What equipment for a trip to Americas National Parks?

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RegG

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We have just booked a once in a lifetime trip to the National Parks of America (Grand Canyon, Yellowstone etc) next May. I would appreciate advice as to whether I should take my Canon EOS 400d with 18-55mm and 55-250mm lenses or consider buying a decent compact. The latter solution would make be less bulky, obviously, but which compact would do the job well?

Any advice greatfully received! :)
 
As has been said by somebody else in another thread in reply to a similar question - what's the point of buying a multi-hundred pound dslr and kit then leaving it behind in favour of a crappy compact? And yes, you can spend the best part of 3 or 4 hundred on a decent compact but it will still be crap compared to a dslr.

You've booked a "once in a lifetime" trip. Do it justice and take the proper camera. So let's not have any more discussion on what compact to buy. Problem sorted. :D
 
Surely there is only one type of camera to use for the National Parks:

ansel1.jpg


Credit: Angus McDougall, http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/fullRecord.asp?id=37459
 
RegG said:
We have just booked a once in a lifetime trip to the National Parks of America (Grand Canyon, Yellowstone etc) next May. I would appreciate advice as to whether I should take my Canon EOS 400d with 18-55mm and 55-250mm lenses or consider buying a decent compact. The latter solution would make be less bulky, obviously, but which compact would do the job well?

Any advice greatfully received! :)
Click to expand...

Definitely not the compact. Consider buying (or renting) the Canon 10-22, 17-55 (both for Grand Canyon), 100-400 (for Yellowstone), or maybe the 70-200 f/2.8 L IS II + 2X converter. The wildlife may be some distance away, so you'll need the 400mm reach.
Buy a GOOD polarising filter and learn how to use it (maximum polarisation effect is not always a good thing!), it will help to saturate colours and increase contrast. Take grand canyon photos in the morning or evening.

Is your kit lens the non-IS version of the 18-55? If so, consider upgrading to the IS version for not much money.

Buy some extra memory cards and take lots of photos. :)
 
Check out lensrentals.com, they are US based so you won't have to fly with all the gear. They will ship to a UPS location near your hotel, the rental process is really simple. I got a Canon 800mm f/5.6 L from them earlier this year.
 
Depends on the kind of holiday you want to have. Are you going there primarily to take photos of the parks or are you going there to enjoy the parks and take a few photos along the way? If you really want good photos then you need the best gear you can get (probably including a decent tripod). If you want a great holiday with some snaps to remind you of the trip then I'd still take the DSLR for personal record shots but consider buying shots of the parks done by professionals. They have used their time and invested in the best gear to get the shots so you don't have to.

Each time I go on vacation I lug loads of gear but end up not using it because I am travelling with the family and don't get the time to take the shots properly. And if I do take some pics I am disappointed as they are too rushed.
 
Before you purchase or hire anything check the weight of what you want/need and fit this in with everything else you are taking with you or be prepared to pay for the extra weight.

Paul
 
As against buying a compact, what about a camcorder? I took one on my trip to the USA and have to say how much better it is to see a "movie" against a still. I would suggest you take your DSLR and like me a camcorder which fits easily into a pocket. I took my Panasonic HDC-SD600 and the results are TV quality.

Realspeed
 
Thanks for all the replies! I thought it would be a case of taking the dslr but wanted some 'expert' advice as I am still a novice with this camera. I have about six months to get to know it better though!

Thanks again to everyone :thumbs:
 
Just had an indepth conversation with the wife on this as we too are going to USA next year, MY advice is take the dslr and the wifes advice is you take the dslr for them arty farty photo's and get the wife to take the compact for the snapshots, she can be snapping away whilst you are setting up, there for not getting bored( her words not mine).

From our conversation this is what we will be doing, but we are hiring a car so luggage space is not an issue to take all the extras.

spike
 
User Name said:
Check out lensrentals.com, they are US based so you won't have to fly with all the gear. They will ship to a UPS location near your hotel, the rental process is really simple. I got a Canon 800mm f/5.6 L from them earlier this year.
Click to expand...
Wow, really? I know Roger (CEO of LensRentals) and I would never hesitate to recommend them to people in the USA, but I didn't know they would do that. Did you have to leave a big deposit?
 
StewartR said:
Wow, really? I know Roger (CEO of LensRentals) and I would never hesitate to recommend them to people in the USA, but I didn't know they would do that. Did you have to leave a big deposit?
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No special requirements at all. I went for the 4 day fully insured option and had asked for it to be shipped to my hotel (the Ritz Carlton Orlando, not some motel 6!) but they got in contact within minutes to say they didn't normally to ship to hotels because of the amount of stuff which goes missing in hotel store rooms.

They suggested the UPS location (dotted around the USA, there will always be one nearby). No problems at all, the lens came well packed and I just had to drop it off to UPS again and use the shipping label, UPS even took care of taping up the box.

I'd definitely recommend lensrentals.com too - they are a good company to deal with. :thumbs:
 
User Name said:
No special requirements at all....
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That is impressive.

We wouldn't have been able to do that, because our insurers wouldn't allow it - it's too risky for them. I guess that's a benefit LensRentals have by being big enough to be able to self-insure.

(And when you think about it, it's quite remarkable that LensRentals did it even so ... if you'd decided to bring the lens home with you, there would have been nothing they could do to prevent it and nothing they could do once you were back here.)
 
User Name said:
Definitely not the compact. Consider buying (or renting) the Canon 10-22, 17-55 (both for Grand Canyon), 100-400 (for Yellowstone), or maybe the 70-200 f/2.8 L IS II + 2X converter. The wildlife may be some distance away, so you'll need the 400mm reach.
Buy a GOOD polarising filter and learn how to use it (maximum polarisation effect is not always a good thing!), it will help to saturate colours and increase contrast. Take grand canyon photos in the morning or evening.

Is your kit lens the non-IS version of the 18-55? If so, consider upgrading to the IS version for not much money.

Buy some extra memory cards and take lots of photos. :)
Click to expand...

:thumbs:
Just what I thought. You need to cater for stunning panoramic views (ultra wide angle), right through great group shots, to the once in a lifetime shot of a soaring eagle (400 plus).
A compact will not reflect anything of you as the photographer, and how many images will be worth printing large enough to put on a wall?
 
User Name said:
Buy a GOOD polarising filter and learn how to use it (maximum polarisation effect is not always a good thing!), it will help to saturate colours and increase contrast. Take grand canyon photos in the morning or evening.

Is your kit lens the non-IS version of the 18-55? If so, consider upgrading to the IS version for not much money.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your advice. Just a couple of questions, if I may.....

Can you suggest a polarising filter that would be suitable?

My 18-55 lens is the non-IS version. Would there be any other benefits (apart from the image stabilisation) by upgrading to this lens?

Apologies if the questions are basic but I am very new to this hobby! :)
 
With out a doubt the dSLR, and you'll need much longer at Yellowstone than you think, it's an awesome place.
Old Faithful is not the best geyser by a LONG LONG way, DO NOT park on the car park, watch Old Faithfull and then drive off, make sure you have a good walk around the area and then visit the other geysers in Yellowstone, 4 Days MINIMUM in Yellowstone.



You'll a HUGE number of memory cards if your doing ALL the NPs in the USA :lol:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
RegG said:
Thanks for your advice. Just a couple of questions, if I may.....

Can you suggest a polarising filter that would be suitable?

My 18-55 lens is the non-IS version. Would there be any other benefits (apart from the image stabilisation) by upgrading to this lens?

Apologies if the questions are basic but I am very new to this hobby! :)
Click to expand...

dpreview has this to say about the IS version:
http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/canon_18-55_3p5-5p6_is_c16/page5.asp
dpreview said:
* Much improved optics compared to Canon's previous non-IS 18-55mm kit lens
* Effective image stabilisation

Overall conclusion

The EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 looks destined to carry the flag as the kit lens sold with virtually every Canon dSLR over the next few years (and that counts as an awful lot of lenses), so it really needs to perform well in the face of some impressive competition. Fortunately for them, Canon have indeed upped the ante with this new lens; it's much better than its predecessor, especially in terms of sharpness in the corners and at wider apertures, and with reduced chromatic aberrations to boot. Indeed overall it's an extremely well-behaved little lens, with very few nasty surprises for the user, and a remarkably good image stabilisation unit; indeed Canon's main concern may ultimately become whether users have as much incentive to upgrade to more expensive optics as they did before.[/dpreview]

Sharpness of the non-IS 18-55 has never been its strong point, so for not much money you're getting better sharpness and IS.

Try this for a suitable polarising filter:
http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-hoya-58mm-circular-polariser/p1519055

or

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-hoya-58mm-uv-hrt-circular-polariser/p1519047

A circular polariser will increase colour saturation and make your blue skies more blue. :)
Click to expand...
 
User Name said:
dpreview has this to say about the IS version:
http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/canon_18-55_3p5-5p6_is_c16/page5.asp
dpreview said:
* Much improved optics compared to Canon's previous non-IS 18-55mm kit lens
* Effective image stabilisation

Overall conclusion

The EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 looks destined to carry the flag as the kit lens sold with virtually every Canon dSLR over the next few years (and that counts as an awful lot of lenses), so it really needs to perform well in the face of some impressive competition. Fortunately for them, Canon have indeed upped the ante with this new lens; it's much better than its predecessor, especially in terms of sharpness in the corners and at wider apertures, and with reduced chromatic aberrations to boot. Indeed overall it's an extremely well-behaved little lens, with very few nasty surprises for the user, and a remarkably good image stabilisation unit; indeed Canon's main concern may ultimately become whether users have as much incentive to upgrade to more expensive optics as they did before.[/dpreview]

Sharpness of the non-IS 18-55 has never been its strong point, so for not much money you're getting better sharpness and IS.

Try this for a suitable polarising filter:
http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-hoya-58mm-circular-polariser/p1519055

or

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-hoya-58mm-uv-hrt-circular-polariser/p1519047

A circular polariser will increase colour saturation and make your blue skies more blue. :)
Click to expand...

Many thanks, that has been very helpful. :thumbs:
Click to expand...
 
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