What gear to take

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Aspock

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Aidan
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Just turned 50................Wooooo, I know I don't look a day over 40!!

My better half has bought us a trip to Paris for 3 days at the end of October. Now i'm only allowed one cabin bag..............so what is a must to take?

Camera (7D)
Sigma 17-70
Tamron 10-20
Canon 70-200
flash
filters
Tripod.

My thoughts are. Remove the grip from the 7D. Current tripod is too big so buy travel one. Leave the Canon and the Tamron at home. Will want to get something from the top of the Monteparrse tower - will I need the 10-20

thoughts please.

Aidan
 
When travelling on a non photography trip, eg on holiday with my girlfriend, I usually pare my kit right back to my 5D3 and 24-105 together with a travel tripod.

It is a compromise but I prefer to travel light on trips like that.

From your kit I'd take the 17-70, remove the grip and just carry spare batteries. Flash, filters and a travel tripod.
 
Nooooooooooo, surely the Mrs could leave a couple of pairs of shoes at home in favour of a tripod :-)
 
I've just been surprised with a similar situation. Except I go next April.
I have a similar set up to yourself, But I'm still unsure what to take. The 7D with my Tamron 17-50 2.8 will be in the bag. Along with only two filters, My 10 stop and CPL. As well as a Flash and a Tripod, I'll be taking a cable release also. I'm currently in two minds to take my 70-200 f4. It's my go to Portrait lens, I just love the images I get from it, Which is why I'm umming and ahhing.

I'm questioning the use of a wide angle lens myself. Having a look on Flickr and there is a fair few shots mostly using something in the region of 10-20mm's. And to be fair, it is mostly of jaunty angles close to the Eiffel tower. But I have also seen a fair few at 18mm, which have turned out just as, if not more amazing that the wides. It's something to consider rather than weigh yourself down with gear. Take a look and see what you'd maybe like to shoot?

That being said, I'm also tempted to just leave the 7D at home in favour of a 28/30 prime lens with a wide aperture and a 500D. I'm just not so sure I'd like that.
 
justinminns said:
Get a decent compact and really travel light, I find city breaks much more enjoyable un encumbered by a heavy bag
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I personally have to disagree with you, but we all prefer to relax in our own way I suppose.

As for the tripod, there is cheaper units out there. Try looking at Wex for there travel range. I believe they start from around £30.
 
John Mc said:
I personally have to disagree with you, but we all prefer to relax in our own way I suppose.
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I used to worry that I'd miss out if I didn't have my best gear so insisted on taking DSLR plus 3 lenses etc., but actually since getting the G1-X for travelling I find I get more shots as the freedom of a smaller camera is liberating. Obviously it's not as flexible as a DSLR but IQ is on a par with my old 7D, certainly good enough to still sell on stock libraries etc.

Of course if it was a trip predominantly for photography it would be a different matter but for long weekends which are usually spent exploring the city on foot with my wife I've found there's very few occasions when I miss the DSLR.

Anyway the OP isn't looking for a new camera so I'd go with the 7D sans grip with 17-70 and 10-20... a UWA will be handy in Paris.
 
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I did paris with a 30D and sigma 17-70mm covering almost all my shots the only other lenses that I used were a 70-210mm for picking things out from the top of the Eifel Tower and a 28mm f2.8 for taking some nice portraits and when wanting to go light. I didn't take a tripod and the only time I would have wanted one was taking night shots of the Eifel Tower but I got by with the gorrilapod.

Quick example of what you can get with a short telephoto from the top of the tower:

The Louvre by a1ex2001, on Flickr
 
Cheers Alex,

I bought a small Slik tripod from WEX which is only 35cm and will fit in my luggage. It's no manfroto but will suffice.

Can't wait to go now. A few practice packs are in order, see how many of the wife's clothes I can leave out ;).
 
ChrisGilbert said:
I'd just take a compact and enjoy the experience ;)
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This!

Unless I was travelling somewhere and desperately wanted to make a photo holiday out of it, I would take a compact camera.

I think your other half would probably thank you for it as well :D
 
connersz said:
This!

Unless I was travelling somewhere and desperately wanted to make a photo holiday out of it, I would take a compact camera.

I think your other half would probably thank you for it as well :D
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I've never been anywhere as a photography holiday but have been alround the world with my wife and have never considered not taking my DSLR with me even if it spends a few days here and their in the hotel safe while we only carry the compact (s100) it's still worth having for those once in a lifetime moments. The SLR takes noticeably better shots and I would be disapointed to have visited the for example the Taj Mahal or Ayers Rock and not got the best shot I could. Carrying an SLR doesn't mean you have to spend hours linning up shots it takes perfectly good toursity snaps but also offers the potential to quickly grab something special, check my flickr feed for a few examples.
 
a1ex2001 said:
I've never been anywhere as a photography holiday but have been alround the world with my wife and have never considered not taking my DSLR with me even if it spends a few days here and their in the hotel safe while we only carry the compact (s100) it's still worth having for those once in a lifetime moments. The SLR takes noticeably better shots and I would be disapointed to have visited the for example the Taj Mahal or Ayers Rock and not got the best shot I could. Carrying an SLR doesn't mean you have to spend hours linning up shots it takes perfectly good toursity snaps but also offers the potential to quickly grab something special, check my flickr feed for a few examples.
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I have considered it but simply can't justify it when the time comes. There are a lot of small cameras that take great photos, my Nikon 1 is one of them, it is compact, it's fast and you can leave it on standby forever because the battery is so good. It is also light and most airlines don't allow much lugguge.

I have no idea what you mean by 'quickly grab something special' like you need a DSLR to do that, I would of thought a phone would be more beneficial.
 
Keep it simple, 7D, no grip, 17-70mm.

90% of all of your shots will come from this combo. If you need a tripod, think about a gorillapod, very small and unobtrusive.
 
If it was me I'd definitely take the 10-20 and 17-70. A tripod would be nice for night shots of the city if you can get one that fits. I'd leave the rest. That's what I'd do though and it might not suit your style.
 
Are you only taking hand luggage ?

If not, pack the tripod in a suitcase surrounded by clothes, otherwise leave the tripod behind. Only time I take a tripod on a short (non-photographic) trip is if I know I'm going to shoot cityscapes at night.

Enjoy the trip, I turned 50 in December '11, got more hair than most of the younger guys at work :lol:
 
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