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Author Topic: Travel experiences  (Read 1965 times)

HiltonP

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Travel experiences
« on: August 10, 2005, 08:09:48 am »

My wife and I have recently returned from a four week tour through Canada (Alberta and Nova Scotia), and London. It was our first "all digital" trip using a elderly Sony PC-100 digital video camera, a Canon A80 p&s, and a Canon 20D dSLR (with Tamron 17-35mm, Canon 50mm, and Sigma 70-300mm lenses). With the wisdom of hindsight here are some of our comments :

-   We used 2 x 2Gig, 4 x 1Gig, 1 x 512Mb, 1 x 256Mb, and an assortment of smaller Memory Sticks. We used no portable storage device or laptop.

-   We did not carry a tripod.

-   85% of our final photos ended up coming from the Tamron 17-35mm lens, 10% from the Canon A80 p&s, and only about 5% from the Sigma 70-300. This had nothing to do with the Sigma, but rather with the subject matter. The zoom was primarily there for wildlife shots, and we did not see as much as I had expected.

-   The Canon 50mm lens ended up being a passenger for the entire trip!  Never once being attached to the camera. I had taken it specifically for night and indoor shots, but the Tamron 17-35mm took on this role.

-   The 17mm of the Tamron was plenty wide enough for our taste.

-   The 20D spent most of its time in Av-mode, around f8 to f11.

-   The ISO 800 and 1600 capability of the 20D proved invaluable, allowing us to capture low light, night-time, and indoor shots handheld that would normally have required a tripod. The ability to shoot without a flash indoors (particularly in museums) was brilliant.

-   We charged all three camera batteries every third night. We never felt the need for a spare battery for the 20D.

-   We found walking around each day with a video, a sizeable dSLR, a p&s and at least one spare lens to be excessive. We were on holiday and were already schlepping jackets, wallets, passports, etc as well. It ended up being a lot of stuff. Done again I would opt for a single lens (something like the Canon 17-85 IS) and possibly even a smaller dSLR (like the 350D, or Nikon D50).


And on a different note :

-   Digital rules amongst tourists! . . in a month of travelling I could count the number of film cameras I saw on one hand.

-   Women rule in taking photos! . . far more women taking photos than men, far more women carrying dSLR's than men. Maybe Canon and Nikon are being smart with their small sized 350D and D50 models.

-   No-one seems to use the viewfinder on their p&s cameras, they all use the LCD.

-   Encountered no security issues taking photos, even in major public places such as Waterloo Station. Hampton Court was the only venue which requested that no photos be taken indoors (they want you to buy their postcards and booklets).

-   One airport security officer swore blind we were carrying a knife in our handluggage, and insisted on everything being emptied out, only to discover it was the little Giottos mini-tripod for the p&s!  We all had a good laugh.


PLEASE NOTE . . . This feedback is purely my personal view, your photographic style, and camera usage may vary.
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Regards, HILTON
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