Best Lightweight Camera System for Travel

Typically when I travel, I drive and tend to bring everything and the kitchen sink, but I’ve been flying more often recently and have been thinking about how to make the best lightweight camera system for travel. My criteria is simple: It has to cover 12mm-ish to 300mm on full frame. It has to have a high-resolution sensor with plenty of dynamic range and I have to like the ergonomics and how the camera functions and handles. It also has to cover subjects ranging from wildlife (occasionally), to night skies to landscapes and when on family trips, the occasional family photo.

Over the years, I’ve put together a bunch of different systems to address these needs. Most recently, I was using multiple cameras and lenses from Sony’s mirrorless lineup when I needed to travel light and bring lots of camera gear. I had a love/hate relationship with Sony. I didn’t care for the ergonomic nor the menu system and the buttons were far too small for using when wearing gloves in winter or while paddling. The lenses, especially the Zeiss Batis lenses, were great and I liked the images. I used the Sony system on many trips, including a whitewater canoe trip through the Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande River on the border of Texas and Mexico (I wrote about the gear I used in Ocean Paddler Magazine Issue #63), multiple Boundary Waters trips and several road trips. The Sony was good, but it never clicked with me.

Is the Nikon Z system the best lightweight camera system for travel?

Enter Nikon’s Z system.

I got a Nikon Z 7 and wasn’t expecting much. It was Nikon’s first attempt at a full-frame, mirrorless camera and I didn’t really care for Nikon’s last mirrorless attempt, which was the Nikon 1 system. I had a Nikon AW1. It was clunky compared to Nikon’s DSLRs. I will disclose that I’m a lifelong Nikon user. I’ve used Nikon since high school and the first cameras I ever bought were Nikon. My main cameras are Nikon D850s. You can see my equipment list here. It’s not that I’m brand loyal, but I use Nikon because Nikon is more ergonomic to me and their design choices make more sense to me from a working standpoint. If another brand would make a camera that increases my efficiency while maintaining the quality and good feels, then I’d use it.

What I dislike about the Nikon Z System

I was pleasantly surprised with the Nikon Z 7 and the more I use it, the more I like it. First, I’ll get my nitpicks out of the way:

• It doesn’t have enough buttons. I wish it had all the buttons that the D850 had. I don’t mind a slightly bigger body to make that happen. The biggest deal for me is not having a Autofocus/Manual focus switch or button on the front of the camera for the left ring finger to push when the focus mode needs changed. I’ve programmed the video button to handle this function, but the muscle memory is there from all my old cameras.
• I don’t like that the shutter release cord plugs into the side of the camera vs. the front of the camera. When combined with an L-bracket, the shutter release cord gets in the way, especially if you want to shoot a panoramic shot. To make it work, you have to slide the L-bracket out away from the camera to make a gap for the cord. This is an extra step that is annoying from a seascape shooter’s perspective. If you are shooting landscape, you can use exposure delay, but if you are timing wave hits, you really need a shutter release cord. The majority of my images are vertical so this impacts the way I work.
• The lenses aren’t standardized to one filter thread size. The 24-70 f/4 is 72mm, the 14-30 f/4 is 82mm, the 24-70 f/2.8 is 82mm, the prototype of the 70-200 f/2.8 is 77mm. These should all be standardized around 82mm, which is bigger than all the 77mm filters that I own, but it would be standardized.
• The FTZ adapter, which allows you to adapt F-mount lenses to the new Z-mount, has a foot on it that gets in the way of mounting on a tripod. With bigger heads, such as Kirk’s BH-1 or Really Right Stuff’s BH-55, the FTZ gets in the way when attempting to remove a lens. The camera has to come off the tripod in order to change a lens. It works fine with smaller heads, such as the Kirk BH-3.
• The focus system doesn’t track well nor does it keep up with a moving subject in some of the modes. It feels like a step backwards from the Nikon D850, but it is usable. The more I use it the more it makes sense and I’m getting better results now than when I first got it. I mainly practice on my kid for this. He is four and runs around more than any wildlife other than maybe a squirrel. But, unless Nikon follows through with their face/eye tracking update, don’t expect much from that mode. With Sony, I can track my kid on a bike no problem. Not so with the Nikon. I have to resort to a single point AF-C to track him on a bike or going down a slide.
• The camera should allow more options to be programmed into the “i” menu. Why focus stacking can’t be programmed there while multiple exposure can makes no sense.
• The gap between the lens and the grip isn’t big enough to fit winter gloves into. You’ll need to use the two function buttons there because there aren’t enough buttons elsewhere.
• The Depth of Field preview is a bit quirky. The liveview only stops down to f/5.6 unless you press the DOF preview button.
• The monitor isn’t bright enough at night. It doesn’t show the foreground under the night sky like a Fuji XT-3 does. Even thought it isn’t bright, I’ve been able to auto focus accurately on bright stars, which is really nice. Make sure you turn on Low Light Autofocus, which you should also have on during the blue hours before and after sunrise and sunset, respectively (Why you can’t add Low Light Autofocus to the “i” menu is beyond me. But, make sure to add it to the top of your My Menu).
• The memory card door pops open when pulling the camera out of my LowePro fanny pack or other tight camera packs such as the ones I use on my bikes.

I’m sure I could come up with other things that sort of bug me, but I’ve put together a smaller list than compared to what a list for Sony, Fuji (especially so) and Olympus would look like if I took the time to write about my experiences with each of those systems. Manufacturers haven’t perfected mirrorless cameras yet, especially when you are use to camera like the Nikon D850, which is probably the best all-around camera ever produced.

But, we’re talking the best lightweight camera system for travel and the D850 and other high-end DSLRs aren’t exactly lightweight nor small. The Nikon Z 7 is.

What I like about the Nikon Z System

So what do I like about the Nikon Z 7:

• Pretty much everything else.
• I love the viewfinder.
• The flexibility of the way you can program the buttons, the My Menu and the “i” menu.
• It feels like a Nikon.
• I like that it is small.
• The flip screen is great, although I wish it also flipped sideways so I could see it when working vertical with an L-bracket.
• I love the way you can set up the viewfinder to be for live view and the rear LCD for playback just like a DSLR. That’s so awesome.
• I love the LCD screen on top of the camera.
• I love the native S lenses. The 24-70 f/4 S packs so small, weighs little and the image quality (with distortion corrections applied (the camera does this automagically)) looks sweet. I like the 35mm f/1.8 S better than my Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art and I love the Art. The S is so much lighter, just as sharp if not more so at f/1.8 as the Art. If the 14-30 f/4 S is as good as the 24-70, it’ll be a winner.
• Did I mention that the it’s a great lightweight camera system for travel?

I could go on, but here’s a real testimonial for you. I’m thinking of selling one of my Nikon D850s and just using the Z 7 for backup. I imagine that I’ll be switching completely to the Z system at some point in the next year or so. Right now I’m selling off most of my Sony gear. There’s suppose to be a Sony FE to Nikon Z adapter with autofocus coming out soon. If the Batis lenses work on the Nikon Z using that adapter, then I’ll keep the Zeiss lenses. Otherwise, I’m saying goodbye to Sony and that includes my IR-converted Sony A7ii. I’ll switch to a IR-converted Nikon Z 6 instead.

So, what’s the best lightweight camera system for travel?

I think the Nikon Z system takes the title of best lightweight camera system for travel. My original criteria for travel was this:

• It has to cover 12mm-ish to 300mm on full frame.
• It has to have a high-resolution sensor with plenty of dynamic range.
• I have to like the ergonomics and how the camera functions and handles.
• It also has to cover subjects ranging from wildlife (occasionally), to night skies to landscapes and when on family trips, the occasional family photo.

The first point covers lens choices and we have to get there small and light. The travel kit that I’ve put together that covers 12mm to 300mm and is small and light. It will work for the occasional wildlife shot, night skies and landscapes. The Z 7 shoots high-resolutions images with lots of dynamic range. The camera feels great in the hands and functions well (see above for the things I don’t like). I discovered on a recent trip to Sanibel Island with my family that I didn’t use the Nikon Z 7 for family photos. My Google Pixel 3 was so much more convenient and it automatically shares images of my kid with my wife. So, I dropped that criteria, but it’ll work fine if it is in your list.

My current camera lenses for travel

• Venus Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D: Sweet lens for super wide landscape shots. Buy the filter holder and you can use 4×6-inch filters. I use and recommend Singh-Ray filters (you get a discount if you sign up for one of my workshops). Watch out for light leaks when using ND filters. The lens gets weird round reflections if the filter holder isn’t completely sealed during long exposures. This lens does have coma in the corners in night shots, but not enough that it bothers me.
• Nikon AF-S 20mm F/1.8G ED: Killer starbursts, killer for night skies, killer for landscapes. Everything about this lens equals killer, except you have to use the FTZ adapter. Nikon had a 20mm f/1.8 on its roadmap for the Z system in 2019. Early in 2019, the roadmap switched the 20mm and the 24mm. Now the 24mm is 2019 and the 20mm is 2020. I’m disappointed about the switch, but I hope the 20mm S will be just as good as the G. Until then this is a must have for a lightweight camera system for travel.
• Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S: When you buy the Z 7 get the kit lens. It’s really good.
• Nikon Z 35mm f/1.8 S: When walking around on streets or historic areas, I use a 35mm. This lens is light and awesome. The extra 13 ounces feels worth it to me, but if you don’t have the room skip this lens.
• Nikon AF-P 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR: At $600, this lens is a bargain. While not as small as the older 70-300s, it is sharper than it should be. The fall off from sharpness to out of focus isolates the subject well. The lens focuses quickly. Images come out sharp.
• Contax G 90mm f/2.8: I bought an adapter that allows this little gem to be used on the Nikon Z system. It’s so small, but takes great portraits. On biking trips, I’ll usually just carry this with a wide angle or the 35mm. When I was using the Sony system for biking trips, I’d carry the Zeiss Batis 25mm and the Contax G 90mm and forget everything else.

I’ll likely add the Nikon Z 14-30mm f/4 S to my kit when it comes out. The 12mm will likely stay home at that point. When I travel, I also bring a full assortment of Singh-Ray Filters, filter holders and adapters. You can see my equipment list for details.

In the next two photos, you can see my travel kit. It also includes a Sony RX100m3 as a backup (with an overkill of five extra batteries and a Gorillapod). I carry 256GB in XQD cards and three extra batteries. I throw in a Rode mic as well. There’s a shutter release cord and a nodal slider and pano rotator setup for the 35mm f/1.8 S. You don’t see the Desmond 328 carbonfiber tripod with a Kirk BH-3 ball head in the picture. That goes into my checked luggage.

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