Size Matters on Vacation

I’m fortunate enough to own 3 digital cameras at the moment. A Panasonic Lumix S5, a Leica M240 and a Fujifilm X100F.

Last month we went to Kentucky for a week and I chose to take just the Fuji. It was excellent, as I knew it would be, but I missed the Leica and the Lumix.

This week we’re in the Catskill mountains in upstate New York, so I decided to bring both the Leica and the Lumix. And of course I miss the Fuji. Which seems crazy because they’re amazing, beautiful, capable cameras, far more than I need, especially for a vacation.

And I think that’s the point. If you’re at home or working or near a car, then a larger camera is fine and often better. The S5 isn’t huge, but it’s still large compared to a Fuji X100 or something like the tiny Ricoh GR3. The Leica isn’t large but I am still conscious of it’s value, sentimental and financial. So I haven’t used them as much as I would a smaller camera, and actually just took my iPhone with me for the day yesterday (and regretted it).

I don’t mean to complain or criticize either camera at all. The M240 is a beautiful camera and a joy to use slowly and intentionally. The S5 is amazingly capable and I love using it too. The Fujifilm isn’t better than either and in many ways it’s worse. But it is a good size. And when you’re traveling, on vacation, with family, doing a lot more than just photography, then size matters. Smaller cameras are too often overlooked and underrated.