Spec me some travel gear

[Jase]

I'm planning a few overseas trips in the next 6 months and I really need to be thinking about getting some appropriate gear. Mainly I need the following:

1) Tripod

I presently use a fairly big tripod with an Arca Swiss ball head but this is going to be far to big to travel with. I want something that is lightweight yet strong, not too bothered about price but if it's expensive then I want it to be justified.

2) A backpack/bag

I presently use a Tamrac Expedition 7 which is a little to big to travel with as carry on bags. I'm still deciding on gear that I will take but as most will be landscape'ish I'm thinking D800, 14-24mm, 24-70mm and a 70-200 with a 2x converter. I may have to change this I guess subject to weight.

So what do you recommend for the above? also what other bits should I be thinking of getting?? The trip I'm most looking forward to will be Iceland in March next year but still in the planning stage for that one.

 

[Jase]

I like the Redged carbon tripod, not sure about back pack...I only take a body and 1 lens, no bag, but Thinktank make nice stuff.

Cheers, I'll look into that. I actually have a ThinkTank Retrospective 10 as an everyday bag, that's actually a good idea for the short European trips but I want something more rugged for the Iceland trip etc.

 

[Jase]

Just looking at the Thinktank Airport backpacks, they look ideal

 

[Jase]

I have the Thinktank international V2, basically the biggest wheelie case you can get as carry on. Great bag for getting as much gear as you can as hand luggage. The wheels are 100x better than the Pelicase that i have.

I had no idea you could get so much stuff into a carry on allowance, very good news

 

[Jase]

Fstop guru and a fstop satori! bring two backpacks IMO. the fstop guru for day walks around the city/area and a satori for your main backpack.

Wouldnt bother with a roller unless you are staring in one place and in a nice hotel. backpacks offer more flexibility in moving around.

There is a reason why people who travel various places do so in a backpack

Those fstops backpacks look really nice but the satori would be far too big for what I need. I agree with the roller bags, I don't want one of those although I will be staying in hotels etc. For the city breaks I'll probably put my Thinktank Reto in with my hold luggage for days walks.

 

[Jase]

An aluminium Manfrotto Befree Travel tripod may do the trick as it is only 1.4kg and folds down to 40cm so fits hand luggage, and comes with a slimline QR ball head. Maximum payload is only 4kg though, not sure how much your heaviest combo weighs in at.

A friend has ordered one of these yesterday so I hope to try it this week, if I like it I'll probably pick up the Carbon version though.