What gear to bring for London?

johnf3f said:
bluemoon said:
I realize this is a photography forum, but I expected more entrepreneurial answers from the pro togs that work for themselves. . .

The important point hers is that this is a BUSINESS opportunity and should be treated as such. Bring ALL your gear you might need for absolutely anything that might come up. Pay the extra money to get it on the plane (think of it as an investment) and bring all of it with you to the meeting (probably not on you, but hopefully in the car or something along those lines). Take care of your business the day of the meeting and keep the gear stowed away for the rest of the trip, you know, the part that is NOT business! Grab a point and shoot and go have fun with your GF. PnS or iPhone pix will do for memories. . .

pierre (the serial entrepreneur)

Ah I obviously got it wrong! Suggesting that they bring their L (Mk2) glass and a 1 series camera + add an excellent wide L zoom is amateurish? Where have I been going wrong all these years/

well, we obviously do not agree. In m opinion, bringing only one lens to a business outing is not making a lot of sense. Also, this post was not directed at you, but the overall tone of the answers which did not treat this as a business opportunity.

pierre
 
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Apart from whatever you’ll need for the (potential business) photoshoot, I would recommend your 16-35 and your 24-70. Remember a good Circ Pol and a good ND, so also a tripod and maybe an intravalometer.
Wildlife in central London is very few and far between, so unless you go to London Zoo (I used my 100-400L last year inside and got OK results), a walk through Regents park to the Zoo will yield some very friendly Squirrels and lots of Magpies and Crows, the 24-70L will cover the Squirrels.
I believe that the wider lenses will be of more use to you as a general walkabout setup unless you do street with your 35L.
I also used my Z-Pro/Grad Blue filter to make the sky pop through one of the little sliding windows up on the top of Tower Bridge. 8)
 
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Locally, if we have a cold day, that's weather. But if it is a hot day, that's climate. If you make the mistake of using cold and climate in the same sentence, social media will crucify you.

Has it been mentioned what sport the athlete competes in? And if you were to shoot her doing something active, do you know where that might be done? Indoors? Outdoors? Night time? All of that would determine the best gear to bring. From that, you can consider compromises to work out the most suitable.

Last time I was in London, I used a 17-40mm mostly with an 50mm used occasionally. I carried a 70-200, but I'm not sure if I even used it. Most of my shots were indoors or early evenings. When I go back next time, I'll probably just take some fast primes.
 
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As I read the OP's original post and ignore the rest of the thread - I get the impression that this is 95% vacation/relax/chat/girl time/whatever. I don't get the impression there is established business work going on. She says "photo mission" which I perceive to mean go walk around with a camera together and casually shoot with a purpose. However, there is a possibility that during this casual photo mission the chance to make some amazing athletic shots will occur which may improve the portfolio and impress the new friend from instagram.

So going with that perceived scenario - the OP needs to decide what she thinks will actually happen and weigh the value of the possible (but not definite?) important shoot. It seems like this is the 5% of the trip many contributors to the thread are focusing on with their posts (besides weather).

IMHO you have two choices...

1 - Take a ton of gear - everything you think will need for the 5% of your trip where you *might* get some amazing shots and improve your portfolio while impressing the instagram athlete friend.

2 - Take a light load - just what you will need to chill with your girlfriend for 95% of the trip and relax together while getting some nice snapshots during the trip and also an extra few items for the photo mission.

What part of the trip is most important to you? What is the true reason for the trip for you?

Option 1 above means a lot of extra packing, expense for an extra bag, risk of damage/loss of the gear and maybe irritating the girlfriend that just wants to chill and not endure you keeping up with a lot of heavy photo gear. (You do have insurance on all your gear, right?) It might also mean you get a lot of great shots with the athlete but there's no guarantee. Are you sure this person won't cancel? There are lots of things that can mess up a shoot in any location including your own back yard. (Weather, sickness, change of plans, really bad light, etc.) So how much is this 5% of the trip worth to you to justify all the extra effort?

Option 2 means you relax, pack a lot less stuff and enjoy your holiday with your girlfriend without a lot of worry or stuff to deal with. Depending on the type of shots, could you just take a 5D3 and 2-3 lenses and call it a day? That will still require a backpack but it's a lot less and lighter than the 1DX, etc.

The other big factor is - how far are you travelling? If this is a 2 HR DRIVE in your car, that's a LOT different, easier and less expensive than a 2 HR FLIGHT where all of that hassle and expense is involved. Because if this is a 2 hour drive, you could meet the athlete anytime with whatever gear you like just for a shoot with all the gear you want.

From your other posts, it seems like you are a seasoned traveller and are pretty experienced at dealing with all the gear. In case you're interested, one of my favorite pro photographers is Nevada Wier and she has perfected travelling over the decades and shares her tricks here... https://nevadawier.wordpress.com/ (Skim her blog for travel tips, etc.)

Let us know what you decide and then maybe you can share a pic or two with us after you've returned. Have fun!! :D
 
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Thanks for the replies everyone, I just got home from a 5 day trip in London and got some very nice shots with mainly my 5ds and 24mm 1.4 ii the 1dx and 35mm 1.4 ii both stayed in the hotel room/camera bag most of the time for the holiday part with my girlfriend, however the small shoot with the athelete I was meeting went really good as well as we did a few running pictures in Hyde park as well as a few free running shots as well both with the 5ds and 1dx, I do think I should have just left the 1DX at home though as the use to weight ratio wasn't really worth it, but in the end the thing that counts is I got some amazing pictures, got to have a nice relaxing holiday with my girlfriend, did some shopping and might have a future business opportunity with the athlete and some big sports companies!

So again thank you guys for all the input, the weather surprisingly was even was then Norway haha, we had 14-23 degrees while we were there meanwhile Norway had close to 30 degrees.

And for anyone else looking this post for advice on future london trips I'd highly recommend a 5d series body and the 24mm 1.4 prime or the 35mm prime and you'll be set for almost everything including light weight.
 
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Glad to hear your trip went well. I'm a bit late to this post, but would have also suggested to just take a 5D3 body with a 35mm or 24mm and perhaps one other lens, something longer.

I go out around London quite a lot with my 5D3, 35mm f2 IS and 100mm 2.8L IS. it's a lightweight setup that gives me plenty of options. The 100mm is great for portraits and detail shots as well as street photography from a distance. Works a treat as a macro too ;-)
 
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dilbert said:
Gear for London...

- umbrella
- boots
- water proof jacket
- water proof pants
- water proof enclosure for the camera (if you are photographing outside)

Oh, make sure your girlfriend has a big enough umbrella that you can stand under hers whilst you do your thing with the camera.

If you want to look a total dork...
 
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dilbert said:
rcarca said:
dilbert said:
Gear for London...

- umbrella
- boots
- water proof jacket
- water proof pants
- water proof enclosure for the camera (if you are photographing outside)

Oh, make sure your girlfriend has a big enough umbrella that you can stand under hers whilst you do your thing with the camera.

If you want to look a total dork...

Depends if you want to stay dry or not ... afterall, this is London that is being discussed, not Las Vegas.

You obviously have not read the comments about rainfall further up this thread! The numbers of days I actually need an umbrella in London is very few...
 
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