RTW traveling, new camera/bag ideas ?

saxk

saxk

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Brad 'Electron-Don' Foster
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hi all,

as some of you know im going round the world in September for up to two yars.:woot:

now as you can imagine my bag is going to be pretty tight, with two years worth of clothes and equipment. i dont really have room for my 30D, 2 lenses, 3 batteries, flash, tripod, etc etc.

so my plan is to leave all that gear at home, and buy a Bridge camera. so i have the feel and manual settings of a DSLR, but a 10X zoom in one compact camera.

now i have had fuji S5500 and S5600 in the past, but now ive had the 30D, i want something with a little more size, and preferably a manual zoom.

so i have been looking at the S9500/9600 (£160ish) and the S100fd (£350ish)

i really dont want to spend £350 as its only a temp camera, ill be trying to buy one second hand, as to save some money.

i was wondering if anyone has used these two cameras mentioned or has any other ideas of cameras that would fit my criteria.

which are :-

10x zoom min
F2.8 at wide end
1600 iso or higher
8mpx
fixed front lens

cheers

brad
 
well if i was traveling light i would take my just purchased canon g9 its tough as a brick
shoots great pics.
i would also take my olympus 1030 which is also tough and waterproof 10m so great when on boats or in the sea

what i wouldnt know what to do is how to store the pictures as i went along for 2 years?
 
cheers ditch, im planning on taking a 100gb+ laptop hdd in a caddy
 
Have you considered an olympus slr? they do the e420 that is tiny but would still give you better quality than a bridge camera, oly's kit lenses get very well reviewed. I had a Fuji S9600 before my 30D and I could never go back as the massive dof at all aperatures takes away to many creative options.
 
why not get a nififty fifty and a 18-200 lens for your 30d and just take them without the other lenses? should fall in budget and hopefully be better than the bridge camera
 
the 30d is very heavy, add two lenses with that, battery charger etc its over 1kg.

im not really fussed on amazing quality, its what the pictures are of and the composition not the quality of the shot. of course i dont want it to look crap, like a phone camera lol but my s5600 took some of the best images i have.
 
what i would look into, i seen it on a photo blog was a neat portable
solar battery charger you can even put the panel outside your rucsack
so walking and chargeing
 
I'm about to go to New Zealand / Oz as I'm emigrating but will be travelling for 6+ months. I've only recently got into DSLRs so I sold all the kit I had accumulated and instead will just be taking my A200 with 18-250 lens, a CPL filter and my Gorillapod SLR zoom with 484RC2 ballhead.

Hoping that will cover all bases although the closer I get the more I wish I'd stayed with P&S as they are so much easier to carry ;)
 
yer im really stuck for what to do
 
2 years of clothes? That should be 2 sets of everything...the ones you are wearing and the ones you are washing ;)
 
saxk said:
yer im really stuck for what to do
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What I have been doing is packing my backpack ready and seeing how I feel with it. At the moment I'm OK but after not using my DSLR for a few weeks, I picked it up yesterday and forgot how heavy and bulky it is.

As you've got a 30D just get yourself a 18-250 or similar lens to cover all ranges and leave the rest of the kit at home.
 
I Have to say im a bit lost!

If I where you... ok i've never travelled for that length of time... but I've done allot of travel... up to 1 month at a time... I would take your current kit as is... in the right sort of camera bag.... A lowepro type orion treker which I have... This becomes your hand luggage. I've always carryed at least 10Kg of camera equipment with me when travelling and found that fine... are you a man or a mouse...

As for your main bag... cut down on the clothes and pack the tripod and lap top in there.... if you are needing space... or you feel its to heavy... say over 21Kg... then loose the clothes... you can buy them cheap as you go...

Buying a camera abroad is frought with problems regarding warrantys etc... and the charger will come for use in one country and you might find it hard in certain places getting travel... travel photography is fast... things pop up and you need to be ready or you will miss them... If you want to save weight the superzoom suggestion is good... but i've tryed it and after the trip ended up selling my superzoom... Personally i'd rather carry the higher quality and faster lenses...

That's just my two pence worth.... I just dont get your need to travel so light....

Especially on a trip like that... where if anything you will have more time between destinations... It sounds like the best advice I can give you is that rather than look for a new camera... look for an ideal set of travel bag and camera bag which suits the needs of taking your existing equipment!

Mark
 
I've just purchased a North Face Surge backpack which hold my MBP nicely in its own compartment, then in the main bit my my other day stuff I've got a Crumpler Muffin Top 4000 bag with my A200 and "curled up" Gorilliapod and ballhead. Seems alright so far for me so I'd agree, its all in the baggage really.
 
saxk said:
.... or has any other ideas of cameras that would fit my criteria.

which are :-

10x zoom min
F2.8 at wide end
1600 iso or higher
8mpx
fixed front lens
Click to expand...
Used Canon A650 IS - only a 6x zoom with 35-210mm equivalence, f/2.8-4.8, 80 to 1600 ISO, 12MP. dunno what you mean by a 'fixed front lens'.

The big plus for the Canon is that it runs on 4xAA's - batteries that you can literally find anywhere if you get stuck - and it would be easier to carry a portable charger for them and for the cells that power your radio/hair trimmer/what-have-you than lug along yet another adapter do-dad. The Canon also has a swing-out screen and you can get a wide lens adapter (WC-DC58B costs @£70) for it allowing a 26mm equivalence.
 
you can probably cut most of the clothes out, depending on where you're going and how much you smell, buy out there just make sure you have a good waterproof kit and a collection of decent trousers - shirts etc are easier to buy than trousers. I went to asia for 6 months and I think I took about 5 t-shirts and 2 pairs of jeans and two walking trousers 2 pairs of shorts - very light. Make sure you buy something like montane terra pants that will dry in about an hour from soaking in a hotel room.

I'd take decent camera kit with a wide angle and walkaround loads of cf cards and burn them onto cd at internet cafes when you run low.
 
I know where you coming from this, it is difficult to decide what to do. I am having the same trouble, deciding how to pack for my 6 month trip down to asia and back. To be honest though the last thought in my mind is leaving any of my equipment at home, i'm taking my Nikon D3 + 28-70 + 70-200. even if i have to travel with less clothes.

You have to think seriously about how you will be travelling and where you will be staying. I'm taking a Kata HB-205 backpack with a kata shoulder bag on a trolly and then a north face everest base camp bag.

If you are into photography, you will seriously regret not taking your DSLR with you. On my trip round africa, i left my 30D at home and took my bridge camera, after a week i was on the phone getting my mum to post my camera to me, picked it up from the post office in Tunis 7 days later :D.
 
wow alot of info there to absorb.

on the "why so light front" i have never been backpacking before, ive been all over Europe one summer but we had a car. so im not really sure how much i need and how much room/weight is available.

of course another issues is security, having a small camera its easy to keep on you all the time and stuff into safe places, lockers etc.

i really need to get a bag that i will go away with, my main travel bag, then have a pre pack so i have a good idea of what to take and how much room i will have.

are there any good backpacks that can fit my 30d and 2 lenses with charger etc, but still have a decetn sized day pack on top, and dont look to cameraery lol as a big "CANON" bag is begging to be stolen.

really appreciate all the input, its really got me thinking, now i jsut have to convince the missus that its worth taking.

off to look at bags !!
 
crumpler bags are great for not looking like camera bags. if you want the split-level sort of bags there's some tamrac ones about...forget their name but a quick google would sort that out. and go check cambags.com for some good reviews of lots of bags, although names and numbers of them change the general features and dimensions remain almost entirely the same!
 
thanks storm, good site, ive found a few that are suitable

i either need a bag that keeps the camera stuff at the bottom, or has a removable camera pouch so to speak


jsut weighed my stuff id take

body + battery + tamron 17-50mm -------1300grams
55-250mm -------400grams
Nifty -------200grams
filters -------120grams
remote -------80grams
memory -------35grams
charger + usb lead -------220grams
+
2355grams


which isnt alot, at a few as ive prob forgotten some other things but i think this will be doable with the right back pack setup.

what was i thinking going round the worls with out my beloved 30D
 
You lot must be a) a lot stronger and b) going to very 'nice' places - as when I did the 'travelling' lark the last thing I wanted to be lugging about was my old Nikon F kit worrying about getting robbed for it.

I sold it before I set off and bought an Olympus XA that did the job fine. Last time I went anywhere 'interesting' (Pakistan) I just took a Ricoh GR1s. Was perfect for the job.

If I were off somewhere now, I'd consider just taking a Panasonic LX3.

Just my 2p's worth.
 
My travelling isn't really travelling as such. I'm emigrating to Oz and travelling through Nz on the way, so we'll have a big bag each anyway, plus a backpack of stuff. We'll end up getting a cheap car / campervan so will always have somewhere to leave the big bags so in this case my DSLR should be fine.

If I was proper "backpacking" I'd not take the DSLR and would instead get something like the LX3 mentioned.
 
saxk said:
on the "why so light front" i have never been backpacking before, ive been all over Europe one summer but we had a car. so im not really sure how much i need and how much room/weight is available.
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Take less than you imagine you need - you'll still have too much and it will still be too heavy.
saxk said:
i really need to get a bag that i will go away with, my main travel bag, then have a pre pack so i have a good idea of what to take and how much room i will have.

are there any good backpacks that can fit my 30d and 2 lenses with charger etc, but still have a decetn sized day pack on top, and dont look to cameraery lol as a big "CANON" bag is begging to be stolen.

really appreciate all the input, its really got me thinking, now i jsut have to convince the missus that its worth taking.

off to look at bags !!
Click to expand...
I'd look at MLC sized bags - if you can get what you need in them (and you can) you are laughing at check-in (or rather walking past the queues at baggage reclaim!)
 
cheers voyager, thats how im thinking at the mo.

well andy, we are looking at getting a camper/car in oz for 6 + months, so we will have security then, but alot of the time we will be backpacking around asia, but i guess i could put up with it fir a few months.

been looking at the tamrac adventure 9

1017057.jpg


then i can keep my limited gear safe at the bottom, but have room for jumper, passport, money etc in the top compartment.

only thing is, when we are moving around, ill have my big pack on my back and this one on my chest, jsut alot of lugging. as what i was going to get was a travel bag, that has a day pack on the front, unless i can find a travel bag that has a day pack with a photo compartment, that would be idea, but i cant see it.
 
yep, thats the one I was thinking of. holds a bit or 'stuff' and your camera too :)
 
what i really want, but cant find as of yet, is a travel bag like this

Traveller55SL_1.jpg


but with this as a smaller bad that is attached, so i dont have to carry 2 backpacks

1017057.jpg
 
Are you planning to carry all your clothes and camera gear about with you all the time?
 
no, this is why i want the day pack that detaches so i can have my small gear and camera stuff in one small backpack for days out,
 
saxk said:
no, this is why i want the day pack that detaches so i can have my small gear and camera stuff in one small backpack for days out,
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Why not just get a 'day bag' and lob it in the rucksack/suitcase when you need to?
 
was thinking this, but once the camera is in it, its gona take up half or more of my main bag, not leaving me alot of room for all my other gear.

i could take a shoulder bag, but dont really want to carry one about, and not practical for long walks, also looks very easy to steal.
 
saxk said:
was thinking this, but once the camera is in it, its gona take up half or more of my main bag, not leaving me alot of room for all my other gear.

i could take a shoulder bag, but dont really want to carry one about, and not practical for long walks, also looks very easy to steal.
Click to expand...
Takes us back to 'you are taking too much camera gear' doesn't it? ;)
 
lol yer kinda.

i think if i got the tamrac adventure 6 i could put my camera in the bottom, fold up the top and stuff it in m big bag, then i have a very comfy sturdy bag, with nice safe camera area for long walks etc and days out.

ill still look for my ideal bag, but dont think its made, if not then this idea should work, ill have to get both bags and see how the fit together.
 
think the lowepro fast pack 100 or 200 will be prefect, as it has side entry, so the missus wont have to hold my bag all the time when i change lenses
 
Hi

You wont get a travel type bag from the big outdoor companies that a camera specific daypack will attach to... they dont do it...

However... I've had my Lowe Pro Orion Treker for over 10 years now... It's durability is under no question... I often attach it to my main bag for the travelling sections of my trips... although never check my camera in... There is enough loops at top and bottom that I customised a simple attachment via a few climbing straps and carabiners I bought in an outdoor shop. You might need to customise but its the best way as your needs are individual... a design is always catered for the mass market and the mass market dont carry SLR's... people who travel who love photography do!

I would honestly recoment you not to leave your DSLR at home... think what lenses you need... That bag you look to have seen looks a good one. And as you say it doesn't shout I'm a canon camera steel me!

Oh and the guy who said that I and the others must travel to more interesting places than him.... I dont agree... It's just we create more interesting images from the situations we are in... to me travel photography is the most demanding... as due to circumstance its rare you get a chance to revisit a situation... you have one chance and its all about capturing what you see... and making others who look at your photos almost feel the sceen and situation. To me good travel photography is educational above all and gives people who have not been there a real sense of what it feels like to be there... without getting on the plane!

A few other wee things to take with you you might not have thought about that in my experiance are invaluble to have.

A few bin liners, A roll of electrical tape, A travel plug combo set... dont assume you will be able to get them as you go, A few cable ties, a swiss army knife, small phillips and flathead screwdrivers, A sewing kit, A personally customised first aid kit (Complete essential... even more so than the camera!) and a Small torch
 
Oh and if in South America or South East Asia... Always carry your own toilet roll as even in public toilets in train stations etc... there is not much chance of there being loo roll....

... Im not sure what the locals do... and I dont want to think TBH!
 
cheers mark, great post, if i could find a thanks button, id hit it. lol

i think you have it on the money, there wont be the type of bag that i want, so i will have to make my own, im looking at the loewpro fastpack 100/200 as it has the side opening access. perfect for "whipping" it out lol

great tips on stuff to take, im a massive fan of electrical tape, its such amazing stuff, also cable ties, good thoughts on the basic tools, im going to invest in a nice "fake" leatherman.

good tip on toilet roll, ill remember that.
 
No problem... I wish I was in your shoes... A year away would be good....

At least i've my honeymoon to look forward to... although photography on that will be tricky as on shore in the med in the middle of the afternoon... the light does not leand itself to photography!

Mark
 
lol no, i spent 2 weeks going form Sardinia to greece a couple of summers ago on ym dads cat, had to wait for the sun to go down to get any sort of decent shot, its sooo bright at sea.
 
I take it you've considered the maximum bag size for checkin is 56cm x 45cm x 25cm (22ins x 18ins x 10ins), otherwise it goes in the hold. You may well be charged excess baggage if you have more than one bag in the hold depending on airline. You don't want your camera gear in the hold. You don't want anything in there that cannot be readily replaced.
 
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