My wife and I just got back from spending four days in Stockholm, Sweden. It was lovely, photogenic, and full of delicious cinnamon buns I had no intention of sharing with my camera.
After a quick round of triage and the ceremonial deletion of blurry duplicates and accidental floor shots, I’m left with about 400 photos. That averages out to 100 “potentially decent” shots per day – depending on how generous future-me will be when editing.
It’ll take a little while to sort, edit, and publish those, but in the meantime, I want to talk about the gear I brought along for the ride.
Over the past couple years, I’ve discovered a deep love for traveling light. Not spiritually (I’m still working on that), but definitely when it comes to camera gear.
So I took my usual photography backpack, laid everything out, and began subtracting. What I ended up with was:
- Panasonic Lumix G9II body (obviously)
- Panasonic G 25mm f/1.7 prime (of course)
- Panasonic Leica 15mm f/1.7 prime (sure, why not?)
- Panasonic G 42.5mm f/1.7 prime (just in case)
- Variable ND filter
- Tiny tripod that might blow over in a strong sigh.
For travel, I used my backpack, but once we hit the ground, I switched to a small sling/pouch bag. That held all the photo gear and a power bank, while the camera with my main lens rode cross-body, ready for action. I also had a wrist strap for those awkward-angle shots – or when my neck screamed for help.
Now, knowing myself as I do, I already felt like I had overpacked before we even left. Which is ironic, because I packed so little.
In the end, I used exactly one lens the entire trip: the trusty 25mm (50mm full-frame equivalent). It suits my style so well that the others basically came along for moral support.
I did break out the tripod and ND filter one evening to take a few long-exposure shots of Gamla Stan. You know, to smooth out the water and feel fancy. But honestly, I don’t love the results. Those 10 minutes felt more like a guilt-fueled obligation to justify packing the tripod and filter than actual creative inspiration.
As for the 15mm? There were precisely two moments where it would’ve been handy – but instead of swapping lenses like a proper photographer, I just shot a quick pano. Worked fine. Sometimes lazyness pays off.
Thanks to the excellent stabilization on the G9II, I also pulled off several 1-second handheld shots.
So, out of six items I packed, I really only used two. Sure, the whole setup was still light, but this exercise gave me (and now you) a better idea of how light I could go if I really had to. Spoiler: very light.