Discussion
Say you owned a 1D. Or a D1 or whatever the Nikon equivalent is.
And you had the opportunity to travel the world for a year or so, doing the usual thing of working and exploring.
Would you take several grand of kit with you? And if not, what WOULD you take in its place to capture the time away?
And you had the opportunity to travel the world for a year or so, doing the usual thing of working and exploring.
Would you take several grand of kit with you? And if not, what WOULD you take in its place to capture the time away?
I'd have to say that it would depend on:
(i) the type of trip - are you going to be constantly cursing the kit because of its size (i.e. ignoring the value and looking at practicalities like environment, time to shoot etc)
(ii) the cost/reliability of insurance - if it's affordable and genuinely going to cover nice kit then just go for it
If you're going to get opportunities to shoot where your kit will outclass a compact camera for sure then get some insurance, relax and enjoy
(i) the type of trip - are you going to be constantly cursing the kit because of its size (i.e. ignoring the value and looking at practicalities like environment, time to shoot etc)
(ii) the cost/reliability of insurance - if it's affordable and genuinely going to cover nice kit then just go for it
If you're going to get opportunities to shoot where your kit will outclass a compact camera for sure then get some insurance, relax and enjoy
Edited by TheStoat on Thursday 20th December 00:41
Famous Graham said:
Say you owned a 1D. Or a D1 or whatever the Nikon equivalent is.
And you had the opportunity to travel the world for a year or so, doing the usual thing of working and exploring.
Would you take several grand of kit with you? And if not, what WOULD you take in its place to capture the time away?
Of course, why not?And you had the opportunity to travel the world for a year or so, doing the usual thing of working and exploring.
Would you take several grand of kit with you? And if not, what WOULD you take in its place to capture the time away?
[he says sitting in an internet cafe in Thailand with a 5D, 35L, 70-200 2.8 IS, 24-105L, 17-40L with severe shooter's block not having taken a single good photo in the last
Interesting question. I guess I am going to come down on the side of "yes take it and insure it as it can always be replaced".
An example is a sailing holiday in Croatia. I had left virtually all my kit at home and just had my old Nikon Coolpix SQ 3.2MP compact with me. We were in a small harbour way off the beaten track, just three small yachts and the most amazing sunset - just incredible. The resulting image is a great reminder but is not the same league quality-wise as I hoped I would have achieved with my SLR.
If travelling the world and having to carry all my kit with me in one backpack I'd go for;
1. My D2X
2. 20mm
3. 50mm
4. 24-85 (if space limited I would leave this out)
5. 70-200
6. Flash & off camera lead if I can fit them in, otherwise as for 24-85
7. Tons of memory cards
8. Little slip in the pocket compact like an Ixus & small gorillapod
9. Polarising filter
10. One 2 stop graduated ND filter
Chris
An example is a sailing holiday in Croatia. I had left virtually all my kit at home and just had my old Nikon Coolpix SQ 3.2MP compact with me. We were in a small harbour way off the beaten track, just three small yachts and the most amazing sunset - just incredible. The resulting image is a great reminder but is not the same league quality-wise as I hoped I would have achieved with my SLR.
If travelling the world and having to carry all my kit with me in one backpack I'd go for;
1. My D2X
2. 20mm
3. 50mm
4. 24-85 (if space limited I would leave this out)
5. 70-200
6. Flash & off camera lead if I can fit them in, otherwise as for 24-85
7. Tons of memory cards
8. Little slip in the pocket compact like an Ixus & small gorillapod
9. Polarising filter
10. One 2 stop graduated ND filter
Chris
I go to crazy places and take everything as I'd kick myself if I didn't. That said I do make sure I have a backup compact camera, chargers, spare storage device etc that goes in my suitcase incase something happens to my main back. The last three trips I've needed this -
- Portable hard disk failed in Cambodia - had to get everything burnt to CD
- Canon charger got fried by a dodgy generator in Uganda - had to survive three weeks on four half charged batteries
- Nikon D80 didn't think much of the monsoon season in India, ended up using the compact a lot of the time.
I did keep hold of my old Pantax MF K1000 (completely manual film SLR) incase I ever went round the world. Never bothered taking it!
- Portable hard disk failed in Cambodia - had to get everything burnt to CD
- Canon charger got fried by a dodgy generator in Uganda - had to survive three weeks on four half charged batteries
- Nikon D80 didn't think much of the monsoon season in India, ended up using the compact a lot of the time.
I did keep hold of my old Pantax MF K1000 (completely manual film SLR) incase I ever went round the world. Never bothered taking it!
Took a £600 camera to Australia for a year and never had any issues, fair enough Australia isn't exactly unsafe but still, had to keep an eye on it at all times or lock it up in the hostel when I didn't want to carry it about. I really regret not taking a video camera tho! 
Now I have a 30D and a few lenses, and I would take that if I was going on a round the world trip, hate to miss a photo opportunity! I think the majority of places are quite safe as long as you are sensible and take out adequate insurance.
Now I have a 30D and a few lenses, and I would take that if I was going on a round the world trip, hate to miss a photo opportunity! I think the majority of places are quite safe as long as you are sensible and take out adequate insurance.
In a way it's kind of like the eternal tripod question, 95% of the time it can be a hindrance but for the other 5% of the time you would not be able to take the image you want to take without it and that makes the 95% worth it.
The way I look at it if you ask on a non photo forum / down the pub you will get the "no point carrying all that kit my little **** takes brilliant pictures" kind of comment but that's because people are saying it from their viewpoint, they more often than not take holiday snaps and some may be good but others are dreadful. Face it you've sat through those look at my pictures of 2 weeks in Lanzarote and seen quite how dull they can be.
If you are travelling the world and are an avid photogrpaher you're going to try and be different and take great / imaginative images. By this I mean ones that you can look back on future years and it takes you right back to the sights, sounds and smells of where you were and for that I firmly believe taking an SLR and a few lenses will be worth it in the end.
If you wanted to really boil it down to minimal kit;
1. DSLR of your choice (if speed is not an issue then D300 or 5D may be best)
2. 20mm / wide angle
3. 50mm f1.4 / fast light small
4. 70-200 or 100-400 type of thing
5. Throw in a pocket compact
That's pretty compact for a round the world trip
Forgive the rambling but that's my perspective
Chris
The way I look at it if you ask on a non photo forum / down the pub you will get the "no point carrying all that kit my little **** takes brilliant pictures" kind of comment but that's because people are saying it from their viewpoint, they more often than not take holiday snaps and some may be good but others are dreadful. Face it you've sat through those look at my pictures of 2 weeks in Lanzarote and seen quite how dull they can be.
If you are travelling the world and are an avid photogrpaher you're going to try and be different and take great / imaginative images. By this I mean ones that you can look back on future years and it takes you right back to the sights, sounds and smells of where you were and for that I firmly believe taking an SLR and a few lenses will be worth it in the end.
If you wanted to really boil it down to minimal kit;
1. DSLR of your choice (if speed is not an issue then D300 or 5D may be best)
2. 20mm / wide angle
3. 50mm f1.4 / fast light small
4. 70-200 or 100-400 type of thing
5. Throw in a pocket compact
That's pretty compact for a round the world trip
Forgive the rambling but that's my perspective
Chris
Edited by CVP on Thursday 20th December 14:03
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