Again - "What to Take"? - Just ordered a D7500 for backpack/overland

[lahuasteca]

Hi,

I've posted years of 'what to take" questions for backpack/overland to Latin America.  Finally I just ordered a D7500 LN- from KEH for $750 including tax and shipping.  YMMV but for me it was the most logical/economical decision.  I've got to go light - 1 zoom/1 prime.  I didn't want to go the Z-route with new lenses and a learning curve (I'm 77 - getting a little long in the tooth).  My current cameras are D60 and D700 (a little bulky and heavy for travel), have a lot of DX zooms and FX primes so don't have to buy any new lenses.  I really stressed over this and read just about every review/post, but in the end, the price was right.  FWIW, the D7500 new body only seems to be out of stock everywhere.  Thanks for all the comments and suggestions on my previous posts.

[mike_halliwell]

31 minutes ago, lahuasteca said:

I've got to go light - 1 zoom/1 prime

Tripod?

[Matthew Currie]

Must the second be a prime?  My wife and I travel with, respectively a D7100 and a 7200, and have found that a pair of zooms works best for traveling if you have the room.   I have a 16-80 and an FX 70-300P.  She has an 18-140 and the same 70-300.  They work nicely together, and are just within the limits for packing in backpacks to go under an airplane seat.  For overall convenience, if you don't need the wider angle, the 18-140 makes a better all purpose zoom that gets pretty decently close on a DX with some cropping room on top.  If you're backpacking that alone would work pretty well.  If you don't need more reach, then a fast prime in the normal range might be nice around the campfire and such.  A 35/1.8 could serve well.  In the past when possible I've packed an old, very robust and virtually unbreakable FX 35/2.8.  At home I prefer the 35/2.8 PC, but it's heavier and not as expendable. But I'm afraid the D7500 will not meter manual lenses as the D7100 does.  At other times, I've taken a 50/1.4D, which is very nice for getting people in poor light, and nice and compact.  If I had one all purpose zoom, I'd probably go with whatever chipped 35 or 50 you already have.

But if you're trying not to have to buy new lenses, it sort of depends on what you already have.  One thing you might want to do, when the D7500 comes, is try various crops of what you might expect to run into on the trip, to see how much you can get away with  The more you can crop, the less reach you need to carry, but what you find acceptable can vary depending on how finicky you are, and where you are sending your photos.

edit to add:  with cropping, I found at least on my old D3200 that ISO is very important here.  This is less important on newer and better models, but I found that the higher ISO noise on that one attacked the sharpness of edges.  At low ISO you could chop lots off and still get a decent image, but at higher ISO,  what spoiled it was the ragged edges.

Edited November 22, 2022 by Matthew Currie

[lahuasteca]

1 hour ago, mike_halliwell said:

Tripod?

Yes.  Mefoto road trip carbon fiber.  One of the reasons going for d7500 instead of Z50 was wired remote for tripod use.

[lahuasteca]

1 hour ago, Matthew Currie said:

Must the second be a prime?  My wife and I travel with, respectively a D7100 and a 7200, and have found that a pair of zooms works best for traveling if you have the room.   I have a 16-80 and an FX 70-300P.  She has an 18-140 and the same 70-300.  They work nicely together, and are just within the limits for packing in backpacks to go under an airplane seat.  For overall convenience, if you don't need the wider angle, the 18-140 makes a better all purpose zoom that gets pretty decently close on a DX with some cropping room on top.  If you're backpacking that alone would work pretty well.  If you don't need more reach, then a fast prime in the normal range might be nice around the campfire and such.  A 35/1.8 could serve well.  In the past when possible I've packed an old, very robust and virtually unbreakable FX 35/2.8.  At home I prefer the 35/2.8 PC, but it's heavier and not as expendable. But I'm afraid the D7500 will not meter manual lenses as the D7100 does.  At other times, I've taken a 50/1.4D, which is very nice for getting people in poor light, and nice and compact.  If I had one all purpose zoom, I'd probably go with whatever chipped 35 or 50 you already have.

But if you're trying not to have to buy new lenses, it sort of depends on what you already have.  One thing you might want to do, when the D7500 comes, is try various crops of what you might expect to run into on the trip, to see how much you can get away with  The more you can crop, the less reach you need to carry, but what you find acceptable can vary depending on how finicky you are, and where you are sending your photos.

edit to add:  with cropping, I found at least on my old D3200 that ISO is very important here.  This is less important on newer and better models, but I found that the higher ISO noise on that one attacked the sharpness of edges.  At low ISO you could chop lots off and still get a decent image, but at higher ISO,  what spoiled it was the ragged edges.

I might look at 10-20 zoom - that and 18-200 - all 72 mm filter.  Wide angle and telephoto covered.

[Gary Naka]

Don't know what lens you are taking but I would look at the following:

18-140 (this is what I have)
18-200
18-300
18-400  (this one is kinda long and heavy, so may not work for a GP lens)

35/1.8  (for indoor LOW light situations.  I would prefer a 24/1.8, but that is only available in the more expensive FX lens.)

As for the 10-20, that depends on if you think you have a need for an ultra wide.
Remember that you can stitch multiple images together to get the coverage of an ultra wide.

[lahuasteca]

2 hours ago, Gary Naka said:

Don't know what lens you are taking but I would look at the following:

18-140 (this is what I have)
18-200
18-300
18-400  (this one is kinda long and heavy, so may not work for a GP lens)

35/1.8  (for indoor LOW light situations.  I would prefer a 24/1.8, but that is only available in the more expensive FX lens.)

As for the 10-20, that depends on if you think you have a need for an ultra wide.
Remember that you can stitch multiple images together to get the coverage of an ultra wide.

Hi!  I already have the 18-200 and 35 mm DX.  Probably that's what I'll take.  I also have a lot of AFD primes 24 and 85 - not the latest and greatest but small compact and I'd be using the central area.  Probably the 24 mm for walkaround street.  FWIW, in the "old days" my favorite set up was an FE2 with a 35 m, 58 mm and 85 mm primes - and I still consider it to be the best lightweight travel kit - but film travel is no longer practical and very expensive.  I know there are set ups for better IQ, but all involve greater bulk and expense.  I'm going for the balance of light travel and IQ.

[Matthew Currie]

If you want width and don't want to stitch, the 10-20 zoom works nicely, answering the need for a real wide angle in DX.   I got one a while back and have recently taken that instead of the cheap prime when I travel.  I didn't mention it before, because you were setting the condition of using what you had, but if you are willing to spend a little, it's very compact and light,  making it a good candidate for hiking.

[Mary Doo]

7 hours ago, lahuasteca said:

I might look at 10-20 zoom - that and 18-200 - all 72 mm filter.  Wide angle and telephoto covered.

You are good to go.  If you like, get a good quality circular polarizer such as the "B+W 72mm MRC Basic".  Stick it on top and don't have to think about it again.

Good luck and have fun.

[chrismitchell]

He didn't say where in Latin America he was going.  You have to take the crime rate into consideration when traveling.  In Barranquilla Colombia I had a group of young men try to steal my rx100v out my hands.  I still have it, but I got a few bruises while holding onto it with both hands.  If I return to Medellin, I'm not going to take my z5.  I will take my older Rx100v.  

Edited November 26, 2022 by chrismitchell

[Sandy Vongries]

Don't take fancy stuff to iffy places, though you might be able to enlist local security for a fee.   Were I going to similar, I'd take a good but low value and unobtrusive selection.

[lahuasteca]

Guatemala.  Thus the d7500 and a zoom - no $3,000 Z kit with lenses  Might even just go with the ore existing D60 if things look sketchy.  Definitely no iPhone 14 as those things get very noticed today.

 

 

[chrismitchell]

Mayan people want you to ask for permission before you take their photo.  Semana Santa, the week before Easter might be a very interesting time to go to Guatemala.  You won't be able to get a room in Antigua.  I think the capital has more interesting parades than Antigua.

One evening after a heavy rain I was taking photos of the reflection of the presidential palace in pools of water in the cobel stones.  8pm ish.  A scruffy drug attic looked like he was getting ready to steal my camera.  A plain clothes police man jumped out of the bushes and beat him up.  

[lahuasteca]

On 11/25/2022 at 8:16 PM, chrismitchell said:

Mayan people want you to ask for permission before you take their photo.  Semana Santa, the week before Easter might be a very interesting time to go to Guatemala.  You won't be able to get a room in Antigua.  I think the capital has more interesting parades than Antigua.

One evening after a heavy rain I was taking photos of the reflection of the presidential palace in pools of water in the cobel stones.  8pm ish.  A scruffy drug attic looked like he was getting ready to steal my camera.  A plain clothes police man jumped out of the bushes and beat him up.  

I'll have local guides with me - Santa Maria de Jesus near Antigua, and Todos Santos Cuchumatan in Huehuetenango.  I always travel with locals that speak the dialects.