Hardware - - Digital SLR for Travel

Liah · #1 06-19-2006, 04:11 PM

Does anyone have experience traveling with an SLR? I really want to take great photos on an upcoming yearlong trip around the world, but am worried that an SLR will get cumbersome...any advice? I am thinking about buying a Canon Rebel.
Thanks!!!

skydog · #2 06-19-2006, 04:33 PM

It depends...
If you don't want to take extra lenses, why take an SLR? SLR can be heavy and cumbersome. You can buy a 7/8 mega-pix pocket camera that can take some really nice pictures. You can then take this camera any where - easily. It also depends on what you plan to do. If you are going engaged in activities (biking, boating, climbing, etc)...the pocket camera would do just fine. If you just want to capture the memories of the trip...again pocket. If you like photography and will be shooting long after the trip, I'd buy the SLR. I own both and use both depending on the situation.

skydog

RokcetScientist · #3 06-19-2006, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liah

Does anyone have experience traveling with an SLR? I really want to take great photos on an upcoming yearlong trip around the world, but am worried that an SLR will get cumbersome...any advice? I am thinking about buying a Canon Rebel.
Thanks!!!

Good thinking. The best camera in the world is absolutely useless sitting in a closet because it's just too much trouble to schlepp around all the time. You want to travel light. While not skimping on possibilities or quality, right? OK, then you may like the Panasonic FZ30 or another of the socalled 'superzooms'.
However, you'll still have to take those "great photos" yourself!
Have fun!

And whatever camera you get, get it looooong* before you go, and practice, practice, practice with it. So that you know it inside out when you're out there. So you never miss an opportunity for a photo! That's why you want it, don't you?

*like 6 months minimum

RokcetScientist · #4 06-19-2006, 05:22 PM

BTW, for a photography enthusiast on a yearlong trip around the world you may want to think seriously about what you are going to do when your memory card is full! Just popping in new ones will get mighty expensive.
If you have frequent access to the internet you can empty your cards and send the contents home. Or to someone else. They'd be out of your camera, in safe hands, and you have an empty card again. If that is your strategy, I recommend you prepare a CD or DVD with all the software you may need – like FTP servers – when you're in the Phillipines, or wherever! And do a test run before you go.
You can also empty your flash cards onto a laptop. Or, still better, into an "image tank", the size of a deck of cards, that can store tens of thousands of your photos. If you go into the bush a lot, that would be my recommendation. No internet required. And only two good memory cards neccessary: while one is being emptied, you can continue shooting full-speed using the other one. And in the middle of nowhere if need be. You never have to miss a beat.
I've been using iPods for years for that. Bit expensive for just portable photo storage perhaps, but it's also my portable harddisk and MP3 player and video player...

Liah · #5 06-20-2006, 08:10 AM

Thanks for all the advice! I will look into the Panasonic DMC-FZ30! Looks like a good option.

Thanks!

Mike · #6 06-20-2006, 08:47 AM

A camera is a tool. You pick the tool you need to do the job. So what do you expect to do with the images you make? Answer that, then you will have a much better idea of what camera you need to take.

NightLord · #7 08-22-2006, 04:34 AM

I've been on a trip through latin america for more than a year and I've had my slr camera always with me, including a 200mm zoom objective.
It's never been a problem and I made many excellent photos that I'm still very happy with.
A smaller cam would have bee handy though, it's all about what you want yourself eh

Cheers

/NL