Hi,
like the topic says, I need some guidance regarding equipment choices. I have been on trips before however, they have all been with film cameras. About six months ago I'd lost my new digital camera (D200). I believe that I have gained enough experience with the camera to use it on my upcoming trip to Greece.

I will be flying to Greece in September for two weeks. These are the things I considered taking: (am I missing something?)
1. D200
2. Lenses: 14 mm, 20 mm, 28 mm, 50 mm, 85 mm (due to my disability I cannot lift heavier lenses or use zoom lenses easily)
3. Two 16 GB CompactFlash cards and one 1 GB CompactFlash card inside a memory card wallet
4. DVDs to burn images on to for backup purposes
5. Four batteries
6. Battery charger plus plug converters
7. Tripod
8. Remote shutter release
9. Arctic butterfly cleaning tool (never used before!)
10. My backup F100 with no film (I used to use slide film but if worse comes to worse I will buy negative film)
11. ????

Please help me complete list. I would hate to go all the way to Greece only to figure out that I forgot something that I needed.

Thanks,
Eitan Waks

Not sure this is of any help but you might check Thom Hogan's site. (bythom.com) He tends to comment a lot about what to carry for travel. But that is usually travel into the wild. Plus I'm not sure I've read articles on it or just seen (dreview) forum posts by him.

Remember to bring any of the odd tools you might need. Like for tripod adjustments and whatnot.

Maybe it's because I travel for a work a lot, but my opinion is that you're packing too much stuff for what I'm assuming is a vacation. There's too many things to keep track of, to carry, and to make decisions with that you might be getting bogged down and not focus enough on the environment you're in and just going with the flow.

But, if this is a trip where you're planning on producing commercial work (stock, editorial, etc), then the only things you're missing is an assistant and a carnet.

How are you transferring the CF cards to the DVDs? You didn't list a laptop If you're depending on internet cafe PCs or hotel PCs, bring a CF card reader.

A flash unit, and it's batteries (use alkalines and buy more onsite)?

Andy

1. How are you going to burn the DVDs? You may want to invest in a image bank of one sort or another. They're cheap and much smaller than a laptop to burn images. Check here: http://www.hyperdrive.com/

I have the SPACE and have used it several times. it works well. It's an 80GB model. Keep in mind that if you get the SPACE model, it comes only in IDE not SATA. The other thing I think Hyperdrive needs to do is offer a quick swapable HD option, or at least a casing that allows to quickly remove and replace hard drives--so as to keep two backups. This is a very limiti9ng aspect of this backup option. However, you could buy a second case for 149.00US and use your own IDE drive. Again, I'm not really hot on the IDE drive that the SPACE uses. It's old technology and limits your usage to IDE interfaces if you do buy another drive. You can use the same case with a different HD, but the case is not set up to swap drives back and forth. They use small, itsey-bitsey case screws. Other than that, the product is well designed. Set it up for full 32bit verification and let it autocopy your files. The SPACE model has no way to view your images, but you can see the file names in the browser. Even if you could see them, as is possible on other models, that does not insure the RAW file is intact, so you're still at the mercy of in house the file verification system. I still worry about having the files only in one place. Like I said, a hard drive swapable version would be nice.

2. Polarizer.
3. Back up shutter release.
4. Lens cloth.

You won't need the Arctic Butterfly if you can't closely examine you images for dust spots. I have used one quite successfully to remove some frightful dust picked up in Egypt but it's very easy to touch the inner workings of the camera and spread oil on your sensor, so I wouldn't resort to its use unless absolutely necessary. It helps to have someone holding a torch and saying calming words.
Instead I'd carry a Rocket blower. Use it in the bathroom (less dust around- in fact all my camera cleaning is done in there). Hold the lenses you have used with the bit that attaches to the camera pointing down, and pointing the blower up give the lens a quick few shots as well as the end cap, and quickly reassemble. Ditto the camera.
You seem to be carrying a lot of lenses.
You could consider a beanbag. I use one more than a tripod. Carry it empty and fill it with rice or whatever when you get there. Useful on car windows, on the roof, wedged in the car door, or sitting on fenceposts and such. And switch to the tripod if you have to walk any distance.
My travel kit may not suit you but includes a small second hand laptop. I don't trust anybody including myself to burn DVDs. Every night I download the images, examine them for mistakes and dust, sort and key in locations so I know where they were taken. Then I stitch any panoramas and back up. One backup to the laptop. One to a Hyperdrive that stays in my suitcase and one to a portable usb drive that goes in my shirt pocket. The laptop goes in a backpack with my camera gear and goes in the aircraft cabin. A smaller more comfortable camera bag goes in the suitcase for times when I want to carry just a minimum of stuff.
Don't forget to carry travel plugs so you can plug your chargers in to local sockets.
I carry my filters wrapped in microfibre lens cloths. You can never have enough cleaning stuff.
I keep a shower cap in case I want to protect stuff if shooting in rain. And a plastic bag (a bin liner) for lying down on wet ground. It rolls up to the size of a few matchboxes and has been invaluable, though you may not need one in Greece .
Have a good time. David

DarkPenguin,
thanks for the referral. It sure was useful.

terence_patrick,
this trip is mainly a vacation. I will however be traveling a lot during this vacation, with a rental car. A large part of my vacation is photography. The enjoyment I get from photography is part of the reason I go on vacation.
That being said, I have to agree with you, after making the list it sure seemed like a lot of stuff. That is exactly the reason I am seeking advice on this forum. Which particles would you dispense of?
If I break it down, I am taking a main camera, lenses, backup camera, memory, backup options, and a tripod. What would you do differently?

AndyF2,
thank you very very very much! I would've gone without a card reader if it hadn't been for you!
The reason I'm not bringing a laptop is because I'm trying to be as minimal as possible while still having all my options.
Regarding the DVDs, every time I fill up a card (16 GB) or every couple of days I plan on burning two sets of DVD's. One that I will keep with me on the trip, and another set that I will mail to a friend of mine back home.
About flash, although I do have a SB-80dx, I purchased it before my accident. Currently it is too heavy for me to use.

Haystack,
I think I agree with you about dispensing with the Arctic butterfly. The Nikon technical laboratory where I live is headed by a friend of mine. I think I might ask him to do an overall on my camera for a leave. Would this be a good idea?
Thank you for your advice about image banks and specifically the hyperdrive. I might just get one, but I'm wary about purchasing new equipment before I travel. I would much rather have used it for a certain period of time beforehand. In addition, this seems quite expensive for a hard drive and a card reader. Are there any other options that you are aware of?
I will definitely bring it back up shutter release and a lens cloth! Thanks!
I will think about polarizer.



Regards,
Eitan Waks

Eitan . . . as someone who is also physically disabled I was interested in your query.

I hear what you are saying about lens decisions, but find it confusing that you feel you can manage to change lenses, but cannot operate a zoom? I would have expected it to be the other way around (changing a lens is more physically challenging than twisting a zoom).

Given your focal lengths of 14 to 85, I believe you might be far better served using only one of the following Nikon lenses :
17-55 f2.8
18-200 VR
16-85, or
18-135

You would save a bunch of space and weight, and remove the sensor cleaning concern completely. Just my 2c worth . . .

Micheal likes the Hyperdirve too. They have one that also reads raw files so you can see them on the 3" screen. If they had a fast swap HD option, I'd buy a new one and sell you mine for 100 bucks, with an 80GB hard drive.

When I bought mine, this was the best deal going for the quality you get. You don't need any card readers or anything. You can set it so when you plug a card into it, it automatically comes on and starts copying. It will also do a full bit by bit comparison opf the file it copies to the file on the card. Statistically speaking, the only way you're gonna lose the file is if you lose the hard drive.

Still, it would be nice to have a slide and snap HD option, like any other SATA backup drive where you simply pull a lever and discharge the drive, then slide another in. No screws no nothing.

The OP is taking WAY TOO MUCH! You will regret having brought so much!

I would take just the following:

2 image tanks to be mirrored. It is foolish to not buy tanks in pairs.
Leave the laptop at home.
Leave the tripod at home.
Pick just 2-3 fast primes only. Zooms are too aperture-limited!
Bring the external flash.
No DVD burning!
Bring double the capacity of cards you'd need for two days shooting.
Don't bring a backpack, nor waist pouches.
Bring a photographer's vest with big pockets.
Bring polarizer/s, and ND and gradient filters.
Bring sensor cleaner.
Bring lens cleaner.

Dump the cards onto BOTH tanks every night. Make sure the tanks are (1) the same capacity, and (20) at least 100GB each. Pack the tanks in separate bags. At the end of your trip, FedEx one of the tanks to a relative back home, and bring the other one on the plane on your person and never check it in!

This suggested kit will allow you to shoot 90% of all the required shots for Greece, and perhaps any and all European countries.

Go light and relax and have a great time!

I understand that photography is probably a large part of many of this forum's user's vacations. I've lately become sick of worrying about gear all the time, especially when I'm really trying to vacation and not be a pack mule. I'm actually heading to Germany on Friday and will only be taking a Canon G9 and a Hasselblad 500cm with 50mm lens, all of which fits into my carry-on, a tiny Domke 803. I still have room for my film, iPod, Ambien, and a couple of magazines. Fully loaded, my bag weighs about 9lbs.

From your kit, take the camera, 20, 50, batteries/chargers, and ditch the 16gb cards and load up on a ton of 4gb cards, enough so that I wouldn't have to overwrite any one card during the trip. Sounds like you've got a laptop since you're planning on burning DVDs, so I'd make sure there was enough room to download everything comfortably, and skip DVDs and just bring a smaller external drive for backup (much much faster than burning a billion discs).

Thank you everybody for replying to my post. I will be flying out tomorrow and have learned a lot in your suggestions. When I come back, I'll post my conclusions regarding what was right in what was wrong to take along with me.