Is this a good setup for a round the world trip?

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I recently made the decision to fly round the world on a kind of mega photography journey, so I figured I needed some robust equipment. I'm leaving in February.

Isael-India-Cambodia-Thailand-Vietnam-Tokyo-Los Angeles-New York-Home

I have decided to purchase:

Canon 50d
10-22 lens
24-70 L Lens

Would you say I have all bases covered, and are the three items rugged enough to withstand a years worth of what is to be likely dusty and humid travel?
 
Sorry, forgot to add, I have an extremely crap 55-250 lens from my 450d that I will be taking, just to cover the long range stuff I might shoot. I couldn't stretch to decent tele lens because I gave myself a limit of two grand. So I sort of have long range covered.
 
I know nothing of kit that uses the 'C' word but...

...I also saw your itinery and I am sooooo jealous :sulk:


Have a great trip !!
 
What about things like memory cards, hard disk back-ups and batteries? What kind of stuff you bringing along for that? Also, what about your camera bag?
 
None of that is an issue at the moment, those are the small, cheaper things I have to factor. I'm just concerned with the camera and lenses.

It's not enough to pick them up in the shop and mess about with them, I need to know if I can use them in 97% humidity for extended periods without them exploding, or can I use them in a desert without them cracking up.
 
lol, yeah, don't think I'm not ready to jump about like a lunatic and start cheering. I'm ready leave right now!

For the memory cards, I had this idea: Taking a small notebook with me and then using the notebook to burn a DVDD of my days shooting and then post home the DVD's at the end of every month, as well as keeping them on the notebook harddrive.

I think that's a pretty good idea. It's a tricky scenario that requires some thought, either way though.
 
Sorry to bang on about other considerations apart from camera/lenses but if you are looking for cheap, portable back-up options check out the new Acer Aspire One netbooks.

I am typing this on one I got my wife for her birthday (pink unfortunately). For about £270 you get it with windows xp, one gig of ram and a 160gb hard drive. Pretty cheap back-up device and is a full blown laptop as well.
 
leave1 said:
Sorry, forgot to add, I have an extremely crap 55-250 lens from my 450d that I will be taking, just to cover the long range stuff I might shoot. I couldn't stretch to decent tele lens because I gave myself a limit of two grand. So I sort of have long range covered.
Click to expand...

Is that 55-250 full frame compatible or is it EF-S? I wouldn't want to go round the world without a moderate telephoto, if money is tight it might be worth considering the old Canon EF 70-210 either the F4 or the F3.5-4.5

Enjoy your trip you jamy git!
 
subseasniper said:
Sorry to bang on about other considerations apart from camera/lenses but if you are looking for cheap, portable back-up options check out the new Acer Aspire One netbooks.

I am typing this on one I got my wife for her birthday (pink unfortunately). For about £270 you get it with windows xp, one gig of ram and a 160gb hard drive. Pretty cheap back-up device and is a full blown laptop as well.
Click to expand...

Pink or not - that is soooooo cheap compared to the last portable I dismissed for being too crap/rubbish

I want one now - even in pink !!!

DD
 
Personally, I think you should get yourself a decent compact too. Something like a Canon G9 or G10 maybe.

A small camera will give you oportunities to take shots that you won't be able to get with an SLR. Simply because you will have your compact with you more than you will have the SLR and all the lenses.

Besides, good compacts are capable of great results these days.
 
Despite the extra weight and bulk, I highly recommend two cameras for a once in a lifetime trip like this (at least it would be once in a lifetime for me).

Two cameras are an insurance policy against missing photo coverage of your trip.

I carried a 30D and a 40D on a ten day trip to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula and fell on a slippery slope the first day of the trip. I broke the 40D but, the 30D saved me from missing out on coverage of that interesting and photogenic trip. BTW, the 40D is fine now after a trip to the Canon Doctors...

Murphy's Law Of Photography states: "The possibility of a piece of equipment failing is in a direct relationship to the importance of the shoot and in an inverse relationship to the availability of spare equipment."

Additionally, it is neat to shoot with two cameras which reduces the need to swap lenses.

I am glad you are taking a tele lens. I find a telephoto lens very important in the Orient for "stealing" portraits of people while they are unaware of the camera.
 
You'll be fine with the kit you're taking. If you find you need anything else you'll be able to pick it up without too much difficulty wherever you are. Non of the places you're going to are 'remote' in the grand sceme of things.

Re: sending images home. Burn them to 2 CD/DVD's. Post one set home and keep the other (backup) set with you until you know the first set have arrived home safely. Then send that second CD/DVD home with the next batch.

Have fun.
 
subseasniper said:
Sorry to bang on about other considerations apart from camera/lenses but if you are looking for cheap, portable back-up options check out the new Acer Aspire One netbooks.

I am typing this on one I got my wife for her birthday (pink unfortunately). For about £270 you get it with windows xp, one gig of ram and a 160gb hard drive. Pretty cheap back-up device and is a full blown laptop as well.
Click to expand...

Only trouble with them is if you want to burn a cd/dvd then you need an external dvd writer as they dont even have a cd drive with them.
Only other option would be to buy cheap sandisk pen drives. Plug them into the acer and rip 2,4 or 8gb of images to it and send it home. More space then a standard dvd. Then if you are sending it home, and someone will be there to open it, they can confirm that it has arrived safely.
Example:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-SDC...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1232530117&sr=8-22


Mike
 
a1ex2001 said:
Is that 55-250 full frame compatible or is it EF-S? I wouldn't want to go round the world without a moderate telephoto, if money is tight it might be worth considering the old Canon EF 70-210 either the F4 or the F3.5-4.5

Enjoy your trip you jamy git!
Click to expand...

jsut out of curiosity why does EF or EFs matter. Some report it as a good lens, ok its not L lens quality but not bad enough to ruin the photos.
 
theres always uploading to online storage, so you shoot, dump onto lappy, transfer online at the next internet cafe, you could also rig up your home pc as accessible online to dump too (might be worth getting a techy to do that for you and explain how to use it as it can get fairly complicated and is beyond me)
 
Actually, david has a good point. If you have a website, why not get an ftp and dump your pics on there. Or maybe get a cheap one and do that, good way to store online and then there are no problems. Just means you need net access
 
rpcrowe: Gonna be taking my 450d and a couple of basic lenses with me, too. I totally agree about having a backup.

MJ Stabbinsgs: I only shoot raw, and aim to fill at least one card a day on my journey. Even if I only take 100 pictures per day, I'm looking at uploading 2gb per day to a maximum of 8gb. It's not feasible.
 
33L said:
jsut out of curiosity why does EF or EFs matter. Some report it as a good lens, ok its not L lens quality but not bad enough to ruin the photos.
Click to expand...


The 55-250 IS EFS is a very good lens, I've got one and swear by it!! Sure, its not an L but TBH apart from focusing speed I cant tell the end results apart from my mates L series 70-200 (expects flaming...), and in fact on a recent trip to the Nurburgring I ended up witht he better images! For the money its brill IMO.
 
leave1 said:
None of that is an issue at the moment, those are the small, cheaper things I have to factor. I'm just concerned with the camera and lenses.

It's not enough to pick them up in the shop and mess about with them, I need to know if I can use them in 97% humidity for extended periods without them exploding, or can I use them in a desert without them cracking up.
Click to expand...

You should have no problems with humidity if your careful. Moving from Air Conditioned rooms to the street it is essential to give the camera time to acclimatise and avoid condensation. Buy some JIFFY bags and keep your gear sealed inside until needed and them give 30 minutes inside the sealed bag for it to be good to go. I have travelled a lot in SEA and never had a problem. touch wood, with any of my Canon gear...:thumbs:

PS the gear you are looking at should be OK, don't carry to much, but a second body would be ideal or at least a Point and Shoot, just in case
 
I may be more inclined to go for a 17-70mm as opposed to 10-22mm then you have landscapes covered and portraiture, and then go for a 70-200m/300mm for the long end, just my thoughts though :)
 
i think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how tough some camera gear is.

my nikon d70 has been to 45 degree heat in papua new guinea, humidity in singapore, done 6000 miles around india through deserts and the ice cold himalayas on the back of a 2 stroke motorbike renowned for shaking screws from cameras, -25 in the alps, to the sahara, safari in south african heat and dust and more...

i don't treat it well, it still works.

your lenses sound good, and i'm sure your kit will be better sealed than mine.
 
following this thread with interest as im about to do the same thing. Off on a 6 month to 1 year trip round central america, south america new zealand and poss anywhere else.

Your taking a lot less kit than me and im wondering whether im overdoing it.

40D / 400D
Sigma 10-20
Canon 24-105L F4
Canon 70-300IS or 55-250IS
Canon 50m 1.8
1.4 TC
light weight Tripod / Gorilla pod
430Ex
Off shoe flash cord
ND Grads
Cleaning gear
UV / Polarizers
Apple Laptop or small notebook
Card reader
Decent rucksac

Also taking a sony handycam tg3 highdef camcorder

which leaves anough room for a pair of flipflops, a pair of shorts, 2 t shirts and 1 sock:lol:...oh well....


On reflection its just about everything I own!! Just dont want to miss that picture opportunity. Think I need to be sensible and scale back a bit though!

I like the idea of burning to 2 dvd's, posting one home and when confirmed safe posting the second with the next batch.

Also, that G10 looks pretty nifty......

I think theres a sticky thread opportunity here.....TRAVEL KIT - the dos and donts, hints and tips!

Mods....fancy adding a sticky?

Anyways, ill be interested to see your final choice. May be worth doing a small 'dummy trip'. Pack ity all in a bag for a weekend, along with all the other stuff you would carry and wander about for a while. See how heavy, cumbersome, or practical at all really is.
 
sounds good, and light option too
 
Travel as light as possible, would be my personal opinion. The important part is to enjoy the trip, capturing the moments is a nice bonus in a situation like that in my opinion.

If I was doing it I would sell all my lens, buy myself a Nikon 18-200 VR and put the remainder into some additional experiences whilst away (helicopter flights, bungie jump, whatever)...something like the 18-200 VR would be more than adequate for 99% of the things you are going to want to shoot and won't hinder you as it's very compact. So D90, 18-200 VR, Gorillapod and a shed load of memory, I've just remembered that would cover being able to use the video mode as well, bonus!

I don't know enough about the Canon range to suggest anything in that respect, but the theory is sound...travel as light as possible.
 
33L said:
jsut out of curiosity why does EF or EFs matter. Some report it as a good lens, ok its not L lens quality but not bad enough to ruin the photos.
Click to expand...

My bad, I read the OP as 5D so it would have made a difference.
 
ukaskew said:
Travel as light as possible, would be my personal opinion. The important part is to enjoy the trip, capturing the moments is a nice bonus in a situation like that in my opinion.

If I was doing it I would sell all my lens, buy myself a Nikon 18-200 VR and put the remainder into some additional experiences whilst away (helicopter flights, bungie jump, whatever)...something like the 18-200 VR would be more than adequate for 99% of the things you are going to want to shoot and won't hinder you as it's very compact. So D90, 18-200 VR, Gorillapod and a shed load of memory, I've just remembered that would cover being able to use the video mode as well, bonus!

I don't know enough about the Canon range to suggest anything in that respect, but the theory is sound...travel as light as possible.
Click to expand...

Thats not actually bad advice, I'd throw in a nifty fifty for low light work and when you want to be even more light weight.
 
Have you thought about an 18-200 or similar ?
one lens, less weight to carry, less mucking about changing lenses (especially in potentially dusty conditions)

just a thought !
 
Right, this kit I just bought...

What lunatic suggested the 24-70 lens would be good for this kind of trip? I should've mentioned that I didn't need the lens to fight off wild bears or trip up elephants. When he pulled it out of the box to show me, I thought he was pulling out a massive plastic case. No, it was the lens.

Oh, and the lens hood. Stolen directly from the table outside an ice cream van. This thing could block a solar flare on Mercury.

The 10-22 is great though. Love that crazy angle at the short end. Can't believe you don't get a hood for the price, though. Pretty cheeky, that is.

Seriously, though, love the whole kit. Well happy with my purchase. The 24-70 should've come with it's own rucksack, though. And possibly a small donkey to carry it.
 
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