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 p.2 #17 · Japan Trip Camera/Lens Suggestions? | |
Lt.Deadeye wrote:
I'm learning a lot from this thread. I don't know if it's appropriate to ask, but if I may, about how long a stay would anyone here recommend for a comfortable stress free trip to experience both Tokyo and Kyoto? I'm planning on 7 days but I'm worried about trying to squeeze too much into my itinerary. Also, given those locations, would anything beyond 85mm be recommended? I plan on bringing a 35mm and possibly a 12-24mm.
I went there for two weeks last month, and if I had to do it all over again, this is what I would do:
1. Arrive at one of the two large, international airports in Tokyo and get a hotel for that same night. After I check in, I would go to the Tokyo Train Station in person and book a ticket on the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Osaka for the next day.
2. I would then check in to a hotel in Osaka near a main train station for the majority of the two weeks while staying in Japan. It's not that Osaka itself is all that great, but there are many day tours you can book from there that you can't if you are in Tokyo. You can visit Hiroshima for a day from Osaka. You can visit Kyoto, etc. Plus, they have a bunch of cool tours you can't do if you are in Tokyo.
3. I would save the last 3 or 4 days for Tokyo. Tokyo is just a giant, overpopulated city that is very expensive. There are no "great deals" to get in photo gear; they have the same things you can order online at the same prices. Only difference is you can see what you are buying because the have multiple stores that stock everything. As for used gear, it's a complete waste of time. I wasted most of those two weeks going to multiple well-known used camera stores all over Tokyo, and all they had were expensive used gear in really rough condition. Same with watches. As for what to do while in Tokyo other than night time street photography (of which I did very little because I was too tired to go out at night after walking for miles each day), a tour of Mt. Fuji is awesome. The tour I took included a "make your own noodles in a traditional, family owned Japanese restaurant". That was a nice experience. But be prepared to walk up several hundred steep stairs to get to the iconic observation point to get that classic shot of Mt. Fuji.
4. If you have kids, or if you are a Disney fan, I would plan two days to visit Disney Sea. The queues for the lines for each ride average 3 hours, so you will waste an entire day trying to get on 3 or 4 rides (if you are lucky). Best bet is to stay at a Disney resort hotel for those two days so you can get early access to the park.
5. Plan for your tours or locations you want to visit in advance. I missed out on visiting the Nikon Museum because they were closed for a national holiday. I actually got to the museum only to find out it was closed, so I took a picture of myself in front of the "closed" sign. A completely wasted morning.
6. Google Maps works 60% of the time. Google Translate works 20% of the time. Especially in Tokyo, make sure what train lines AND exits you need to get to BEFORE you get to the train station. All the big train stations are chaotic, confusing, jam packed with tens of thousands of people, and no matter what translating device you have, it will most likely not work when you need it if you have to ask for directions. Of the people I encountered, 30% of them spoke English. I had two dedicated electronic translating devices (Vasco V4 Translator, and Iflytek Translator) plus Google Translate. All of them failed miserably and worked maybe 20% of the time. The only thing the translators worked ok with was to photograph signs, labels, instructions, anything written in Japanese and translate them to English for me.
7. Take some Japanese Yen with you. Have plenty of ¥100 and ¥500 coins on hand. You will need them for coin laundries and for lots of other things you buy.
8. On day one, at whatever airport you arrive, buy a SUICA Card and load it up with ¥10,000. You will use that card to get onto trains, and you can use it for some vending machines as well. Some folks say you can download a SUICA app onto an iPhone, but I trust a physical card much more than some electronic device.
9. Lots of options for renting SIM cards or little wifi hotspots in Japan. I rented a small wifi hotspot from Japan Wireless with unlimited data. It was terrible and worked maybe 60% of the time. I had to reset the device several times, and their customer service told me they could get me another one in two days. I was on the go and couldn't sit around waiting for two days, so I continued using their "deffective" hotspot.
10. No one cares what you wear. I overpacked the wrong type of clothing hoping to not stand out too much. As a tourist, I stuck out like a sore thumb no matter what, so I should've packed more shorts and tee shirts.
11. Everyone raves about the Don Quijote store. It's mostly filled with overpriced tourist trinkets made in China.
12. Shibuya Crossing is just an intersection. The stores in that area are mostly overpriced clothing and collectibles stores.
13. The best, most affordable Ramen Noodle restaurants are at Tokyo Station (go to the ones where there are long lines of locals waiting to get in; the fancier ones with no lines are way more expensive).
14. If you like wet, soggy, burgers dripping with suace, then you'll love the burgers in Japan. Their concept of hamburgers (even at McDonald's) are very different from the rest of the world. If you like meat, stick with grilled waygu beef. They taste awesome, and I didn't encounter any place where they messed them up. Food trucks look good but are not that great; small overpriced portions, and not as good as restaurants. Tap water gave me the runs, so bottled water is the safest option.
15. Photo gear: pack light. I took my Canon R6II + RF 24-105mm f4.0L and RF 16-28mm f2.8 STM. I was hurting within the first 4 hours of walking around with that behemoth around my neck. Thank goodness it rained the last three days while I was there, so I left my R6II outfit at the hotel and took my OM-5 with Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 G2 everywhere instead (it was the camera I packed for my kid who decided to leave it at the hotel after day one because "it was too heavy"). APS-C is more than enough for Japan (micro four thirds will struggle a bit for night shots). I did use the long end of my RF 24-105mm f4.0L several times though. If you have an equivalent lens, it would be the safest option. As for primes vs zooms, it is difficult to stand at a spot to change lenses with the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people that all seem to be in a rush at all times. If you forget some stuff at home (like extra SD cards, etc), you can go to any Yodobashi or Bic Camera and buy it for the same price you pay back home.
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