Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: TomN on January 30, 2006, 11:38:50 am
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I'm going to Scotland and the Czech Republic in May of this year and I'm a bit torn on whether I should bring my SLR or buy a "more compact" camera. In the past I've travelled with my SLR(s) and always after a while of carrying my 19 pound backpack started thinking why I was torturing myself with the weight. Now for my upcoming trip I don't know what I should do. I want to take good high quality pictures and I know I don't want to lug all that gear around with me. I can either take my SLR and 1 lens, probably my wide zoom, or maybe get a smaller digicam like the Konica-Minolta A-200 that has a 28-200mm and still lots of manual control. I'm just wondering what you would do if you were going on a trip who's main purpose wasn't photography and yet you still wanted to take great pictures.
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SLR with 1 lens.
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Ditto.
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I've repeated this discussion every time I travel with my wife. Yet every time I bring my SLR with at least 2 lenses and I'm never sorry (except I wished I brought another lens). For most of us, travel to a particular exotic locale is a once in a lifetime event. If you miss a shot, you'll be kicking yourself forever. Besides, the compliments you get from a well made SLR shot are priceless. If you must get a digicam, think seriously about the Sony R-1. Michael has shown us on the most recent front page that it is capable with the right post processing of some worthy shots.
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You have to think about what you want to do with the pictures afterward. If you plan to enlarge them and hang them on the wall and really care about them looking good, you'll want the image quality of an SLR. If you just want something to show snapshots and post on the web, a digicam is fine.
I've found that a lightweight DSLR with one lightweight zoom lens (a Nikon D70 with the 18-70 kit lens), in a very small camera bag just big enough for it, is much like carrying around an extra purse. Not much effort.
Lisa
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350D, 10-22/3.5-4.5, 50/1.8, 70-300/4-5.6 IS.
Small, light and optically excellent.
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Well, I think you have your answer - if you dont see this trip as a "photography" trip, than bring a camera which produces reasonable pictures and enjoy your vacation. I, for example, prefer to haul all that I need to a trip, and on field I decide each time what should I take, becuase than I have more flexibility. But then again, for me traveling is photographing and vice versa...
Whatever you do, have fun!
Cookie
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You didn't say what your SLR is, or your budget.
I shoot Nikons for my heavy-duty stuff, but I have a couple of digicams that I use when I'm just knocking around. The best (that I own) is a Canon Pro1, which has an 8MP chip and a 7x 2.4-3.5 zoom. It's like a tiny SLR -- a little awkward to carry in a briefcase or a pocket, because the lens sticks out, but it takes good pictures and is way, way easier to carry than a big SLR (and you can carry it slung over your shoulder but under your sportcoat, if you're trying to be unobtrusive.) There are a number of other cameras just like it, and Digital Camera Review has long lists of them complete with reviews. If you're primarily traveling, rather than primarily making photographs, I'd go with a smaller one. I've shlepped SLRs and associated equipment all over the place, and it gets to be a serious pain. Remember that if you're going to be serious about the photography, and take the SLR, you'll probably need a several lenses, a laptop, sensor-cleaning equipment, several memory cards, maybe a Whibal card, a case to carry it all, etc., and after all of that, you're going to have to constantly keep track of it, because of it's value. With a really good point-and-shoot, shooting good-quality jpgs, you might get along very well with one small camera and a couple of 2-meg memory cards...that'd probably cover you for 800 shots or so. And if that turns out to be not quite enough, you could buy another memory card wherever you're at.
But in the end, I guess, it all really comes down to your intention...
JC
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Thank you all for your input. It's very much appreciated. I ended up getting a used Canon 17-85mm IS lens which I'll take along with my Canon 10D. I didn't think I'd get anything this quick but an opportunity came up so I jumped on it.
Now you might think that I can't mount the 17-85mm EF-S lens on a 10D but actually it's pretty easy to modify the lens to make it fit. Just remove 4 screws and pop out the plastic back piece. That's it. I mounted it on my camera last night and it works perfectly.
So I'm taking the one lens & one SLR plus a small film P&S as my emergency backup.
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Where will you be going in Scotland?
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John,
I'm going on a 6 day backpackers bus tour. We are traveling by bus (obviously) and staying at hostels at night. So starting off in Edinburgh, then Oban, Glencoe, Isle of Skye, Loch Ness, and back to Edinburgh.