Thread: What gear for O/S holiday?

Originally Posted by p38arover

I think I've narrowed it down to:

Pentax Q with standard 01 lens (50mm equivalent) and 3 batteries
Pentax K-5 with 3 batteries
Pentax DA ED-AL 16-45mm f4
Sigma DC 18-200mm f3.5-6.3
Sigma EX DC 30mm f1.4
Sigma EX DC 10-20mm f4-5.6
Pentax O-GPS1 GPS unit
Q-PK lens adaptor to allow the DSLR lenses to be used on the Q. (With a crop factor of 5.8, using it on the Q with the 18-200 would be like having a 105-1160mm.)
BlackRapid strap (I much prefer this over a normal neckstrap. I switch between it and a wrist strap).
Lens cleaners, blower brush **
Canon Backpack with badging removed.

Total weight about 5kg.

Add to that:
Tripod and Monopod which will be in the suitcase.

I could probably drop the 16-45mm which, along with the 10-20mm, I bought for the trip.

I'm still considering the Crumpler 6 Million Dollar Home rathr than the backpack but it's a shoulder bag. It's also bright green and obvious.

I'd like to take the Pentax DA* 60-250 F4 but it's a big heavy lens. It does take great pix, though. See Wings over Illawarra

** Thank goodness I'm not going via the USA where the TSA took a Rocket Blower 'cos they thought it looked like a bomb and could fly like a missile. Photographer Has Blower Confiscated by TSA Because it 'Could Fly Like a Missile'

So both of us will either return with larger muscles or backache

I sometimes wonder if I should have gone Micro Four Thirds, e.g., Olympus OM-D.

It could be worse. Imagine humping a Canon 5D MkIII or a Nikon D800!

I could forget the 16-45mm but it takes better pix than the 18-200. The 18-200 is quite slow and, in low light (like I experienced in daytime in Washington state and Oregon), needs the ISO increased.

With my previous camera, once it got to 1600 ISO, it became quite noisy. The K-5 is much better at high ISO.

Another option is to leave the 16-45 and to take the 18-55 which is water resistant as is the camera.

The Crumpler shoulder bag would be less of a hassle than a backpack when touring the ships I want to look over - SS Great Britain, HMS Victory (Nelson's flagship), and HMS Warrior (a steam and sail ship of the 19th Century). Ditto at the Land Rover Experience.

I am not able to decide on going light.

So I will take:

Canon 50D
Canon 24-105 L serie
Canon 75-300
Canon 50mm 1.8 for those low light situations
Canon 580EZ Flash
Cockin Filters (Polarizer, Gradual Neutral Grey)
Tripod
Canon G11 (I can't leave without it)
GoPro kind of video cam with its mounting pod.
4 battery charges to feed hungry batteries

6kg in total, I hope I will not regret it