Jump to content

Heavy DSLR or Compact


sandy_marshall

Recommended Posts

<p>I feel in Italy pretty much the same way I feel in any western European country and indeed in many parts of the USA. That is, if you're in decently populated areas in daylight you're unlikely to be the victim of violent crime. You might want to make sure people can't snatch your bag (or your purse) or open something you're carrying surreptitiously on a crowded bus or metro, since there are gangs and individuals, quite often not citizens of that country, who roam around in search of easy opportunistic theft. I'm sure that happens in most large cities. IMO there's no need to walk in fear, and I carry cameras round major cities without demur. Just make sure you're not the easiest target you can see, and avoid untouristed areas at night unless your instinct to tell the difference between atmospherically quiet ( such as you get in Venice) and at risk is particularly heightened.</p>
Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>Take a look at <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YWaloz-Duw"><strong>this video</strong></a> that's been making the rounds of the interwebs this year. Purportedly it shows a gang of lens thieves at work in Russia. The video looks a bit staged, almost like a tutorial. But it's still instructive.</p>

<p>You may need to watch the video several times to see how slick and carefully orchestrated the thieves are. A couple of them provide distractions and body blocks to shield the thieves. And note the hand-off between the two similarly dressed thieves. The two main thieves dress similarly so that even if the victim spots the primary thief, it will be difficult in the heat of the moment to be certain which fellow in the ball cap and dark jacket actually has the lens.</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>I am using my new D7100 now. My 16-85 Zoom lens is doing wonders. Depending upon the light level I go from ISO 200 - 6400! I still have my 50/f1.4 and 35/f.14 when needed.<br>

But the new high speed has done wonders.<br>

BTW: So far I have not really needed more the 85mm but my travel has all been in urban areas. I have a prime 180/f2 at the ready if needed.<br>

Good luck,</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>Sandy I am sitting in Frankfurt waiting for our plane back to the states. Just spent 4 weeks in Europe with 2 weeks in Italy. my main camera was my D800-E with a 70-200 2.8 and a 16-28 2.8 wide angle lens and my nex5R with a 16mm, and 50mm and one Nikon to Sony E adaptor.<br>

As for weight my basic kit for just walking around was my dslr and 70-200 with my nex5r with 16mm attached which fit in my cargo pants pocket. When I was there temps were in the 90's and one day hitting 100.. did not want to carry extra gear in a black backpack. When I knew that I needed wide like in a building or working narrow alleys I had the 16-28 mounted but I found my workhorse lens was my 70-200. I also carried a tripod or mono pod for after dark photography but it also makes a good club.<br>

as for how safe is it.... I am 60 and my wife is only 5.6 ft tall so we are no threat but we are city wised so know better than hang around rail stations and places where people are bumping up to you. twice the zippers from my backpack were unzipped and our open train tickets were stolen out of our room. so keep all your things of value with you our locked in a hotel safe. there are lots of people around and the police are everywhere and armed.<br>

have fun and if you have a chance visit <strong>Cinque Terre</strong> you will be glad you brought your dslr..</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>I travel quite a bit, and have come to believe in going very light. I have a D7100 and a Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VR. I haven't taken that lens with me on a trip in three years. It's heavy, bulky, and I just don't need 200mm very often. Last month we went back to Hawaii for a couple of weeks, and I brought the D7100, 17-55mm f2.8, and 80-400mm VR. I used the long lens one night, taking photos of flowing lava. That was it. I also took a Leica IIIc rangefinder and lenses 35/50/90mm. I used that camera about 3/4 of the time. It's very small, lightweight, and I love it! It can do 90% of what I want a camera to do. For you, I'd suggest leaving the D200 home since it is bulkier than your D7000 and the image quality really isn't as good. What you need is either a Tamron or Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 or Nikon 16-85mm VR, plus either a Nikon 70-200mm f4 VR or a Nikon 70-300mm VR. I do always take a back up camera, and for me that's now the little Leica. For trips into a city I really don't want to carry heavy bulky stuff. There's just no point in it. I take better photos with a smaller, quicker camera.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>I make no bones about it- I travel to photograph not the other way around. And I want to have a range of lenses at my disposal thats going to help me make a good job of the hard to find /hard to photograph things that others might miss. I don't much care about 90% of the photographs I take- its the last 10% or more likely 5% that matter. And thats where I differ from Kent above. From what I've seen I don't think I'd enjoy photography in Hawaii very much, but photographs of flowing lava at night would make a huge difference. So having the lenses with me to get the shots that are really different or unusual is vital. It might mean using a lens for only 1% of what I take, volume -wise, but if its a very important 1%, that lens might be worth more to me than the 24-105 that spends most of the time on my camera.</p>
Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>If you can go to Hawaii and not shoot this:</p>

<p><a title="Surfing "The Pipe"_MG_2886_DxO5D_raw by dcstep, on Flickr" href=" Surfing "The Pipe"_MG_2886_DxO5D_raw src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2790/4271171490_d8c44f0032_z.jpg" alt="Surfing "The Pipe"_MG_2886_DxO5D_raw" width="640" height="427" /></a></p>

<p>Then you might not need a 70-200mm. If a 2.8 is too heavy to use, then why not go to an f/4?</p>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

<p>David H--<br>

I'm not a big fan of Hawaii--my wife is. I'm more into travel in the polar regions. (Iceland is my favorite place of all.) What I mean by 90% is that if a camera system can photo 90% of what I want, it will work for me. I'm very, very flexible and versatile. I rarely have preconceived ideas of what I want--I just soak up the feelings I get and let that be the guide. I dislike being weighed down by a heavy camera bag; I want to be fast & light on my feet. I too have discovered that in the end really only about 5% of my shots are "grabbers," but the gear I use just doesn't seem to matter. In Hawaii the "keeper" percentage was the same whether I shot the c.2013 Nikon D7100 or the c.1942 Leica IIIc. It just didn't matter. I have confidence I can create interesting images with any camera/lens ever made.</p>

<p>David S.--<br>

I have been on Mauii before, and did shoot the surfers, wind surfers, and etc. It is exciting! I used the Nikon 80-400mm VR, which I think would be a much better lens than one that only goes out to 200mm. And that gets back to what I was saying about having a system that has few pieces, but each is very versatile. </p>

<p>Below shot:<br>

Observatory at summit of Mona Kea.<br>

Shot with Leica IIIc, Serenar 2.8cm, FP4.<br>

Any of my cameras could have made this shot,<br>

but the Leica is small and easy to carry at 14,000 ft.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p><div>00bwpL-542164184.jpg.dfba9336acff5f0421c3bcdf6f824bf0.jpg</div>

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...