Travel Photo Equipment Quandry

Chris · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:26 pm Post subject: Travel Photo Equipment Quandry

I would be very grateful for any advice on the following question: How much equipment should I bring on a sixteen night vacation to Hawaii? I am a serious amateur photographer, but only as a hobby and not by trade. I will be traveling to Hawaii with my lovely wife and am very excited about the multitude of great photo opportunities. I was thinking of bringing my Canon 5D and also Canon 1D Mark II N, with three lenses (16-35mm zoom, 24-70mm zoom, and 100-400mm zoom), which I think would cover landscape shots, portrait shots, and close nature shots). Other than a tripod and the typical accessories (polarizing filter, extra memory and batteries, etc.), I was not planning on bringing anything else. My questions are:

1. Is it overkill to bring my two bodies? I like the idea of not having to change lenses too often, but don't want to carry too much if not necessary.

2. Am I bringing the right lenses? I also have the 70-200mm zoom, and 35mm and 135mm primes, which I was not planning on bringing with me.

3. I plan to pack all my equipment in an extra large Tamrac shoulder bag, so I will not have a smaller bag to carry my camera when walking around. My thought is that I can just carry my camera on a strap around my neck and keep a plastic bag with me to cover it in case it starts to rain or to shield from dust, etc. Would anyone advise against this or have a better suggestion?

Thank you in advance for all your advice - it would be extremely helpful to get your thoughts.

Chris