There's not a single reason not to take your DSLR - and that includes white lenses. I had them in all sorts of places - from calm Thailand to volatile Afghanistan - with no problems at all.
The only reason not to take them would be if you don't want to be bothered by their weight .
I'm writing this from Cozumel & all over the tourist areas down here DSLR's are very common. Just use the same sense you do at home & everything will be fine. Are you in the area for Carnaval?
(From last night. Posted to Tripadvisor & Scubaboard earlier, 7D & Tamron 18-270)
Went down to Parc Quintanna Roo to see what was happening. The kids, teens & young adults were having a great time plus the stage had a good crowd watching the show.
I'm heading into Playa right now. Will be there this evening
Thanks for the reassurance! I looked at the weather report and it should be clear skies this week. Feel free to PM me and maybe we can share itineraries to give each other ideas of what's fun to do down there.
When I get to be too old to travel, I'm going to roll my wheel chair up in front of my wall size flat screen and look at all the pictures I've taken of all the places I've been and things I've seen. I do that now using the screen saver on my desktop.
Many of my destinations are warm and wet. My "light" travel kit is 5D2, 24-105, 100L, 100-400, G10 with UW case, 270 EX, small Gitzo tripod, 20 mm extension for the 100-400. I'll sometimes add 17-40 for vistas or trade 7D for G for wildlife (2 bodies). Everything except the Gitzo and U/W case fits in a smallish backpack, ~10 lbs gear, ~16 lbs total. Driving vacations get the works in a Pelikan 1510.
I took a D700 and 50mm to SF a couple of years ago - got a few nice shots on Alcatraz, but I was with my girlfriend and was more interested in spending time with her and exploring the city than taking photographs.
After that, I left the DSLR at home when I was taking off with other people. I've since ditched the DSLR for a X100 (and soon a OM-D or X Pro 1), which I'm more likely to go ahead and carry with me.
Definitely! We're going to Cuba next week and I'll bring 5D, 24-105L and 35L. I have traveled before with similar kits and have been very happy with that.
We do road trips for our vacations -- the last three were coast to coast. Yes, both my wife and I bring our DSLRs. We usually only bring a couple of lenses, however (normally one per body). We leave what we are not using locked in the trunk when away from the car. It is all insured, which removes most of the worry over leaving it unattended.
I previously always took my DSLR on vacation with a few lenses (with my 5dII my typical kit would be a 12-24, 24-70, a fast 50, the 24TSEII, and sometimes the 70-200 f/4 too because it isn't too heavy). Also I always take a small carbon fiber travel tripod. Often I'd take different bags so I could vary what I was carrying during any particular day (whatever lenses stay behind in the hotel would go in the safe). I'd take a holster for when I wanted to go out with just the DSLR and a zoom with no other lenses; a shoulder bag for walking around a city with a few lenses; and a backpack with an attachment for carrying the tripod for more lenghty/intense exursions.
(However, I just recently got back from a vacation to Costa Rica, and for the first time since I've owned DSLRs, I left it at home. I took a NEX5n with kit lens and a couple of small adapted primes. I was a little uneasy to leave my DSLR behind, but I have to say, I found myself much more relaxed and because the camera was so light I practically never found myself leaving it in the hotel like I sometimes would when travelling with a DSLR and getting tired of carrying it around all day...in fact I might not ever go on vacation again with a DSLR).
Gunzorro wrote:
Hmmmm. . . I take pictures on a regular basis. When I take a vacation, it is to take a vacation, relax and sightsee. I still like to take some pictures, for memories, but don't want to approach it like an assignment -- I used to drive my wife crazy, carting a 4x5 around Yosemite every year. I prefer to leave my working equipment at home and take stuff I don't have to rely on daily . No amount of insurance is worth the hassle and loss of great equipment -- not to me at least.
But if I get a once in a lifetime trip, I'll surely break down and take whatever is my best gear.
+1
Several years ago we went on a cruise. I left my big gear at home which I use on a daily basis. I bought a G6 just for the trip. Very glad I did. It was a relaxing vacation not lugging all my gear around, and I ALWAYS had the G6 with me, clipped on my belt. I didn't really miss the "big gun" and made some very nice wall prints from the G6. The best gear in the world does very little if it's sitting in your hotel because you didn't want to carry "all your gear this one time out". YMMV
I haven't read all three pages here, but I would definetly vote to bring your gear. One thing to keep in mind is that many of the ruin sites in that area won't let you use a tripod without a stout fee. - Paul
pinball_pw wrote:
I haven't read all three pages here, but I would definetly vote to bring your gear. One thing to keep in mind is that many of the ruin sites in that area won't let you use a tripod without a stout fee. - Paul
I found that out the hard way on a trip to some Mayan ruins...was travelling with a 4x5 and tripod, and they told me I could not bring in my tripod without having obtained prior authorization or something like that. So I ended up either hand-holding all my 4x5 shots or balancing it on rocks or crumbled walls or such things :P
I use DSLR's every day for work and just took the 5DMK2 and multiple lenses to Spain. Lugging this around Madrid in 110 degree temp's, was not any fun at all. I now have a NEX 7 with four lenses that weighs a third of the 5D kit and to tell you the truth is capable of as much if not more than the 5D. By-By DSLR!
dennishh wrote:
I use DSLR's every day for work and just took the 5DMK2 and multiple lenses to Spain. Lugging this around Madrid in 110 degree temp's, was not any fun at all. I now have a NEX 7 with four lenses that weighs a third of the 5D kit and to tell you the truth is capable of as much if not more than the 5D. By-By DSLR!
I agree lugging around alot of gear is not fun, especially when it's hot. In hindsight, I would've left at home the 1.4x extender. Everything else I found a use for.
Have you already sold your dSLR? Have you seen differences in IQ? Don't want to start a comparision of FF vs. EVIL.. just curious on your experiences.
I haven't sold any equipment at all, I should have said By-By DSLR for vacations! The nice thing about the NEX is I can use all my canon lenses if I want and use it as a very light /small backup camera. The advantage of the EVIL is I can have it with me almost all the time and still get great images. The quality is about 90% of the 5D at low ISO's and better at high ISO. Just another tool that helps keep me inspired and experimenting with photography. It's really perfect for vacations, light, small, less insurance, not as visible to thieves and pick pockets and easier to get into public buildings.
I take a 35 mm film camera with a zoom lens to have a physical backup to digital images. For digital images, I use a Nikon P7000, and leave the dSLR at home.
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