First of all, I like flying, I just don’t like the process we have to go through to do it these days. This led me to an early decision I wanted to travel light for our recent vacation/business trip — no Nikon D700 with multiple lens, no Apple MacBook Pro and all with a bag small enough I could place it under the seat in front of me instead of fighting for overhead storage space as with a full size carry-on.
I ended up using an Olympus E-P2 4/3’s camera (with two lens) as my main camera with my Canon S90 as a back-up along with an Apple iPad. This and all the battery chargers, cables, etc. were carried with room to spare in a Think Tank Retrospective 10 bag. This Retrospective 10 also had handy zipped pockets to carry boarding passes and passports. There were moments I missed the D700 for its superior low light/tonal range performance and found some compromises with the iPad, but I don’t feel I gave up too much for the type of trip and photography I was doing.
So if anyone’s interested, here’s the basic workflow and applications I used during the trip:
Photography:
My iPad-1 is a 32Gb version which normally has 25-27Gb of free storage (no music or movies loaded.) Using the Apple Camera Connection Kit, SD Card connector, I was able to back up each days photos onto my iPad. I was shooting RAW with both cameras, 12.1MB and 10MB files, and took approximately 1,000 photos. There was sufficient space on the iPad to save copies of all the RAW file photos to the iPad. I also had enough SD card capacity to retain the original RAW files on the cards, this gave me two copies of all my photos.
Working with most RAW files on the iPad is painless these days. There were two main applications I used to prepare photographs for uploading to this bog — “PhotoRaw” to convert RAW files to JPGs and “Photogene for iPad” for post processing and resizing. Photogene also supports various RAW files. I had no trouble with either the Olympus or the Canon RAW file formats.
Blogging:
To create and post entries to this blog I use the “Blogsy for iPad” application. This was probably an area I was most worried about but the experience was positive. If you’re looking for a complete WYSIWYG blog client for the iPad…as far as I know it doesn’t exist. But for creating normal blog posts with photos, Blogsy does a good job. I liked how easy posting photos are with Blogsy. From within Blogsy, you can select your photos from the iPad photo library (already post-processed using Photogene,) upload them to your blog site and then place them within you post positioning them left, center or right. Blogsy takes care of the links and html code. And for the more advanced, with just a little knowledge of html code you can customize the way the images display. I did four posts using Blogsy while on the trip…it’s very doable.
Email, Remote Access, etc:
My home email was checked using the standard iPad email application. I also checked my work email once using web-based email access and I was even able to check on the server status at work once via remote desktop using the Mocha RDP Lite application for iPad. Note: Mocha claims Windows 200x Servers are not supported but it worked fine for me with a server running 2008 SBS. I also had the Fast FTP Client loaded on my iPad but never needed to use it.
So what couldn’t I do on the iPad that I could have on the MacBook Pro?
I didn’t find anything for this trip I couldn’t do with the iPad. It was more about how easily you could do it and how convenient it was. I’m sure I could have done more and better post-processing of photos on the MacBook Pro and it would have been more convenient with a standard keyboard and software to post blog articles. However, to me, those little inconveniences were offset by the convenience of not have to carry a full size laptop on the trip. Even if I took my D700 camera I suspect I’ll still carry only a iPad on future vacations style trips.
Give some and get some — each person has to decide where the value lies but for me this “lite” setup worked well.
Have a great weekend!
Interesting how you did it. I was wondering. It looks like Photogene did a good job for you, also. I have the WordPress app on my iphone and can reply to comments, create and edit post but that’s about as far as I can go. I see there is a Photogene app for the iphone, and cheap. Oh oh!
I am toting the TTR 10 also. There is a lot of room in that puppy. I carry my D300, a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8, a Nikon 50mm f1.4 (new) and the Nikon 35mm F1.8, my kindle, my moleskin, extra battery, pixel pocket and snickers candy bar. :-) I tried the TTR 5 and liked the smallness but it seems to look more like a camera bag. Plus it does not have enough room for an ipad.
Monte, I had resigned myself that using the iPad for blogging might be so awkward I’d end up not doing any posting while on the trip but the fact that I did 4 speaks to how easy it was. I’ve tried some other photo apps but Photogene is one of my favorites…I think you’d like it.
Yeah, the TTR 10 seems to be that just about right size and doesn’t look so much like a camera bag. The iPad will fit snuggly in an inside pocket on the TTR 10. I also love the feel of the bag…that heavy canvas texture…retro for sure. :-)
This is very interesting. I have some questions:
1. Did you use the Canon at all and, if so, why?
2. Did you also to carry chargers for the various devices and a converter?
The reason I ask is that I don’t have a reliable back-up camera to my Nikon and wonder if it’s worth the investment for the little use it would get.
Hi Ken,
1) Yes, I did use the Canon on several occasions. I used it one evening in Bucharest when my wives business group and I walked downtown to dinner, and I didn’t want to be the obtrusive member with a camera around my neck. I also used it exclusively the rainy day in Amsterdam when there were heavy showers much of the day — I had a rain repellant jacket with me that I could slip the S90 in the pocket of. Of the 233 photo I posted in the gallery collection for this trip about 70 of them were taken with the Canon S90 — actually the photo with this post is from the Canon.
2) Yes, I carried all chargers, an extra Olympus battery, extra SD cards, and two universal travel plug adaptors with me in the bag. Almost all electronic device chargers are 110/220v so a voltage converter was not required — they work perfectly on 220V.
The Canon S90/S95 is a very convenient second camera for me because of it’s small pocket size, and it also happens to take excellent photos. It uses the same sensor as the Canon G12 except in a smaller package. I chose it for it’s size and also because it will shoot RAW.
You might be surprised how much you would use it.
A fine interior shot with excellent detail and color. I found your work flow description very good and useful. I use my iPad constantly and find that if I leave it at home, I always wish I had it with me. Something comes up repeatedly that makes it useful. Nice post.
Don, thanks. It’s amazing how much you can actually do on the iPad. There seems to be an application for almost everything these days.
Sounds complicated, but I’m sure I will need to do the same thing when I start to travel more. So I appreciate the rundown. Interesting photo.
David, I probably made it sound more complicated then it actually is — in practice it’s not. For me, traveling light made the trip more pleasant.
I guess I’m old school, I try to keep it simple. I am flying back to NY for about a month or so and then driving back to Florida, so it will be my Iphone, laptop, and NikonD90 with my trusty 18-135mm and of course all the batteries, cards and chargers.
Well Don, I was probably traveling as simple as you…or at least smaller. What you mentioned wouldn’t fit in the TTR 10 bag that I had everything in. I just happened to have an additional P&S camera along…the S90. My normal pack would be closer to what you will be carrying. Have a good trip and visit to NY. Try and get out before the first NY winter storm! ;-)
I lived in Germany for just over three years (courtesy of the U.S. Army) and fell in love with the place. The photo you’ve posted reminds me of a gasthous we used to frequent back in the late 70s. Those were the days…
John, around that same time frame, 1977-79, I was living in southern Italy, courtesy of the U.S. Air Force. I made a couple of trips to Germany and Austria during that tour of duty and enjoyed Germany very much. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I look forward to exploring you site and photos.
Frame within a frame, excellent Earl! It’s actually more like a diptych!
Also thanks for the gear review in actual world travel situations. I’m looking to pick up a MacBook Air here very soon.
Nik, my wife has an earlier MacBook Air and loves it. My next laptop with probably be an Air as well. Thanks!
Earl
Sounds a lot like my experience with the same gear over the last year. I don’t post as much as you and have moved some of it over to posterous which has it’s own app for posting but it all is well worth the lighter travel. Unless it is a job I don’t really need to pack the full kit and I have found that a lot of the stories I shoot work fine with your list of equipment as well.
Good post and insight.
Hi Ray, yeah, it’s a mental adjustment traveling light but this recent trip for me was also an enlightening experience demonstrating just how doable traveling light is these days. It certainly changed the way I’ll look at what to pack for trips in the future. Thanks!
Earl
I am working on a website right now for some folks who are taking the travel light to an extreme. Best part is they are my age, I’ll send the link when I get it up and running. Really interesting stuff and way of thinking.
Ray, that would be great, thanks! Always happy to learn from the experience of someone else. I look forward to it.