Everything I am bringing to the Olympics in Milan - Cameras, lenses and more

Let me start this blog post by saying that packing for the winter Olympics is a lot harder than packing for the summer Olympics. When I pack for the summer Games, I just bring a bunch of shorts, short sleeve shirts and the necessities. When it comes to the winter, I have to pack for all types of cold weather and even snow or rain. I just checked the weather in Milan and it looks like this week has rain in the forecast every day. 

Since my camera gear is the priority, I only pack one suitcase for clothes, and this is the entirety of what I am bringing for these Olympics. I have different jackets for the level cold that I might be dealing with, and the same thing is true for my socks, shoes, hats and gloves. I will be wearing tennis shoes on the plane (not shown here) but am bringing my snow boots for times like the Opening Ceremony where I will likely be sitting for many hours outside. I even have 3 levels of photography gloves (thanks to Vallerret) to make sure my hands stay warm while shooting.

The clothing may be interesting to you, but I think most people are more curious about what camera equipment I am bringing with me this time around.

As I do every time, I have laid out most of my equipment and taken this photo to show you what is going with me on the plane. Before you ask - NO, I never check camera gear under the plane!

Let me list out what you see here:

Cameras:

* Canon R1 camera bodies (I expect to use these cameras more than any other)

* Canon R5 MKII camera body (for times when I want the highest resolution images)

* Canon R6 MKIII camera body (because it is brand new and I want to play with it)

* Lots of batteries for the cameras

Lenses:

* Canon RF 100-300mm lens (mostly for the Opening Ceremony)

* Canon RF 100-500mm lens (for motion panning speed skating)

* Canon RF 70-200mm Z lens (what I expect will be my most used lens (for hockey) at these Games)

* Canon RF 15-35mm lens (for wide shots at Opening Ceremony and other venues)

* Canon RF 24-70mm (for player photos while being interviewed in the mix zones)

* Canon RF 24-105mm f/4 (for my "walk-around" shots of the city)

* Canon 8-15mm fisheye lens (for when the hockey players are smashed against the glass right in front of me)  

* Canon RF 1.4x Extender and Canon RF 2x Extender for the Canon RF 100-300mm lens  (at the Opening Ceremony)

For my workflow:

* Apple MacBook Pro 16" (the workhorse for all my culling and retouching)

* ProGrade Digital CFexpress cards (fastest cards and most reliable cards on the market)

* ProGrade Digital USB 4 Card Readers (so that I can download at lightning speeds onto the Mac)

* ProGrade Pro Dock (for wired Internet connection and multiple high speed ports in the press room)

* ProGrade Digital 4TB SSDs (for backing up my data each day at high speed)

* Wacom Movink tablet (for the times when I am doing the most retouching and need pen precision)

* Photo Mechanic software (not shown here, but integral for fast culling and making my deadlines)

* Adobe Photoshop (not shown here, but my main retouching software)

* QNAP NAS (not shown here, but my storage back in the US for backup of ALL my images)

Other accessories:

* Benro SupaDupa Monopod (mostly for when I am using the large Canon RF 100-300mm lens) 

* Benro Rhino Travel Tripod (since I am hoping to get some night shots around Milan if time permits)

* Apple iPad Pro 11" for blogging, email, videos and more (and maybe some image downloading)

* Apple Watch 11 to track how much I am moving each day (and yeah, I am obsessed with my steps)

* Apple AirPod Pro 3 for music, photo calls and now translating from Italian to English (so cool) 

* DataColor Spyder Pro (for color calibrating my monitor)

* Canon 600EX-RT flash (for the rare times when I might need one (they are not allowed during competition)

* ThinkTank Photo Airport International (the larger of the rolling camera bags for when I need more gear)

* ThinkTank Photo Walker Pro Rolling Backpack (for when I want to travel a little lighter)

* BlackRapid Straps (because I really like shoulder straps)

* Tiffen HT filters (to protect the front elements of all my lenses)

* Ozlo Sleep buds (to block out noise and help me sleep in case there is a lot of noise at the hotel)

* Power supplies and adaptors

Yikes - that took a long time to compile this list and it took me even longer to pack up. 

I know that many of you have speculated at any unreleased products I might be using at these Olympics. Let's suffice it to say that this may happen, and if I can talk about any new products from Milan, I promise I will.

A couple more things (not equipment related):

Right before posting this blog, B&H Photo told me that they created a special landing page with most of the gear I have listed here. You can check out all of these HERE.

A couple of hours ago I found out that one of USA Hockey's team photos got moved up a day, so I changed my flights just now and head out even earlier than planned. I will be landing and hitting the ground running. I hope I brought all the right stuff!

The next post will likely be from the airport, the air or Milan.

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