Compiling a travel kit
Family visit to the UK - first since I've been shooting seriously. Some sightseeing involved (kid's first trip to Scotland), although it will all be dependent on the weather and isn't the prime directive of the trip. Trying to travel as light as I can without limiting myself too much. No time to order or funds to spend on another lens (eg 24-105 or 28-200).
Am considering taking a small, 1-bag kit of:
Thoughts very much welcomed. I'm an experienced traveller in terms of going places, but NOT (yet) travelling with gear and I always seem to get it wrong (see above :rofl)
Am considering taking a small, 1-bag kit of:
- s95 (which covers 28-105mm, hence the NON-inclusion of a walkround for the slr)
- ungripped xsi (lighter, smaller, and cheaper should anything get lost/damaged. Also means both cameras use SD cards)
- 50mm 1.4
- 430ex
- 135L would be nice to have, but I'd hate for it to get lost or damaged and am a bit iffy about taking it since it's my most-loved (and most expsensive!) lens.
- alternative: my old (ooollldddd) EF 70-210; I never use it any more even though I've kept it, but it could be a lightweight and and more versatile telephoto solution. However, it appears to have a tiny bit of fungus behind the rear element and I worry about contaminating the rest of my gear - is that a risk? Precautions to take? (as an aside, I have no idea how it acquired the fungus - it's always been indoors and, so I thought, in dry conditions.... I've kept it separated from my other gear since I discovered it was there and it's in a ziploc bag with dessicant crystals)
Thoughts very much welcomed. I'm an experienced traveller in terms of going places, but NOT (yet) travelling with gear and I always seem to get it wrong (see above :rofl)
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2- Just a record or do you want to try and sell fine art prints from the trip??
If motovation is #1 then the S95 would be plenty I am sure........If it is #2...then
I would take the 7D, 17-50 f2.8, 4030 flash and rent a 70-200 and tripod......If
you go after taking serious pix to sell then the trip becomes tax deductible also &
that eases the pain of renting the 70-200.....I would get the 70-210 cleaned and lubed
to eather use in the future or to sell it.......
Kinda what I figured...that is why I went to look at your gear list in your profile....I knew you had better than the rebel..........I bet borrow lenses could get you a 70-200 in time unless your leaving tomorrow or Wednesday...:D
I am not sure if the fungus in a lens can crawl out and onto another lens or not.....it may just need to spend a day or 2 packed in a bunch of silica crystals to twart its growth and spread.....
You're right - I should probably get the 70-210 cleaned up professionally. How/where do I go about doing that? Also, Ziggy (or others in the know) what IS the position on a fungal lens? I've read various articles, but am still none the wiser on whether there's a genuine risk to my other gear. I'm well stocked with dessicant packets now (keep it in all my bags, lens cases etc) so hopefully can avoid it happening to any of my current gear in the future, but how to handle the lens where it's already present?
the last lens I sent to him cost me around $200 to clean lube and adjust.......The link will take you to their home page and I have never been lead wrong by Bernie (owner and repairman).....on the home page is a place for dialouge so you can describe the prob and he can send an estimate.....he is a Nikon warranty repair center but has worked on my sigma 70-210 for my Km 7D....he works on all makes from what he told me.
I don't think that having a lens with a small amount of mildew (it's usually a form of mildew) will affect other lenses. It's when the mildew is in full bloom and it would take over the host lens first before infecting other lenses in a major way.
Unless I can see the region myself I can't be more definitive.
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I'm still baffled to know how it started - it's never been in a high-moisture environment while it's been in my possession, (although it was in a dark case and not used much for a while when I wasn't shooting film, but didn't have a dSLR yet.)
I would be kicking myself for not having done my absolute best with the family photos so I would take the 7D and the 135, with the 50 as a walkaround for sight seeing - leave the big zooms at home and rely on the S95 for back-up. the 430ex would have to come too. Give it your best shot
Instead of trying to fix my iffy lenses or dust off my old Minolta, I would check my travel insurance and go off to have photo fun. I hope you enjoy the trip, it sounds like a big one and that the weather is kind for you all.
For the record, I have no problem at all with using the xsi and there are many reasons it's a preferable choice in this instance. One of the reasons I kept it rather than the 50d as a backup was because I can take the grip off and make it into a lightweight travel camera (which is also easier for the novices in my family to pick up and use!) and it uses SD cards so I can use the built-in reader in the laptop and not have to take an additional card-reader (or stacks of different kinds of cards). Of course the 7d is plain better and far more feature-filled, but the xsi served me well until last year, I still use it as my second camera for theater gigs and, although there's no doubt it's down the ladder from the 7d (funny how plastic and lacking in focus points it feels after the 7d!
I still have a few days to figure this out - and get increasingly familiar with the s95 (which I LOVE for the record - the shots are extraordinary for a pns) so keep those thoughts and suggestions coming - all input to consider warmly appreciated!!
Enjoy the trip!
Lyle
No need for other lenses, that 50 is as sharp as they come, and versatile. On your Rebel body you have a nice compact travel kit. The only thing I missed was my wide angle lens, which is awesome for landscape and especially good when shooting in those lovely UK villages.
Have fun!
I especially find longer exposures on the S90 to work very well this way. Not the best for people, but you'll have the XSI and 50MM for that.
Something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mini-Compact-Tripod-Stand-CCTV-Digital-Camera-/300509974876?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f7ca515c
You see them sometimes for as low as $1.
I think Joby makes a more complicated one as well. Anyway, its very pockable and easy to use and improve your photos.
Z
Art - a trip to Europe to visit family is not tax deductible. The primary reason to go needs to be substanciated. If you shoot and have a contract with a client overseas that might be sufficient to deduct for only those days you are shooting under contract, but, the IRS will come down on you pretty hard if you go shooting on spec and then want to deduct your trip. (and yes, I am an accountant)
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@Zanotti - GMTA! I was in Five Below the other day (they're a very useful source of cheap cellphone and other small electronics accessories, fwiw - if you have one near you they'r eworth a look and have WAY nicer stuff than the average dollar store) and they had a Vivitar "starter kit" which included a small zipper case (which will do if my eBay one for the s95 isn't here in time), a microfibre cloth+lens fluid (always useful) and... a little mini, bendy-leg tripod. For $5 it was a no-brainer and is already in the bag
@ChatKat - no worries, since this is in no way a photographically professional trip and I have no intentions of turning it into one. It may become eligible for certain deductions on musical grounds (still TBD for various reasons), but that's a different matter entirely and I'll let my agent and my accountant sort it out accordingly if it becomes a question. Thanks for chiming in - your expertise as a photographer AND accountant is always a great benefit to the rest of us!
I really hate blasting relatives with a flash, so for me the 50 1.4 and 135 would be my low-light/portrait compliment to the S95.
This summer my stepdaughter got married and I did not want any family drama and I used my G11 from my seat and for some getting ready and post wedding images with a 580ex2 on camera with a stofen omnibounce. If you can bounce flash with a PnS you can do some pretty decent camera work. Actually, my Stepdaughter was happier with the images I took than she got from the other photographer.
When I was new to digital, I had only one battery and forgot it when I was in Nova Scotia. I was so distraught but I bought a disposable Kodak. Those images are printed on the wall of my home office.
Today, I travel with my oldest body (a 5d), a 50 1.2 or the 50 1.4 and a Tamron 28-300 3.5 VR and a G11 with a 580ex2 but I don't hesitate to leave the dSLR behind for short non business travel
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I went through the same thought process before my family's trip to Atlantis (Bahamas) this summer. My wife pointed out that I'd be kicking myself later and what was the point of all the fancy equipment if I wasn't going to use it at the most beautiful places when we finally got the chance to go!
She was right. I took the whole kit (1D4, 70-200/2.8, 24-70/2.8, 16-35/2.8, 580exii, tripod, etc.). Suprisingly, it wasn't a big deal getting it through airport security or customs. I was glad the bag was a comfortable backpack when it was fully loaded like that.
I picked a couple of days during the trip to be "photography days" where I had the camera with me and that's what I was doing. The rest of the time, it stayed locked up in my room so I didn't have to worry about it.
Not sure if you are staying in one place long enough for that approach to help, but it worked well for us.
Jay
I think at the moment I'm leaning towards taking the s95, xsi+50mm+430ex flash and scrapping an extra slr lens entirely. That gives me a reasonable FL range up to ~105mm equivalent, a good walkaround in the s95, and still allows the ability to take some serious people (or low light) shots should the situation arise. I might miss a telephoto, but I think I can probably work around that; I'm sure in this situation I'd miss the wide end more.
It's the "extras" which are such a pain to haul around - even that "minimalist" kit still means 2 battery chargers (one for each camera), AA charger w/2x sets of AA's, and an extra hard drive to store it all on. I've got loads of sd cards knocking around (the kid's camera uses them too, so that acts as a three-fer, at least) and fortunately the laptop has a built-in-reader.
Now, what I am really dying to do is get on top of the hill in Edinburgh and use the s95's faux tilt-shift!!!!!! Well, assuming it isn't snowing. Or foggy. Or bucketing down with rain.
~reminds self this is a trip to see people, not places, and that photography is not the main purpose of visit~
Have a good trip!
Jane
I guess when it comes to kit for travel, apart from the pns option, I think of a good fast zoom. divamum from what you say about your intentions for this trip it seems likely that you might be mainly looking for candid indoor shots of family events that will have "documentary" value. Lighting then becomes highly significant, but as you well know lighting can be a big distraction for both photog and subjects. I think I'd be getting my lighting plan of action well settled before departure, issues like to use builtin flash on a pns, or bounced and/or modified external flash onboard or off-camera on a dslr. I think in your case I'd be trying for a kit which allowed maximum spontaneity with minimum distraction and setting up. Picture quality is pretty much guaranteed with any camera these days if exposure is correct, and prints/online will be excellent in smaller sizes.
neil
http://www.behance.net/brosepix
Yup, Neil, agreed. One of the things I am LOVING about the s95 is that it has flash exposure compensation. Ok, so it can't turn it into off camera flash, but with the FEC dialed back two stops and the lens wide open (f2 is yummy
If you can, why not test out your lighting kit in all likely scenarios on your "willing" guys there before you go. See how smooth your "act" is. Then you'll be able to walk straight into role soon as you set foot on the ground in UK. There's nothing like confidence to inspire patience and acquiescence. Good for the photos, too!:D
All the best!
Neil
http://www.behance.net/brosepix
Honestly, at this rate I'll get so sick of mulling it over I"ll just throw everything in the bag and take it all in desperation. Exactly what I was hoping to avoid!!
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Ha - no - about 500 miles further north, near Edinburgh. Fawlty Towers was set in Torquay (or was it Bournemouth?) - south coast, in any case. Definitely nowhere close!
and have a GREAT trip. I still miss Scotland, 12+ years later.
Sometimes limiting yourself actually brings out more of yourself than you think.
I personally travel with just the 5D2 and 35L. IMHO, I would take the dslr and the 50. Sure that is pure limitation, but, it will force you to look at things that the usual tourist wouldn't. Or at least in a different perspective. Especially if you want to travel light, leave the extra stuff home, flash included.
I say dslr + 50 and s95.
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Yeah, my Scottish other half misses "God's own country" pretty much all the time
Power converters/transformers all in hand. Actually, very few of our current electronics seem to need one, it turns out, since they're mostly self-adjusting. We've got a transformer if needed, plenty of 3-prong converters and (on the splendid advice of BradfordBenn) also picked up a travel power strip which gives us 4 US sockets for one adapted UK one. It's weird how many personal electronics seem "indispensible" now, and with three of us it's crazy how many bits and pieces are going with us even though by many standards we're travelling super light this time out!
I would kick myself if i didn't have my DSLR and a wide angle with me....
personally i'd go with a DSLR (small one) and a wide or ultra wide
I wouldn't bother with a long telephoto to save weight and space.... if you wanted any portrait stuff then a nifty-fifty
Good luck deciding
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