DSLR+holiday = take it or leave it

bastic

bastic

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Lukas
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Hey fellow TP'ers :)
im looking for your advice.
I will be going for holidays soon to Greece. as I will spend most of the time at the beach i not to sure and confident with taking my 5dmk2 with me...
Im thinking about getting oly PEN, and it with its lens would be fine and good as a wide angle :)
But today I thought that maybe for simillar money I could get myself 135L :D or just 24-105(this one could be wide enough on FF)
But maybe I should hold my horses and just get good P&S ??
How is with you all and taking cameras for holidays ?
maybe I should add that after I come back, I off to Scotland and this time I will be taking 5d witm me...
Only lenses I have are 50 and 200mm...
Thanks for any words of advice
Lukas
 
I've just got back from Tenerife, and I left my DSLR at home, and just had my girlfriends Olympus point and shoot to play with. I wish I'd taken my camera, with just my Sigma 18-125mm lens, for landscapes and general walking about. In future, it will be going with me
 
I went on a big holiday last year and saw a few things i wish I had the dslr/lens stuff.. but for most of the holidays it was very hot and I was glad I wasnt lumping all the gear about... so in the end glad i didnt take it.

I am off to france for the week tommorow (sun) night and wasnt going to take it again.. But since I found there will be lots to photograph on tuesday as its bastille day I am now taking it.. maybe lock it up rest of week :)

Basically its lumping the kit round on a hot day thats the no-no for me on holiday.
 
I'd take it, buy a 24-105 (super lens, especially on a 5D - plenty wide @ 24mm) and keep the camera inside a plastic bag inside a camera case (which I might stick inside a rucksack) so I wouldn't worry about sand getting in.

Phil
 
well if you were to buy the oly pen anyway then that should cover most of the holiday snaps i'd say. I'm not sure either if I'd take the expensive kit on the road with me. but at the same time: isn't that just what you bought it for? I guess it depends also on how reliant you are on your kit. Is the 5dmk2 earning your income? Then I wouldn't risk it and rather get the pen or a smaller canon/nikon. If your kit isn't "mission critical" however I'd just make sure it's insurance covered (I'd mostly be thinking theft here, but also "negligence" e.g. dropping the whole shebang in the sand)

Edit: oh and about compacts: i have one and have barely ever touched it. whenever i took it instead of the dslr I was so annoyed later on by so many shot where I thought "this could have been such a great shot on the slr..."
 
thank you all...
No,Im not earning money with my camera...
I would like to get 24-105 but on the other hand it is not cheap and I would prefere 135L....
 
what's the point of having it if you don't take it with you to interesting places...?
 
Greece is full of wonderful pictures for you to find. I went a couple of years ago and had great fun just driving around Mykonos with my DSLR. Hardly spent any time on the beach, but that's me. A polariser turns those skies black.

I'd take the big camera for sure, but you need a more versatile lens. 24-105 is wonderful on full frame. It's not a toss up between that and a 135L - what use is that on holiday walkabout? And you'll have no fun at all trying to frame up with a compact and LCD - they are hopeless in bright sun, so make sure you have an optical viewfinder at least, on a compact or the Oly E-P1.
 
We just got back from Mallorca last night, and mine was left behind on the grounds that it was a family holiday and the wife said said she'd kill me if I took it.
Had the hump about being stuck with a P&S for about 4 hours after arrival, but it was so bleeding hot that we didn't really move far from either the beach or the pool so didn't have much to snap except the kids in any case. Got a few proper photo's with the P&S, and was glad not to have had the worry of carrying the SLR around for two weeks.

Having said that though, Greece is a bit different in that it's got more photo ops than the Pie and Chips resorts..........
 
I went on holiday once and left the dslr at home and took a reasonable point and shoot.

I spent the whole holiday wishing I had my camera and struggled to get shots I knew would be easy on it.

Make room for it and take it as hand luggage.
 
Took A DSLR to spain once had to leave it in the car for a short time, got back to the car window smashed, slr gone, holiday insurance would not pay up, all was lost then rang my home insurance they said we will cover you to £1000, new DSLR, Pearl Insurance FANTASTIC.
 
Depends on how much you need a holiday. Its nice to relax kick back and do things differently than you would be when at home thats a holiday for me. If your always shooting at home then leave it at home and go and relax and enjoy yourself besides it can be a pain around the neck in a sunny place, always worried about getting sand everywhere, it gets hot so you put it under the sun lounger and cant relax incase spiro or his friends nick it, you leave it back in your locked room or hotel and all you do is think about it all day.............jeex you need a holiday to get over the stress sometimes.

My advice leave it at home take a p+s and enjoy the snap shots you take

Dave(y)
 
Take the camera but do a lot of research to find out what else to take - taking everything is often overkill, but if you're not careful you'll find yourself wishing for the things you've left behind
 
Arkady said:
what's the point of having it if you don't take it with you to interesting places...?
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:agree:

This is the point where I think that all the discussions about getting expensive fast glass and upgrading bodies to the best look silly if your too worried to take the stuff with you!
The best kit is the stuff you use all the time and take everywhere...... and a Nikon 18-200 VR seems like a good investment for just this occasion!

My two penn'th!

Allan
 
I would take your DSLR with you, I mean after all Greece is FULL of history and I can only imagine what kind of photos you might get out there with the DSLR, after all you might not get a chance to go back there so go enjoy your holiday and get some great pics.

My DSLR I recently purchased along with two lenses was specifically bought for my recent motorcycling trip from Scotland to Barcelona and back (went to see the MOTO GP at Catalunya) and I obviously had them in the bags on the bike, I never regretted having it at all... (thats half my excuse for getting all that equipment... the other half is because I love photography)

You know you want to take it with you :D
 
I didnt take mine last time i went on holiday and i did miss it, but it wasnt a "oh damn i really need my camera now" as i had my parents P&S which was half decent so that did the job. Next time though I think I'm gonna get my own P&S for the job.
 
allanm said:
This is the point where I think that all the discussions about getting expensive fast glass and upgrading bodies to the best look silly if your too worried to take the stuff with you!
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To be fair bastic does say that they will be spending 'most of the time at the beach'.

So not only do some people buy kit they are scared to use, they take holidays and avoid looking for pictures. :wacky:
 
I think you have to take a camera of some description- you could pick up a cheapy Canon body (20/30/40D)- and use the same lens with it- if your worried about wrecking it- otherwise a G10 maybe? Or- take it, lock it in the hotel safe, and take it out when your not going to the beach :)
 
I always have the same problem.

Sometimes I take my Nikon 8800 as I can get all, except action shots, just as good as my DSLR.

However sods law says there will always be a few action shots I want to take.

I also take it hard looking through an electronic viewfinder or waiting for the picture to load onto the CF card.

On the other hand, galloping around in hot climes with a rucksack full of lenses etc. is not much fun either.

So this year I will be taking my DSLR and all the gubbins but transfering the body, only a couple of lightweight lenses, a battery and CF cards to a wee camera case.

This means I can take in the sights without undue strain on the back yet still have the rest of my gear back on the ship if needed.
 
I'm off to Italy pretty shortly and I'll be taking my LX3 for evenings or when I need a less conspicuous camera and the dSLR for everything else. I can't help but think that when you get there you might regret not taking the dSLR with you.
 
You're all missing the point - get the 135L, cracking bit of the kit - then you'll have to take the 5D for a holiday (y)
 
I'm going on a cruise in the Med later in the year, and the 5D mk II is coming with me - literally, I won't let it out of my sight :D

Jimi Hendrix used to take his guitar with him everywhere..

Sometimes you have to suffer for your art :nuts:

A.
 
Anorakus said:
I'm going on a cruise in the Med later in the year, and the 5D mk II is coming with me - literally, I won't let it out of my sight :D

Jimi Hendrix used to take his guitar with him everywhere..

Sometimes you have to suffer for your art :nuts:

A.
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When i was working on the cruise we saw a few people carrying cameras around, they were all lovely. Who are you going with?
 
I went to Crete for a couple of weeks last month, taking with me my camera and 4 lenses, one of them being the 120-300 which is a heavy beast. I must say that the 120-300 didn't get any use at all, except from one day when I went for birding, but I would really regret it if I hadn't taken the rest of the gear with me. I even hiked the Samaria Gorge, which took be about 7 hours, lugging around the camera with the 10-20 and the 35-105 and I didn't regret it one bit, and walking that long under the sun at 32 degrees was no easy feat, but one of the main reasons I did the hike was for the photo ops, and it was worth it. Where in Greece are you travelling?
 
i get most of my best pics on holiday - i wouldn't dream of not taking at least my body & 50mm.

as suggested be wary when leaving it in an appartment (often unsecure) or obviously on the beach if swimming.
 
stylgeo said:
Where in Greece are you travelling?
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Corfu.
I know for sure that I will do my best trying to get nice shots of sunsets :) ..my lady of course :love: and maybe some bits and pieces of landscape but its not my fav thing to shoot

I will rent a car for a day or two and go around the island.

If I get 24-105 from Stewart then I will buy and take with me 135L as well..if not I will just take my 50 with me :)
 
If you are worried about taking the 5D2 then, instead of a PEN, why not get get yourself a nice little Rebel with IS kit lens and it will do double duty as a backup to your 5D2. At least you won't fret so much about the camera getting damaged at the beach etc., or the value of it if it gets stolen. It will also be nice and light and fairly compact, will add to your "system" rather than taking you down some alternative avenue. It's half the price of the PEN and, since neither will fit a trouser pocket, I don't see that you lose out much by getting a "proper" camera that takes lenses you will own and continue to acquire in the future, plus a nice Canon external flash.

I certainly wouldn't want to pay twice the price just to save a few mm and g and then end up with something that was incompatible with everything else I owned. As an avid DSLR user I can't abide point and shoots, even though I own two. I hate them both. Speaking personally I'd rather use a DSLR or nothing.
 
I have taken My dslr on the majority of my recent travels,Including NY and Australia.

I also took my Tripod on both ventures, I would say take your camera without doubt.
Check your housing insurance, as this should cover it.
I had the option of locking my kit in the room safe, I also took a pack safe which is a wire mesh which would deter the casual thief.
Also had a padlock on my bag just incase.

I would check your carry on allowance as each airline varies their allowance.

Go on take it with you you will regret it if you don`t.....
 
TG. said:
:plus1:
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:plus1:

I took my 20d away a couple of years ago with me 70-200 and 28-105 to greece on a sailing holiday and would have regretted it if I hadn't, the scenery is great!! As a few others have said make sure your insurance covers it though, if you are going on home insurance read the small print, I know I ended up getting my seperate camera insurance as even though a camera was covered on my home insurance it was only covered as 1 item so if 3 lenses, body, flash, bag were lost only classed as camera gear so i would have potentially lost a fortune!

have a good holiday :)
 
if your still unsure, another option could be to pick up a bridge camera. I have the Lumix FZ28. It is great, the zoom on it is stunning (27mm-468mm). It has the DSLR feel to it and some very similar functions. I picked mine up for £200, and it has kicked my compact (Canon IXUS 75) out of my kit bag.
 
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