Just back from Europe Bus Trip. . gear I took, should have took, won't took next time.

[Fredo]

Hi All,
have just landed back home(yesterday) after 6 weeks travelling around Europe and thought I should share with you my thoughts on what gear I would take if I were to do the same trip again now . .

I asked for suggestions from those of you who have done a bit of travelling and did take notice some of the advice, but didn't listen to some too . .and now wished I had.

Briefly, the trip was a 28 days Bus Tour around France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Holland.
Followed by a week in London to visit the Relies' and do some sightseeing and a few days in Singapore on the way home.

Camera
So, camera choice was either the D300 or the D5100.
Most of you suggested I take the D5100 for weight saving . . . I took the D300.
I don't regret my decision at all as I know this camera really well, can change most setting quickly without looking away from the eyepiece, and well . . I just love it and trust it.
Next time though I will take the lighter D5100 option as suggested.
I'm not a video type person but there were a couple of times I took video and had to use the Wifes' little Panasonic DMC-ZS10 compact. (Which incidentally, produced bloody amazing quaity pictures!)

Lenses
Most of you suggested the 18-105 which I took and it seldom left my camera . . brilliant choice, thank you.
Did take the 70-300 . . waste of time, never used it.
Also took the 50mm F1.4 prime . . did use it but probably not enough to bother with next time.
The MUST HAVE that you said I will miss not having is an Ultrawide Zoom and you were exactly right! The first Cathedral visit convinced me of that.
If I were going again tomorrow I would be looking specifically for a Sigma 8-16, no question. The only reason I didn't buy one OS was the announcement of the D600 . .

Accessories
Gorilla Grip and Joby ballhead were fantastic. Clamps to rails, sign posts, chair backs, anything! I did miss not having a tripod for the night shots of the cities but the Gorilla Grip was a terrific alternative.
Next time I'll take either my Laptop or a Netbook PC rather than a tablet. The tablet is a handy thing but too underpowered for the churning process of copying large files to a portable HDD, and I could have done a fair bit of editing on the bus if I had Lightroom available.
Bags. I carried all my gear in a backpack as 'carry-on' but took a smaller shoulder bag too. And while this combo worked well, next time I will probably take a sling type bag like the Lowepro Slingshot.
CPL Filter was used a bit and I have been trying a DIY variable ND filter with mixed results. (reveresd the glass in another CPL filter and screwed both together, more testing required)
Used the SB-700 Flash enough times to warrant taking it again.

And that is probably it.
Fred

[ameerat42]

...
Lenses
Most of you suggested the 18-105 which I took and it seldom left my camera . . brilliant choice, thank you.
Did take the 70-300 . . waste of time, never used it.
Also took the 50mm F1.4 prime . . did use it but probably not enough to bother with next time.
The MUST HAVE that you said I will miss not having is an Ultrawide Zoom and you were exactly right! The first Cathedral visit convinced me of that.
If I were going again tomorrow I would be looking specifically for a Sigma 8-16, no question. The only reason I didn't buy one OS was the announcement of the D600 . .
Fred ...

(And I would have been angling for you to take a w-i-d-e l-e-n-s But don't worry. It takes a trip or two to get that sort of thing right.)
Nevertheless, Fredo, did you enjoy your trip? Hope so. Some (1000s of) pics in the offing?
Am.

[Rattus79]

CPL Filter was used a bit and I have been trying a DIY variable ND filter with mixed results. (reveresd the glass in another CPL filter and screwed both together, more testing required)

I looked into this once, and to not get colour banding and vignetting etc, one needs to be linear and the other circular.
Cheap ebay ones will colour cast. Get the Singh-Ray - Brilliant filter - still not sure if it's worth the $400 though. Glad I only paid $5 for mine!

Looking forward to seeing some shots soon!

[Lance B]

Interesting take on your Europe trip and the things required. If you have some photos to share from the trip, that would be great.

When I have been to Europe I have taken the following:
Lowepro Flipside 400
D700 (will now be D800)
16-35 f4 VR
24-70 f2.8 VRII
70-200 f2.8 VRII
1.4x TCII
2x TCIII
Flash or 35 f1.5G

The most used lens would be a toss up between the 16-35 f4 VR and the 24-70 f2.8. I would say that when I was in towns with narrow streets and lots of cathedrals and castles, then the 16-35 was most used. Inside these castles and cathedrals, the 16-35 is superb and having VR is a real bonus and much used. If I was in more open areas, then the 24-70 usually stayed on the camera.

I did use the 70-200 f2.8 from time to time and was glad I had it, even using the 1.4x TCII and 2x TCIII from time to time.

I have taken my Dell laptop on both occassions and found it indispensible, especially for downloading and viewing images. It is only small and can fit in my backpack.

[Fredo]

1.4x TCII
2x TCIII

You know, I never thought of a teleconverter Lance . . . might add that to the list me thinks.
I'm still in DX format so the 24-70 just wouldn't have been wide enough.

Fred

- - - Updated - - -

I looked into this once, and to not get colour banding and vignetting etc, one needs to be linear and the other circular.

Ah! Thanks greg, you just saved me a lot of time and frustration I think.

Fred

- - - Updated - - -

Yep I'll get some photos up as soon as I can.
Flew back in yesterday and Number 1 Daughters' 21st is tomorrow so am I'm a bit busy staying out of the way of 'Cyclone Wife' right now . . .
Fred

[JM Tran]

Welcome home

Definitely take a laptop next time, dont know why ppl suggests tablets, when you still have a lot of down time oh holidays, and would like to play around with your photos, and post them up or something.

You will find that the more and more you travel, the less and less you will take and be able to prioritize much better.

[Lance B]

You know, I never thought of a teleconverter Lance . . . might add that to the list me thinks.
I'm still in DX format so the 24-70 just wouldn't have been wide enough.

Fred

I did mean to say that my kit was FX not DX, so you would need to convert the lenses I use to that for DX application.

[Fredo]

. . . You will find that the more and more you travel, the less and less you will take and be able to prioritize much better.

I was actually noticing this toward the end of the trip Jackie. I found myself considering the next shot more and taking fewer rubbish shots.
Fred

[SteveInNZ]

One thing that's coming out of my bag for traveling is the 580EX flash and it's being replaced by a little iddy-biddy one and wireless trigger.