james_glucksman1

<p>Welcome to China! I have been living here on and off for 22 years and know the place pretty well. I live in Beijing and we have not had a serious sand storm in three years, though they do tend to come in April. There are lots of people shots to be had around here, though I would suggest you not spend two whole weeks here. Have you heard of Pingyao? It's a small town in Shanxi Province, an overnight train ride from Beijing. It's famous as being the supposed filming location of the film "Raise the Red Lantern", and is one of not many remaining walled Ming Dynasty towns. Very photogenic place, and it's on the way to Xi'an, one of my favorite cities in China, though I tend not to bother with the terracotta soldiers anymore. The Muslim quarter in the city is fascinating, with great food and excellent photo opportunities (though beware--my Canon 5D was stolen at dinner in Xi'an this past October!). <br>

Guilin/Yangshuo (note spelling) are wonderful, though better still is the Longji rice terrace area, just to the NW of Guilin. It's a minority area that is occupied by many Zhuang and Yao people, who have distinctive dress and customs apart from the Han majority. The scenery is stunning there, especially around April when they will have planted the rice fields (Longji means "Dragon's Spine" and the terraced fields going up and down the mountainsides sort of resemble a spiky dragon's back). I was there in October, too, and just missed the rice harvest, so was investigating when the "right" time to go there is; they universally told me that April is good for when the rice fields are filled with water (and thus very reflective of the sky and mountains), and September is good for when the rice is ripe and ready to be harvested (so very golden and beautiful). <br>

If you're interested in more help, drop me a line. Where are you coming here from?</p>

<p>Thanks for all your tips. I just got back from the Barcelona trip and ended up using my Crumpler Six Million Dollar over-the-shoulder bag, though for the most part I did not use the 70-200 during the time I was in the city (I did bring it for some shots of Sagrada Familia, and when traveling in the other parts of Catalonia). No crime issues whatsoever, nor did I ever feel even slightly unsafe. I have put some photos on my Smugmug page if anyone is interested. http://shuanglong.smugmug.com/gallery/7267727_XUtPS</p>

<p>Thanks for all your ideas! In the end, I found a pharmacy and was able to explain in my relatively limited Spanish that I wanted one of those little bulb blowers that are used with babies. I managed to get one and use it to clean out the dust, and after that I was assiduous in changing lenses out of the wind and as quickly as possible. Since then I have not had any more troubles. </p>

<p>I am in the middle of nowhere in Spain right now and find that my camera's sensor is a bit on the filthy side yet I have not got a blower with me, only a lenspen (with brush on one end, and little rubber thing on the end for cleaning smudges off a lens).  What can I do to clean the crap off my sensor?  Is blowing on it acceptable, or using the brush?  Big lesson learned here!

<p>Thanks for all the replies; I ended up going for a 100-400 IS zoom upon receiving advice from the friends who will be hosting us for part of our stay in RSA. Their point was that the less I have to change lenses in the dusty environment, the happier I'll be. I will also have a second camera (a crop sensor model) along with me with a Tamron 18-270 on it; not the greatest lens in the world, but with quite a good range of focal lengths, so we should be covered. <br>

Mandy, I'm curious if you did a self-driving safari in Kruger? That's what we'll be doing, borrowing our friends' 4x4 for the trip. Figure we'll be able to suit ourselves as far as whatever support we need (such as using a bean bag support on the windowsill or similar). </p>

<p>I used to have a 20D and now have a 50D and in the early days it seemed to me that I would occasionally accidentally flip the power switch off while the camera was slung over my shoulder and would hit my hip or something. However, that has not happened since the first few days with the camera (I don't know what happened to stop it). Re the screen, I would not worry about it, though I have attached a plastic cover over the screen to afford it some modicum of protection. And the battery door appears to me no different from the 20D's, so don't worry about it.</p>

<p>Thanks everyone for the input. I decided, after reviewing your feedback and looking around on Flickr at photos taken with the lens/body combinations I'm working with, to go for the 100-400 zoom. I may be sacrificing some sharpness, but I think the convenience factor outweighs that, and I think the lens will get more use overall than would a fixed tele. </p>

<p>I have a 50D (never used the 40D, but had the 20D before) and a 5DMkII (used to have a 5D but it was stolen). The 50D makes a great back-up or second body, though I imagine the 40D would be no slouch either. The only thing that might sway you in favor of the 50D is that the controls, screen, and sensor cleaning function on that camera are similar to what you have on the 5DMkII, so you'd have fewer controls to remember. </p>

<p>Just spoke with my friend in South Africa who will be hosting part of our stay, and he strongly recommended the 100-400 zoom for the simple reason that it prevents you missing shots whilst changing lenses, and minimizes the chance of dust getting on the sensor in conditions where it will be difficult to clean it. </p>

<p>I would happily rent, but unfortunately I live in China, where there are not only no lens rental companies that I know of, but it's also damned hard to find a shop that will let you even try out a lens that you're considering buying! All the lenses I have bought in the three years I have been living here were first vetted through the kind input of people on forums like this! </p>

<p>Thanks for all the input! My 2x extender is a Canon one, and I did a test this morning using it with my 70-200 handheld and am not crazy about the results. They're acceptable, I suppose, but for a trip to Africa that is not likely to be repeated anytime soon, I'd like something better. I could spend more for the 100-400, though my impression is that a prime would be better; the question is whether the 300 (which I tend to prefer because of the IS and slightly faster aperture) would reach far enough. I could get the 1.4x to go with it, which would get me up to 420mm at f/5.6 (if I have my math right) and since I am shooting with a 5DMkII, I guess I could always crop to get the image size I want in post processing. My impression also is that in Kruger the animals are not that far away, so perhaps the 300 is the way to go.</p>

<p>I am heading to Africa in May and to Borneo in December for visits to the Kruger Park and the orangutan sanctuaries (respectively), and am concerned to have the "right" gear with me when I go. Right now my longest lens is a 70-200 f/2.8IS, which I love, but I am debating the merits of adding a fixed tele, with my budget limiting me to the two lenses named in the subject line. I also have the 2x extender, so in theory I have reach of 400mm already, though I am concerned that I'd be either unable to use this lens hand-held (not sure about the usability of tripods or monopods at either destination) or that the weight of the lens would make it unwieldy to carry around when walking. What would you do in my situation? </p>

<p>What did you use to shoot those pictures you posted, by the way? I really like quite a number of them!</p>

<p>Thanks for the help! The timing is pretty much unchangeable, though the destinations are not. And I'm a 100% amateur, no interest/ability to sell anything, so any shots I take will be just for me and my friends/family. We'll be based in Noordhoek while in the Cape area, which I believe is south of the city, but beyond that I have no fixed plans.</p>

<p>I just decided it was time to use up some spare frequent flyer points and 'buy' myself a trip for two weeks to South Africa in mid-late May. We'll spend about a week each in the Cape Town area and the Kruger National Park, with a few days in Joburg thrown in somewhere. Obviously, since I'm posting on this forum, I'm a bit of a photo enthusiast, and since I'd like to maximize my potential during the trip, I'd like to learn your opinions on what gear I should be sure to have around. <br>

What I have at the moment is: Canon 50D with Tamron 18-270 f/3.5-6.3VR (which is my partner's camera); Canon 50D with (all Canon lenses) 15 f/2.8 Fisheye, 16-35 f/2.8L II, 24-70 f/2.8L, 70-200 f/2.8L IS, 2x extender. I also have tripods, monopods, and a 580EXII flash. <br>

I figure I'm probably missing something at the longer end of the spectrum, particularly for the Kruger park portion of the trip. I wonder if anyone here has an opinion of what I should be bringing of the equipment listed above, as well as what I might want to add to the panoply....</p>

<p>I have a similar concern, since I have just bought myself a trip to South Africa this May. My longest lens now is a 70-200 f/2.8L IS, though I have a 2x converter. I am considering getting the 100-400 f/4-5.6L IS, though when I have held it before it seems VERY heavy (and from what I understand, using a tripod on the game drives in SA is not really an option. So what to do?</p>

<p>South America is a big place; how are you getting around? Where are you going? I went to Peru a few years ago with a 20D, no tripod, a 70-200 f/4, the EF-S 10/22 and a 24-105 f/4. I found this to be an adequate set up, though in hindsight I would have liked to have had a tripod. If you are going to be doing any wildlife shooting, then the 70-200 on a FF body is not really that long; you might want an extender, too, in which case you would probably be better off with the f/2.8 70-200. And polarizers are a must, as is something to download your photos onto; the 5DMkII makes VERY big files.</p>

<p>I would be really surprised if you'd do better price-wise in Tokyo (or anywhere in Japan) compared with the US. </p>

<p>Thanks for all the tips. I ended up ordering a Hyperdrive Colorspace-O just before the holidays for delivery to my mom's place in NYC to pick up when I went home for Christmas. I also ordered a 500gb SATA hard drive to install in it, which I found for a very reasonable price from Newegg.com. When I got to NYC I immediately put the two things together to try it out and for the life of me could not get it to turn on. I tried everything, and eventually had to contact the company for technical support. Turned out that the Hyperdrive was defective but they could not get me a new one in time for my return to China, so they had me return it to them for a refund. Fortunately, B&H in NYC sells Hyperdrives, though not the case-only version, but as it turns out their 40gb Hyperdrive was selling for LESS than my case-only version. So I headed to B&H, bought the 40gb version and swapped out the drives. It works perfectly! I'm about to go on my first big trip with the Hyperdrive in a few weeks; I'll let you know when I'm back how it worked!</p>

<p>Yes, I managed to find one at Penn Camera on 18th Street NW in Washington DC. I tried it on a lark, since none of the other usual suspects had any, but sure enough they had one. I think it's odd that you can find the battery grip easily enough, but not the batteries.</p>

<p>Before you commit to the G10 let me add a thought; I have the G9, and while it has its uses, it is not a very good camera for any application where quick focusing is important (such as photographing animals). I assume that her Africa trip will include a safari, and I would be concerned that the camera would be unable to react quickly enough to take those shots. A DSLR would be much faster, though of course the trade off is more weight.</p>

I am quite happy with it.

<p>I suppose there is not much sense in my responding, since nothing I'm about to write has not been written before, I'm sure, but I like the sound of my own voice...<br>

I switched to L lenses when I migrated to the 5D, since I was led to understand that the L lenses would give better results with the full frame camera. I initially had the f/4 range (17-40, 24-105, and 70-200) but have since moved up to the f/2.8s (16-35, 24-70 and 70-200 IS), and as one earlier poster said, they are a bit addictive. Now, having filled up my range of L zooms, I am now pining for an L prime...</p>

<p>This reminds me of something that people used to say in Russia when I used to live there in the 1980s-1990s about the spelling and pronunciation oddities of English: "пишется 'Liverpool' а произносится 'Manchester'" ("it's spelled 'Liverpool' but pronounced 'Manchester'").</p>

<p>On CNN International, which has a show sponsored by Nikon, it's pronounced Nee-kon, though I have always pronounced it "Ca-non"...</p>