Friday Notes #45 — Leaving My Camera Gear Behind

The following article part, let’s call it Part I, which I started writing on October 6, was meant to be published a week ago, on October 8, before the long holiday weekend. But, somehow, I forgot about it and published this article instead. I must be getting old. 🥸

I’ll visit the Niagara-on-the-lake region in Ontario, Canada, for the upcoming long holiday weekend with some friends. It will be the first leisure “trip” outside Montreal since the pandemic began. It’s also the first trip with my iPhone 13 Pro. I’m leaving my traditional camera gear behind—A Nikon D750 and a few different lenses: a 70-210mm and a 21mm. Am I making a mistake?

The weather should be ok, not as sunny as I would like and some rain is expected. The weather forecasts can be wrong; my fingers are crossed. We don’t have a plan, but visiting vineyards and going to downtown Niagara-on-the-lake city are on the to-do list. To get a better idea of the place, I searched on Unsplash for pictures of this region. Surprisingly, by using the “Niagara on the lake” keywords, the search returned quite a lot of great shots of the area.

By going iPhone-only for this trip, I’m choosing to travel light. I don’t want to wear my heavy backpack all the time. Is it because I’m getting older? Maybe. But there is something more to it. My experience so far with the iPhone 13 Pro is very positive. The quality of pictures, the possibility of shooting in ProRAW in complex lighting conditions and excellent battery life make me confident that I won’t miss my Nikon too much.

Now, here is part II, which was meant to be published for today, after the long holiday weekend. 😬

Here is a confession: the usage trend of my traditional camera gear is decreasing at an alarming pace because I settle on my iPhone at times where I should use a conventional camera (now a 13 Pro, then an 11 Pro). Why? After all, I know and understand what makes the difference between a Nikon D750 and an iPhone 13 Pro. Yet, I settle on the latter. It was the case last weekend for a short trip in the Niagara-falls-on-the-lake region, near Toronto.

I took more than two hundred photos, mostly in ProRAW format, using the Camera application. I could have used the excellent Halide camera app, but no, I went the whole Apple-only way. Why is that? Am I becoming lazy? Is it too complicated to bring a big camera and two lenses with me all the time? How many photos did I miss by bringing a simple iPhone? What is this experience teaching me for my next trip to Mexico this coming November? Am I willing to repeat the same experience and leave behind my heavy camera bag? Does this mean that any idea of going mirrorless camera is a dead end? It doesn’t always matter the type of camera I bring with me; the best camera is the one you always have close at the end. What about keeping my Adobe photography plan subscription? Should I keep it or get rid of it? My use of Adobe Lightroom is also decreasing, after all. So many questions, so few answers.