canon equipment to take to Nepal in December?

[emilyray]

<p>to anyone who can help...<br>

It looks like I will be going on holiday to Nepal in December and so I would very much appreciate any help and advice re which equipment to take with me, given the internal flight restrictions of 20kgs - it will be cold and I will need warm clothes = some weight already<br>

I currently have the following equipment and have been waiting for the 70-200 L IS 2.8 mark I but the shop says they can't get one for now - I live in the Middle East. I would probably have one other person who could take some of the load.<br>

I am looking to photograph a wide range of subjects, people, buildings, landscapes, birds, animals.....</p>

<p>50D<br>

7D<br>

5D II<br>

17-40 L USM 4.0<br>

70-300 IS USM 4-5.6<br>

100 macro 2.8<br>

18-55 EFS 3.5-5.6</p>

<p>I was thinking of an extension for the 70-300 re the birds... but I don't know which one would be OK.</p>

<p>all suggestions welcome - I am open to the idea of one more lens or piece of equipment, if they have it in stock here of course!</p>

 

[robin_sibson1]

<p>First thing is surely to find out <strong>exactly</strong> what the baggage limitations are on each of your flights. 20kg sounds like a hold baggage limit, and that's a pretty typical for economy class, although scheduled international flights may allow a bit more – BA is 23kg, for example. But you don't want to be putting any of your camera kit in hold baggage (ulness you felt like risking the 50D wrapped in bubble-wrap as a back-up body), and the critical thing is what you are allowed as cabin baggage, in terms both of weight and of size. Once you know that, you can think about how to carry your kit (shoulder bag? backpack?), and you have a starting point for what and how much you can carry. Take enough CF cards to cover your trip so you don't need to woory about a laptop. Take spare batteries, battery charger, and at least one figure-8 cable of with whatever type of plug is in use in Nepal.</p>

<p>If you are really pushed for weight/size, take the 7D, the 70~300 (but forget about putting any kind of TC on it – the Canon Extenders don't fit anyhow, as I think you realise), and buy an EF-S 15~85 to replace the 18~55.</p>

[ronhartman]

<p>That's a good bit of equipment. I would probably leave the 50D and macro home. The 5d + 17-40 will be great for landscapes. And the 7d for telephoto and action. If you put a tele converter on the 70-300, af will be iffy and image quality will deteriorate. Most people don't seem to be happy with that combination.</p>

<p>I'd consider adding a fast prime for low light, 50mm 1.8, 35mm or something along those lines. And an external flash would be a big improvement over the build in one.</p>

[emilyray]

<p>thank you both</p>

<p>I have an external flash in any case and I was wondering about a prime, the 50mm sounds good as does the 15-85.</p>

<p>also, I have a Lowepro backpack which is fine size wise, if not maybe weight wise! so maybe I will need to take my smaller camera bag and use my handbag to ferry a camera body in, just for the short journey, to reduce weight in the rucksack. I could always get my husband to take another body in his rucksack, just for the journey and see what we can do that way.</p>

<p>just one query: what is a figure 8 cable? I have necessary equipment for batteries/chargers etc</p>

<p>cheers</p>

[clgriffin]

<p>Considering what you have, I'd take the 7d and the 5DII, simply because depending on one body is risky. I've done it and ended up buying a point and shoot to finish a trip.<br>

I'd take the 17-40, the macro and the 70-300. A good monopod for a trekking pole will do you more good than a flash. Interiors you sit on the floor with monopod at shortest and brace for longer exposures. Or you can stand and brace against a wall--just watch your breathing.<br>

My technique would have the 5DII with the 17-40 on it and the 70-300 on the 7D--one on each shoulder. I use an Up-Strap instead of the standard Canon strap so the straps won't slip from my shoulder.<br>

As the comments above said, putting an extender on the 70-300 is not likely to give you great results. Best to hope that birds will come within close range or be a stalker.<br>

Lastly, at least for way I shoot, for the price of several CF cards, I do better with a smaller netbook and an extra high-capacity pocket hard drive. Also extra batteries for your cameras because if you trek you may not be able to recharge as often as you might need.<br>

When you fly, keep one camera an lens around your neck, that frees up room in the backpack for more stuff you need. Wear your jacket and heavy boots (despite having to remove them, if they do that where you are for security reasons) to get through security and take them off in the plane--that way, even though it would be a pain going through security, you won't have their weight and size counting against your baggage allowance.</p>

 

[emilyray]

<p>ah yes, I have a monopod and a lightweight tripod somewhere in my cupboards and a point and shoot which I will be taking anyway, v small and light<br>

I also have good external hard drives and hubby wants to get a notebook (for use after the trip too), so that looks like the way to go; that way I have reassurance that cards won't run out! but I will still get some extra ones anyway<br>

and yes also to hiking boot and coat wearing... bit of a pain here where it is 27 degrees at the moment! lol<br>

and the 5D + 17/40 and 7D with 70/300 is exactly the set up I used on a recent trip to Oman, so I am glad that that seems logical to someone else too</p>

<p> </p>

[robin_sibson1]

<blockquote>

<p>just one query: what is a figure 8 cable?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Sorry for the jargon. I should really have said "a mains cable with a figure-8 connector", and that's the very standard connector that fits into all sorts of pieces of equipment that don't need an earth and have only a modest power requirement. The Canon LC-E6E charger for the LP-E6 batteries used in your 5DII and 7D. and the CB-5L charger for the BP-511A battery for the 50D both use this connector. The cables are generic items available from electrical shops – there's nothing special about the one(s) that came with your Canon equipment. Make sure you have either the right one(s) for nepal, or alternatively an adapter to allow your existing cable(s) to be used.</p>

<p>My suggestion was for a very minimal combination of kit that still gave quite a lot of flexibility. Of course if you (and your husband between you) can take more, then you can start to look at what your priorities are. But in no case would I suggest considering a TC with the 70~300. No lens is ever long enough for all the bird shots you might want to take, but 300mm on a 1.6-factor body with the sort of cropping capabilities you get with the 7D is not a bad compromise. Next step up would be a 100~400, but that's a large heavy lens by comparison.</p>

[emilyray]

<p>thanks Robin; I see what you mean now and yes, I have investigated which plugs are used in Nepal... now to see if my current adapter is the right one!</p>

[JosvanEekelen]

<p>All good advise above but also take into account how you are travelling in Nepal, and where. If you go high altitudes carrying a lot of weight may be a PITA. I'd consider a 70-200/2.8 or 100-400IS too heavy. There won't be many birds and animals around in the higher mountains but this will be different in the foothills, in the national parks like Bardia and Chitwan. Nepal in December may be cold so battery life may be restricted.<br>

Questions about trekking in Nepal come by regularly - search the archives for more information.</p>

[emilyray]

<p>I am not trekking thank goodness! lol - not in December at any rate - there may be a possibility of doing that in July/August</p>

<p>for now, we are going to Kathmandu for 2 nights, Pokara for 2 nights and Chitwan for 2 nights. KTM for 1 more night.<br>

travel is by plane to KTM, internal flight to Pokhara, road to Chitwan, flight to KTM.</p>

[jim_service]

<p>It's likely that your trip will put you in the New Delhi Airport Intransit "Lounge", a place straight out of a Kafka novel. In spite of that, I expect you'll have a great trip.</p>

[chris_clarke3]

<p>My travel kit is the 5D2, 24-105 +50L or 24L, 270EX.<br>

I couldn't be arsed to drag a load of kit around when I'm on holiday.</p>

 

[JosvanEekelen]

Your gear looks perfectly suited for the trip you're going to make. Don't expect to see much wildlife though; this isn't

East Africa. The 70-300 is good for portraits. I'd take the 5D, 7D, 17-40, 70-300, 100 macro and a small flash but

YMMV. Enjoy Nepal.

[mike_hitchen]

<p>You won't be trekking so at least weight is not an absolute issue. The 20kg limit applies to checked baggage and very few airlines weigh carry-on as long as it fits into an average daypack sort of size. However if you are flying budget airlines they will very likely weigh it so be careful.</p>

<p>Are you on an organised tour? The reason I ask is that they will usually have coaches with secure compartments. But if you are using local buses: bags are thrown on the roof rack and so can be treated quite rough and sometimes go missing (and though this is uncommon it is not rare and it is annoying when it happens to you) so I would make sure that your key camera gear (plus some water) all fits into a day pack you take into the bus with you. It will end up on your lap because local buses get very full so you may not want a huge weight there for an extended time.</p>

<p>I have the 70-300 and have taken pictures of for birds in flight and got some quite good shots from it. Yes, the 70-200 or the 100-400 is <em>better</em> but I am presuming you find it acceptable as well.</p>

 

<blockquote>If you put a tele converter on the 70-300, af will be iffy and image quality will deteriorate. Most people don't seem to be happy with that combination.</blockquote>

<p>The Tamron converter works fine on the 70-300 (and its much cheaper than the Canon!). I have been quite happy with that combo, and although my acceptable limit may be less than other peoples' (I only print up to 18x12 most of the time or look at sensible sized images on my 19" screen) at least I have got a decent-quality shot which is the important thing. With the Tamron 1.4x on that lens AF can can hunt is less than decent light but overall I think using converters gets an unnecessarily bad press. I have not yet tried the teleconverter for focus tracking so I can't say if it is useful for birds in flight - but you could always use the old-style manual focus with pre-focussing.<br>

Now if I had a 7D, compared to my 30D, I know I could put the 70-300 on that body and would look at the pixel density as my 'added reach' to about 400mm. I would be happy as a pig in clover!</p>

<p>Speaking as someone with a 30D, then from the kit you have listed, if I were walking then I would look at weight as parmount so would take the 50D, 17-40, 70-300 and add the 50f1.8 prime for indoor shots. Moving around like you seem to be, I would be prefer to take the 7D. When shooting buildings I have no burning desire to shoot complete facades and prefer to pick out detail so this would not really limit what I like to shoot and the 7D would also give me the option of shooting birds in flight.<br>

If you want to do a lot of buildings and landcapes then maybe you should take the 5DII instead to give the FOV on the 17-40. But if ou are taking the 5D because of the quality advantage over the 7D, then surely you would be taking a tripod as well which will also help with interiors which can be dimly lit. </p>

<p>If you want the 100mm for the macro, and weight gets too much then look at the Canon 500D close-up lens as a compact alternative.</p>

<p>For kit you haven't listed: I have recently bought the 70-200 f4 IS and am <em>so</em> pleased with it. For packing I would be hard-pressed at this stage to choose between 70-200 (quicker AF, 4-stop IS) and the reach of the 70-300mm. But then again, you have the f2.8 on order so that may be a moot point. Either way I would add the Tamron converter and 500D close-up lens.<br>

I have the 17-55 f2.8 IS and would take that instead of the 17-40, though I would like to test the 15-85 and judge if the added range offset the lack of constant f2.8.</p>

<p>As for other gear: Batteries can die very quickly in low temperatures so get at least 2 spares and keep them in your <em>inside</em> jacket pocket until absolutely necessary. Add a polariser filter (though be careful because at altitude it can turn skies black if applied in full!), ND4 and a ND grad kit. If a tripod is too much I would consider monopod to be essential and possibly a Gorillapod which you could mount almost anywhere, and place it on the floor for interiors.</p>

<p>Nepal is a great country - enjoy it !</p>

 

[emilyray]

<p>thank you all very much for taking the time to write and give your advice and suggestions; I am bang in the middle of exam marking/report writing now so will have to read through everything more carefully in a few days.<br>

Jim, we live in the UAE, so flying direct to KTM from Sharjah. I have been to New Delhi airport once before though, with my parents, when I was young - all I remember is that there was NO non-spicy food; arggggh!</p>

<p> </p>

[Ian Taylor]

<p>They never weigh your carry on in Asia. I have been living and working there for years and have never been weighed. I just wrapped up a shoot that had 26 flights around Asia (including Nepal) and had at least 15 kgs in my ThinkTank roll-on (Take Off model) and didn't have a problem.<br>

Take the bare minimum, anything you don't use will feel like an anchor.</p>

[Karl Schuler]

<p>What you need for this trip is mobility, agility and control of your gear in often narrow and sometimes crowded situations.<br>

My suggestion based on 15 years of living in Asia, 8 out of them in Nepal:<br>

Standard take around equipment: 5DII, 24-105 IS, 270EX, camera with flash always mounted on a light, stable tripod. This will be good for 90% of the situations<br>

Additional equipment if really necessary and if compact bag allows quick access:<br>

For portraits and birds 70-300 mm IS small size<br>

For photos inside narrow rooms and landscape: 17-40 mm Zoom<br>

Perhaps a fast 24 to 50 mm prime for photos inside temples.<br>

If you insist on a second camera than I suggest a compact one like Canon G12.<br>

Good photos in these places depend more on the readiness to get the right moment in quickly changing situations than on the ultimate gear in the bag.<br>

I hope this helps. Enjoy your trip. Karl</p>

<p> </p>

[emilyray]

<p>thank you all very much for your input - the trip was fantastic and Nepal is so photogenic - opportunities everywhere!</p>

<p>I loved all the landscapes, people, wildlife (4 rhinos in one day, crocs, monkeys, birds...) and had a fab time. Would love to go back now that I know what to expect.</p>

<p>Cheers<br>

Em.<br /></p>