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What to pack?
mjm
Registered Users Posts: 19 Big grins
I'm headed out on a bit of a vacation to France & England on Friday. I have to decide what gear to bring and what to leave behind, so far I've broken it down to;
Anything obvious I'm missing? What would you bring?
- 20D
- SD450
- 24-70mm f/2.8L
- 17-40mm f/4L
- Macbook
- Power convertor
- Cleaning accessories
- Lots of batteries & memory
Anything obvious I'm missing? What would you bring?
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Not being familiar with canon equipment...but what i see above is good....personally I would definitely take the 70-200 and yes the flash the more powerful one.....Tripod is a must...I have a Giottos Mt 9180 that will fit into a suit case or duffle bag......fantastic pod.....I moved to Giottos because it would back pack easier....when entering busies and trains in Europe my Bogen kept slamming into the top of the door ways...it was about 3" to tall at its most compact size.....
Here is the Giottos I currently use (with a Nikon N70, strobo frame flash bracket and sunpak 622-not showing , that was 5 lbls of weight not couting the 322rc2 ball head):
This picture was taken for a discussion sometime last year dealing with stability of tripods with a lot of weight on it.
This pod fits my LowePro tripod "cup" really well and doesn't stick above my backpack the way the Bogen did.
With what is on your list if I was to leave anyting behind...it would be the Mac.....If you were going for a month or more then yes I would take it....other wise I would load up with tons of cards or an external hard drive device to download the cards to.....
As for batteries, I suggest 16-32 Duracell (AA's I am refering to for items taking AA's) and a duracell 15 minute charger...as for camera batteries...I suggest a min. of 4. and 2 chargers...
I wouldn't bring a tripod unless you have one of those Billingham bags with a tripod strap under it, and even then I'm not so sure. Personally I would bring the 20D, the 17-40, the 24-70, cleaning stuff, batteries and memory (and battery charger with a plug to fit the euro plugs).
I wouldn't leave any expensive stuff in a French hotel (and consider that I say this even though my dad works in travel and so only stay in 4 and 5 star hotels), and no I'm not some French basher, it's just me being honest. That's why I wouldn't bring the laptop along.
If you're going to spend a lot of time shooting, setting-up shots and waiting for the light etc., then you might want to rethink your list. You'll want the 70-200, a tripod and a backpack. But if you're just expecting to grab shots as you do tours etc., then travel light.
If you don't bring a lappie, you'll either need some 12GB memory cards, or a device to dump your cards into.
If you don't use flash now, then don't bring it, you're not likely to suddenly change your shooting habits.
I used to travel with a backpack stuffed with the 1D, 16-35, 24-70, 70-200, lappie and I'd put a tripod in my checked luggage. A heavy, heavy load.
Now, when I travel light, it's just the 5D and the 24-105. Expensive, but light and flexible.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
Good luck
Now you have me worried, can you elaborate on this? Leaving the laptop behind isn't an option. I have to 'work' while I'm on vacation at least a little bit...
Works great propped on a car hood, trash can, steps, whatever. The larger ones like I use tend to weigh a bit but allow you to scrunch it up for some elevation (tilt).
Don't forget security stuff...equipment and thinking.
http://www.pac-safe.com/www/index.php <--- handy stuff for securing things while under way and in your room.
When I've shot in "bad places" I used a thin kryptonite cable (the thinnest they make) with a 'biener on either end. One end on the camera, one end attached around my belt (not belt loop), just enough slack to work. Didn't get in the way of shooting and kept people from doing the "cut and grab" theft method in a crowd. It could be unclipped but was enough to keep the cut-and-grab from happening. Do **NOT** use it when it could present a danger to yourself by getting snagged by moving vehicles, conveyor belts, blah blah etc....or when it's better to let the bad guy have the gear and you run in the opposite direction. EDIT: this is overkill for 99% of the time but something to put in the back of your head if you ever need it...
Also get used to not putting your stuff down. That may affect how you carry your gear--which bag, etc. If you do have to put your gear bag down for a second, put it between your legs with one foot in the loop formed by the strap.
When I'm shooting pro work around some sort of media event I tend to look like a pro but whenever I can I really prefer to move around w/o drawing attention to the fact I have expensive gear on me, even on assignment (that's worth a thread itself). I usually carry a messenger bag and camera + one lens + steadibag (my pro minidv stuff fits in there, too). Nothing that says "Tamrac" or "Lowepro" or "Portabrace" which pretty much advertises "expensive stuff here". So I may travel with the padded bags on the plane, etc. but once I'm out and about, I switch to more low-key stuff.
Call ahead, see if the safe is laptop sized (many hotels have these now). If not, maybe get a kensington lock (most pc laptops have a port for these, i don't know about macs) to attach it to something fixed. I know it's typically, dumb, but it's usually not an issue in a 5-star hotel, my mom will sometimes leave a purse in the room, and she did once in France and they took all of her cash and a bracelet. My dad (whos a travel agent) said in France it's not all that unheard of. Maybe with a laptop they wouldn't because that's so big an obvious, but I would still be careful.
about to go shoot around town right now.