What would you do - trip to Indonesia

[Nawty]

Ok, so I've had my trip to Indonesia confirmed - I'll be traveling from Jakarta through the cities (using trains) down to Bali and back and then over to Sumatra for a few more cities. It's a work trip so I'll be chaperoned but will be 'in amongst the locals' as it were.

The question is, what kit do I take - I have two options.

D60, 10-20, 35, 55-200

Or

D700, 18-35, 50, 70-300 (and prob a 35mm f2 as well).

My head is telling me to take the D60 (or I could take the D3100 from work) as it will weigh a lot less and has less value (although it will all be covered through my home insurance) but my heart is saying this is exactly why I bought the D700.

What would you do?

 

[Canon Bob]

I'm going to guess that you're asking from a safety point of view?
I worked there in 2007 and, despite obvious poverty, it didn't seem that there was any threat and it was pleasant and uniimidating to walk about in the evenings. The tourist areas may be different but my glimpse of "real" Indonesia showed it to be relatively friendly and safe.

HTH
Bob

 

[Nawty]

It wasn't so much from the safety point of view, I've traveled quite a bit in some supposedly dodgy places and have never really felt threatened; in fact, I expect Indonesia to be safer than walking around London with a flash camera.

I'm not really sure what I'm asking it's just a head vs. heart situation and I guess I'm looking for someone to give me a rational reason to take the D700

 

[Canon Bob]

Ah, sorry. I'm no really with it as far as your kit goes so I'd just take the best setup for city/street stuff.....the 1Ds3 (FF) in my (Canon) world.

Bob

 

[Craikeybaby]

Take it! I wouldn't take too many lenses though...

 

[Nawty]

That's the thing, with the D60 I can cover 15-300mm FX equivalent for the weight of the D700 and lens (I exaggerate but...).

90% of what I take is wide angle but I don't want to be caught short.

 

[simonblue]

Sorry but I would have to take 2 bodies with me,if I only had to take one it would have to be the D700,more reliable.

Having travel by both train & bus thought out Indonesia,I was traveling very cheaply,they can be very crowded,some of the time it was just an open cattle car,and you can be very crowded in,but have to say did not have a lot of problems,most people were very kind to me

 

[jamesoliverstone]

After travelling around the world with my D700, I would say leave it at home. Its too damn heavy (which is exactly why I have sold it) and take a lighter body. Even a couple of kilos can make all the difference when travelling.

 

[Nawty]

Having travel by both train & bus thought out Indonesia,I was traveling very cheaply,they can be very crowded,some of the time it was just an open cattle car,and you can be very crowded in,but have to say did not have a lot of problems,most people were very kind to me

That sounds like my idea of a great trip, I think we'll be using a fair amount of trains

After travelling around the world with my D700, I would say leave it at home. Its too damn heavy (which is exactly why I have sold it) and take a lighter body. Even a couple of kilos can make all the difference when travelling.

I followed your selling up etc and if it were a long trip I'd be inclined to agree but as it's a work trip it should all be pretty comfortable so I think whatever I can fit in my Thinktank Retrospective 10 should be fine.

I think my mind's made up. Take the D700, UWA and primes and stick the tele-zoom in the backpack.

Edit: next problem; what to wear, currently it's 30 degrees and chucking it down

 

[simonblue]

Never worry to much about what to wear,you can alway pick things up along the way,I have really have travelled on the cheap,so smelling a bit,or not quite clean clothes

 

[simonblue]

After travelling around the world with my D700, I would say leave it at home. Its too damn heavy (which is exactly why I have sold it) and take a lighter body. Even a couple of kilos can make all the difference when travelling.

I can see where your coming from on a world trip,done it a few times.

I would say if your going just to take photos,take a full kit.

If a mix of both travelling & photo,take as much as you can carry.

If just travelling,and just want to take a few good photos,look at a mirrorless camera.

 

[woof woof]

Personally I'd take a camera with a fast prime and a general purpose set up.

I've just got back from Kazakhstan and took the following...

5D+50mm f1.4.
GF1+20mm f1.7.
LX5.

The 5D was for a specific use and that's all it got used for. The rest of the time the smaller cameras were my choice.

 

[Nawty]

So, I decided to take the D700 but on the second day in, i.e. yesterday, i get an FEE error, to say I'm annoyed is an understatement as it hasn't even got wet :thumbsdown: :bang:

I did bring my S90 too but I didn't bring the charger as I wasn't expecting to have to use it.

update: it seems to work with AF-S lenses (and probably AFG too) so maybe my best way out is to buy either an AF-S nifty, now quite as wide as I'd like but at least a workable solution.

 

[boyfalldown]

So, I decided to take the D700 but on the second day in, i.e. yesterday, i get an FEE error, to say I'm annoyed is an understatement as it hasn't even got wet :thumbsdown: :bang:

.

That's cause your using an old af d lens and you've not got the aperture ring locked in position at the minimum (f/22?) aperture. Take you 2 seconds to fix

 

[Nawty]

No it's not, that's the first thing I checked - all my AFD lenses are doing it. The AFS lenses don't need the finder pin to work

 

[boyfalldown]

Thats odd then - that suggests your AFD lens aren't coupling to the body properly. In which case I'd guess its either damage to the coupling tab thingy (outside of the lens mount on the body) or there is a menu option that allows you to use the appeture ring on the lens rather then the control wheel.s Its unlikely you'd change this though.

One other thought would be if the lens wasn't reporting itself properly to the camera as an AFD lens, but that seems unlikely as its all of them