What's in my Bag: USA Road Trip (Patreon)

I will be extending my vlogging guide after I return from my 2-week US Road Trip but thought I would share some of the new slides now. On this trip I will be posting some motorcycle diaries where movies, rather than stills, is the priority (a first for me) so the choice of gear is primarily driven by this decision.

Todd (a Patron) has asked in the Q&A forum if I would share 'what will be in my camera bag'. There may be a few changes but I can now share some slides from my trial pack.

Slide 1) 4Kgs or 8.8lbs of camera gear will include my vlogging camera, four small lenses, microphones (shotgun and bluetooth wireless lapel), a bluetooth grip and an Action cam. The manager of Sony Australia has leant me his personal FDR-X3000 Sony Action Cam that features the super-steady 'Balanced Optical SteadyShot'. If this was not an option (the camera is now out of production) I would possibly have had to purchase a Go Pro - possibly the 5K version with I believe has some sort of auto levelling feature when outputting 4K movies (1K is redundant when providing the 'Steady' footage).

Slide 2) Just in the last few days I have decided to switch out the E 15mm F1.4 G for a Sigma 90mm F2.8. I already own the FE 85mm F1.8 but the Sigma is a smaller and lighter lens. This will give me the opportunity to review a new lens while travelling. The importers of Sigma in Australia don't have long-term review samples so I had to purchase the lens. One of the reasons for this decision was that I wanted something with a longer reach and also the 15mm f/1.4 in APS-C mode has a similar angle of view and depth of field as the 24mm f/2.8 lens I am taking. One this slide I have listed some of the other lightweight full-frame primes that are available that could be an option for someone travelling ultra light. Samyang make some very light full-frame AF prime lenses but I have not reviewed any of them. Another factor that could influence lens choice is filter diameter. I have lenses that use either 49mm filters or 55mm filters. My filter of choice will be ND16 filters. I would have liked FreeWell to offer magnetic quick swap filters down to these smaller sizes. I have a variable ND filter but prefer the optical quality of a fixed ND filter.

Slide 3) This shows the angle of view of the four lenses I am choosing to use. The 11mm has a 16.5mm full-frame equivalent angle of view that will be closer to 18mm if I use Active SteadyShot. The 24, 50 and 90 mm lenses will be 36, 75 and 135 if I choose to shoot in APS-C mode. If you factor in the 1.5x crop that can be achieved when using Clear Image Zoom this gives me a focal range of between 16.5 and 202.5mm. I am not in the US to capture wildlife on this trip, so I am comfortable with not having a telephoto zoom on this occasion (the Harley I am hiring will most likely scare everything away within a couple of miles anyway).

Slide 4) The entire camera kit fits into my Wotancraft Pilot 7L Messenger bag (the one I reviewed this time last year). Wotancraft have decided to become a sponsor for this motorcycle ride where we will be raising money for the charity War Child and have donated 2,500 pounds sterling to the cause (approx US $2,900). You may see the Wotancraft logo on my leathers when I start vlogging.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/freedomtodream

All of my spare clothes fit inside my motorcycle helmet and this, together with the Pilot 7L messenger bag can fit inside a 7KG Carry-on wheelie bag.

Slide 5) Shows the 7KG carry-on currently weighing in at 7.7 Kg (the bag adds 1.2 Kg) + my Pilot 10L bag which is my laptop bag will go under the seat in front of me on the plane. For most airlines this second bag is considered acceptable, but some budget domestic airlines may have an issue with this second bag (wanting to include it in the 7KG Total weight). I'll take my chances on this one as I need to pick up an internal flight from Los Angeles International (LAX) to Las Vegas. This was OK the last time I travelled to the USA in 2019 and did the same route. If an airline was to take issue withe the &KG bag being 7.7KG I would either reach in and take out a camera and lens and hang it around my neck or take out my clothes packed in a separate bag and claim this was my in-flight pillow. They would then weigh my bag as under 7KG. It's rare airlines take an issue with 7KGs being closer to 8Kgs but I have had airlines have a problem with this in the past.

Slide 6) Another option to the Wheelie bag is to pack the helmet and Pilot 7L into a foldable lightweight bag that conforms to the size restrictions of the airlines. This is the option I may need to take as there will be nowhere to store the 7KG wheelie on the Harley Davidson.

I am no stranger to long motorcycle rides. Back in the 1980s I rode with Max around the world to raise money for Save the Children and the Down Syndrome Association (you'll get to see a lot of Max when I start posting the motorcycle diaries). If you follow the link below you can see information about the current ride + links to three magazine articles I had published back in the 1980s + a link to 100 images I captured with my analog cameras.

https://www.markgaler.com/freedom-to-dream-charity-ride