gfunkdave

I have a Canon EOS 70D that I never use. When I travel, I take it with me (and some lenses) but it stays in my bag in the hotel room mostly. It's just too darn heavy. Trouble is, I really like it...I just wish it weighed a third what it does.

Should I sell it and the lenses and switch to a mirrorless? I'm leery of them, and I like the DSLR. How do people deal with carrying heavy DSLRs?

MightyTravels

I'm in the same boat as you - I take it with me but end up using my iPhone only. I still love the DSLR picture quality but it is not worth it to take on most trips.

MissJ

I have a comfy backpack for mine and I also target the times when I will carry it. It goes to major sites, but then I make a point to take it back to the hotel after a few hours. I still have my phone with me so I'm not without a camera. Before phone cameras got as good as they are now, I used to throw my little Lumix in my purse once the DSLR went back to the hotel.

txflyer77

If I'm not on a photography trip, I just put a 24mm pancake lens on my camera and bring nothing else. I have a Rebel (forget which one), so with the pancake lens it isn't much larger than a mirrorless camera.

codex57

Backpack. I typically just carry one lens now (24-70mm f2.8) unless I know I'll need the other one. Thinking of going to the Peak Design system to carry. Possibly the strap, with the Capture clip on my belt.

I can't pull the trigger on mirrorless yet. The full frame Sonys with good lenses are just as bulky and nearly as heavy as my full frame Nikon and good lens. The a6000 with kit lens is a dream in terms of size and weight, but the picture quality with the tiny kit lens is crap compared to what I'm used to. On important trips, I want the picture quality.

abmj-jr

For what it is worth, I switched all of my pro travel work to mirrorless several years ago. I kept the DSLR rig for home work for a couple of years because I just couldn't let go but eventually converted to ILC completely. My travel rig shrunk to half the bulk and less than half the weight. If I was a fashion or billboard shooter, I'd have to stay with the full-frame but I am not. For my primary work in travel, landscape and nature, I'd never go back.

If you decide to make a similar jump, be sure to do your research. All ILCs are not alike. I'd suggest looking at Fujifilm, Sony or Olympus - or maybe Panasonic if you do much video. Canon and Nikon haven't really gotten into the fight yet.


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Gardyloo

I had (have, someplace) a big Nikon F film setup (couple of bodies, several lenses) that I retired when the world went digital. I used a series of pocket-sized and bridge cameras, including a couple of earlier Lumix models, but felt I wasn't getting enough bells and whistles, so I bought a Nikon DSLR and a couple of lenses including a Tamron 16-200 (or whatever) zoom, and schlepped it around the world a couple of times. I had the same result as people are mentioning. The bulk and weight, and having to stop and change lenses if I wanted optimal performance, became such a royal PITA that the damn thing stayed in my hotel room more than around my (aching) neck. It was near impossible to deploy for grab shots, and while it had a brainless/auto setting, I didn't like the performance, especially its poor autofocus which would search and search and search in low-light situations.

So I sidelined it a couple of years ago and went back to a Lumix (FZ-1000) bridge rig, and have been very happy with the decision. It has all the features of the DSLR (at least all that mattered to me) and weighs half as much. (It also cost less than half of a comparable DSLR.) It has a big sensor, a razor sharp lens, bang-bang autofocus, and a big enough ISO range that I don't need to worry about fiddling. I'm not printing billboards, so even some slight detail loss in high-ISO/low-light situations doesn't matter if I'm shrinking 4500 px width to 1200 to post things online or make 8 x 10 prints.

Just my view, anyway.

ebuck

We all know the saying: "The best camera is the one you have with you." If you don't like schlepping the DSLR, then it's probably not the one you should be traveling with! Personally, I don't mind the weight of my DSLR. When I travel, I keep it in a small side bag that holds my camera and one extra lens. For me the quality is worth the weight. But given there are so many good quality, lightweight cameras out there, find something that you won't mind carrying wherever you go.

LtKernelPanic

I pretty much always take my DSLR (currently a Nikon D7100) with me when traveling. Sometimes it gets used extensively like last summer at the Grand Canyon and other times it has never left my camera bag. I don't travel a lot so I don't mine carrying it around for hr most part but if I was like some of the people here who are constantly on the road I can definitely see the appeal of having a smaller kit than the traditional DSLRL.

richarddd

Micro Four Thirds is very popular with many who share your issues. See https://www.dpreview.com/forums/1041 for many posts on the subject.

Cameras with 1" sensors are also popular. They tend to not have interchangeable lenses. Possibilities range from superzooms to a few with 24-70mm equivalent lenses.

abmj-jr

Yours truly for one. ;-)

cardsqc

I went with a sling style neck strap for my dslr (an 80D), and I've found that it's far more comfortable carrying around that way than with the regular neck strap. Wish I had done it a while ago. I need to find a new bag though, the one I've been using was fine with my xti, but the 80d is just a little too big for it, and based on my experience with the neck strap on the camera, makes me wonder if I should be thinking of a sling style bag for the camera.

LufthansaFlyer

I just suck it up and do it. The photos are worth the effort carrying the right bodies and lenses.

airsurfer

A simple bag in my backpack.
Canon 6d + 24-105L + Samyang 14 + extra battery + flash, just 2kg.

gfunkdave

I have a Kinesys belt with a pouch that holds the camera + lens, plus an additional lens pouch. It's actually quite comfortable to walk around with, since all the weight is on my hips, but of course then the camera is put away so I wind up wearing it around the neck strap anyway. Plus Mr. Gfunk refuses to allow me to wear it around because he says I look like an idiot.

I really like the idea of the sling strap - that's actually how I often try to use my neck strap, with limited success since it's too small. I think I'll try one.