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So, the festival season is in full swing and a few photo passes for music festivals have come my way. It's my favourite time of year, but... Maybe I'm being a weenie, but carting around DSLR kit gets old very quickly when you're looking at 12-hour days, and trying to have fun in between bands. I'm trying to reduce the weight/bulk of what I have to carry as much as possible.
My usual setup is: Nikon D700, grip, 24-70 f2.8, 70-210 f4. Weight 3.1kg. Plus bits 'n' pieces like phone, tablet, and bag to carry it in, I'm looking at in excess of 5kg. I've avoided the 70-200 f2.8 for the reason that it's twice the weight and size as the f4. Completely impractical for me.
I've considered alternative systems in an effort to slim down, although I have no quibbles at all about the ergonomics, reliability, or output of the current gear and it does concern me I could end up spending a lot of money on gear that's not as rewarding to shoot. I've considered a Sony A7, which would save 500g on the body, but the lenses are the same weight/size, and I'm concerned about the suitability for gigs - I've heard about hotspot issues, the compressed raw data, etc. M43 I just don't think has the ability to deliver on very low-light conditions. Fuji maybe?
Anyway, the lightest I can get a decent D700-based kit is this: D700 body, no grip, 35mm f/1.8 DX (works well at wide apertures on FX), series E 75-150 f3.5. Total weight 1.8kg, a saving of 43%.
After all that - does anyone have any bright ideas as to how a gig-ready setup can be made lighter/smaller?
My usual setup is: Nikon D700, grip, 24-70 f2.8, 70-210 f4. Weight 3.1kg. Plus bits 'n' pieces like phone, tablet, and bag to carry it in, I'm looking at in excess of 5kg. I've avoided the 70-200 f2.8 for the reason that it's twice the weight and size as the f4. Completely impractical for me.
I've considered alternative systems in an effort to slim down, although I have no quibbles at all about the ergonomics, reliability, or output of the current gear and it does concern me I could end up spending a lot of money on gear that's not as rewarding to shoot. I've considered a Sony A7, which would save 500g on the body, but the lenses are the same weight/size, and I'm concerned about the suitability for gigs - I've heard about hotspot issues, the compressed raw data, etc. M43 I just don't think has the ability to deliver on very low-light conditions. Fuji maybe?
Anyway, the lightest I can get a decent D700-based kit is this: D700 body, no grip, 35mm f/1.8 DX (works well at wide apertures on FX), series E 75-150 f3.5. Total weight 1.8kg, a saving of 43%.
After all that - does anyone have any bright ideas as to how a gig-ready setup can be made lighter/smaller?
