My kit now lives in one rolling bag (between 40 and 50 liters in size) with the equipment generally used with the full frame bodies, and a Mind Shift 40L backpack with the equipment most usually used with the crop bodies. There's still that additional bag with the flash gear, spot meter, and miscellaneous other things that could go either way.

The other change since retiring is that I have gotten into the habit of rarely leaving home without a camera. It's not that I'm always going to a spot where there will be a great photographic opportunity, rather that I do want to be ready and equipped if something does arise. I've also come to like having some equipment available to investigate and try various techniques in case my wife comes up with some less than interesting stop along the way. This has provided opportunity to learn and become skillful at several new techniques over recent past months.

This means that instead of my systems resting disassembled and packaged up in the various bags and cases, they now stand ready with batteries charged and lens attached, ready to "grab and go." You can probably guess that the question is now, "Which lens on which body?" I've been through four or five combinations and configurations, some of which turned out to be either very much suboptimal or impractical, so we'll just leave them as a mystery. But there were two which seemed very practical and useful. I'll share them with you here:

Here is the next-to-last configuration:
--D850 with 24-70mm f2.8 (For really serious stuff.)
--D810 with 14-24mm f2.8 (You know. Actually used quite a bit.)
--D500 with 17-55mm f2.8 (A very high-capability combination.)
--D500 with 24-120mm f4 (This is what got picked up a big majority of the time.)

Here is the latest configuration. Been using it for about a week, but really like it so far:
--D850 with 24-70mm f2.8 (Still for really serious stuff.)
--D810 with 24-120mm f4 (Interested to see if this becomes a preferred choice.)
--D500 with 17-55mm f2.8 (This is too great a combination to mess with.)
--D500 with 18-200mm variable aperture VR (I know, I know. But this is a very flexible combination, and really not all that bad for some things.)

Obviously, taking one camera/lens combination does not provide the flexibility that taking the entire kit, so there are still those targeted outings when everything (or almost everything, or at least more than one camera and lens) goes with me.

Anyway...I'm not really looking for guidance or suggestions for myself here. For instance, yes, both the 70-200 and the 200-500 are great lenses, and they both go on serious outings, but at least the 70-200 has been part of the experiment and just didn't get selected for those casual trips. But I am truly interested wheteher you might have gone through a similar experiment and whether you were able to settle on a "slim kit" for those less formal outings. By the way, my favorite subjects tend to be landscapes and architectural (including panoramas of both), railroads, and weather. When you tell us what you carry, it would probably be helpful if you tell usu what you tend to shoot.

Let's let this be fun...maybe a small diversion to everything going on in the world outside.

During this time when actually getting out and "doing photography" has been more difficult than usual, I've been using some of the time available to consider my photographic approach and how I prepare myself to be ready when it does come time again to go out into the world. Some people say that it can be dangerous when I start thinking, but I thought I'd share a little bit about what's been running through my mind and where I've gone with it. This process has been going on for a while and has actually turned out to be pretty interesting to me. So I thought I'd share it here and ask whether any of you might have gone through something similar.

Here's a little background to start:

When I was more active as an amateur radio operator involved with storm spotting and emergency response, I maintained a two-part "Go Kit." The first part of the kit was the equipment that I needed in order to effectively complete my task that was not permanently installed in my vehicle. It included things like a couple of bottles of water, flashlight, compass, two or three pieces of reference material, binoculars, small camera, and the like. It emphatically did not include every piece of radio equipment that I owned, nor did it include a complete kit of photographic equipment. The second part was larger and included headphones, a wired microphone, subsistence meals and snacks for three days, and a change or two of clothing.

Fifteen years ago, any outing that might involve photographic activity meant that I took just about everything I owned with me. One bag with my D200 (no lens attached), all of my lenses, and extra batteries and memory, and a second bag with a couple of SB-800 flashes, extra batteries, Pentax Spotmeter, and you can probably guess what all else.

Since retiring, I've been fortunate to update and expand my collection of cameras to include a couple of full frame bodies and, added last year, a couple of DX bodies. My kit now lives in one rolling bag (between 40 and 50 liters in size) with the equipment generally used with the full frame bodies, and a Mind Shift 40L backpack with the equipment most usually used with the crop bodies. There's still that additional bag with the flash gear, spot meter, and miscellaneous other things that could go either way.

The other change since retiring is that I have gotten into the habit of rarely leaving home without a camera. It's not that I'm always going to a spot where there will be a great photographic opportunity, rather that I do want to be ready and equipped if something does arise. I've also come to like having some equipment available to investigate and try various techniques in case my wife comes up with some less than interesting stop along the way. This has provided opportunity to learn and become skillful at several new techniques over recent past months.

This means that instead of my systems resting disassembled and packaged up in the various bags and cases, they now stand ready with batteries charged and lens attached, ready to "grab and go." You can probably guess that the question is now, "Which lens on which body?" I've been through four or five combinations and configurations, some of which turned out to be either very much suboptimal or impractical, so we'll just leave them as a mystery. But there were two which seemed very practical and useful. I'll share them with you here:

Here is the next-to-last configuration:
--D850 with 24-70mm f2.8 (For really serious stuff.)
--D810 with 14-24mm f2.8 (You know. Actually used quite a bit.)
--D500 with 17-55mm f2.8 (A very high-capability combination.)
--D500 with 24-120mm f4 (This is what got picked up a big majority of the time.)

Here is the latest configuration. Been using it for about a week, but really like it so far:
--D850 with 24-70mm f2.8 (Still for really serious stuff.)
--D810 with 24-120mm f4 (Interested to see if this becomes a preferred choice.)
--D500 with 17-55mm f2.8 (This is too great a combination to mess with.)
--D500 with 18-200mm variable aperture VR (I know, I know. But this is a very flexible combination, and really not all that bad for some things.)

Obviously, taking one camera/lens combination does not provide the flexibility that taking the entire kit, so there are still those targeted outings when everything (or almost everything, or at least more than one camera and lens) goes with me.

Anyway...I'm not really looking for guidance or suggestions for myself here. For instance, yes, both the 70-200 and the 200-500 are great lenses, and they both go on serious outings, but at least the 70-200 has been part of the experiment and just didn't get selected for those casual trips. But I am truly interested wheteher you might have gone through a similar experiment and whether you were able to settle on a "slim kit" for those less formal outings. By the way, my favorite subjects tend to be landscapes and architectural (including panoramas of both), railroads, and weather. When you tell us what you carry, it would probably be helpful if you tell usu what you tend to shoot.

Let's let this be fun...maybe a small diversion to everything going on in the world outside.

My. "ready-to-go kit" is literally all I have, in a photo backpack. D7100 which usually has a Sigma 17-50 f2.8 on it, plus a Nikon 70-300 f4.5-5.6. Additionally, a 50mm f1.8D, 50mm f1.4 Ai-S, and 105mm f2.5 Ai-S. Also an old-school Sunpak 555 flash unit. For the past five years or so, I've been doing "fire photography", so I need everything. The 70-300 is great for helicopters and air tankers doing water and retardant drops or hoist rescues, whereas the 17-50 is for everything else. The only thing I am considering changing is adding either another camera body (a D7200 or, if finances allow, a D500) or adding something like Tamron's 18-400. I've missed a lot of shots because either the wrong lens was on the one body I have, or I was busy changing lenses because the situation changed. Having one body with the 17-50 and a second with the 70-300 would solve that problem. Optically a better combination than the 18-400, although I have seen excellent images from that lens.

My. "ready-to-go kit" is literally all I have, in a photo backpack. D7100 which usually has a Sigma 17-50 f2.8 on it, plus a Nikon 70-300 f4.5-5.6. Additionally, a 50mm f1.8D, 50mm f1.4 Ai-S, and 105mm f2.5 Ai-S. Also an old-school Sunpak 555 flash unit. For the past five years or so, I've been doing "fire photography", so I need everything. The 70-300 is great for helicopters and air tankers doing water and retardant drops or hoist rescues, whereas the 17-50 is for everything else. The only thing I am considering changing is adding either another camera body (a D7200 or, if finances allow, a D500) or adding something like Tamron's 18-400. I've missed a lot of shots because either the wrong lens was on the one body I have, or I was busy changing lenses because the situation changed. Having one body with the 17-50 and a second with the 70-300 would solve that problem. Optically a better combination than the 18-400, although I have seen excellent images from that lens.