BootsnAll Travel Community

Which is the better route for a RTW trip. I have always used the regular SLR film camera, but I'm wondering if I should make the investment and switch. Photography is a big hobbie of mine and I want to document my trip through my photography.

Which SLR are you using now? Are you planning to haul extra lenses along with you? Is weight a factor? What about budget?

I'm using a Nikon F70 and looking at the D70. I plan on having one or two extra lenses and some filtres. Not sure which is the best way. Budget not a huge factor right now although thinking of it film would end up costing more. Weight isn't an issue right now as I would pack around the whole camera issue. Does that seem off?

There was a discussion on hauling around cameras here...

I think it really depends. The D70 is a heavy camera, and you're looking at about $1600 for the kit... you can probably get just the body for around $1400. Plus a big, fast memory card, possibly an extra warranty, a camera bag, etc. You will be spending more on film and developing than on printing from the D70, but the cash outlay on the digital is pretty huge.

I know there are some people who have done travelling with DSLRs around here... personally I couldn't justify the cost to upgrade to a DSLR and I could get an employee discount on them.

Also, where are you planning to stay? A DSLR is a big investment, so keeping it in dorms or hostels may make you a paranoid nutcase. A lot of people around here strongly believe in the "take only what you can afford to lose" theory.

Valid point...never thought of it that way. I plan on hostels all the way so...

So basically, I will be sleeping with my camera!!

I got a Nikon N75 last year, which in my experience has been an excellent camera. Then last week I spent a good chunk of cash on a 28-300 lens. But I'll be able to take some fantastic pics...

Lynn

I am on the last day of my trip, and my D70 is still with me. BUT, I take it everywhere. I have a small waist (belt) bag that I put on every morning ("underwear, pants, camera") and never let go. Soemtimes it's annoying to carry, but I would go nuts thinking my cam is unattended in a dorm room. The flipside is that I always have it with me, so that when a photo-op presents itself I'm always ready (happens all the time on the road).

Also, keep in mind that film processing can be very cheap in Asia (not sure where and how much, since I'm digital, but it's worth looking into if Asia is on your path)

cheers,

Oliver

Thanks for the feedback Oliver. I usually take my camera everywhere to begin with and get really irritated when I don't have it and see a great shot.

My boyfriend and I used a Canon Digital Rebel (a digital SLR) on our RTW. I was against buying it because it was so expensive (you can find one now for like $800) but it was fantastic! The pictures were so crystal clear! We used a 1 gig microdrive and it held TONS of pictures... sometimes they wouldn't even all fit on one CD.

I don't know much about cameras but I can't imagine this one being any better. It was a pain to carry such a big piece of equipment, but the pictures were worth it. And imagine how many rolls of film you would accumulate and how much it would cost to develop it.

Developing the pics online is affordable and easy, too.

My current plan is to carry my lightweight, Canon Rebel 2000 film SLR and a Canon A85 digital camera which I can get at cost... I can get those high quality SLR photos, and enjoy the ease of digital.

I just bought the Olympus C-8080. It's not an SLR but it's better than most of the compacts. I am in love with the Nikon D70, but it's just too heavy. The C-8080 has an 8 MP sensor and lots of cool features. It's still a step down from the D-70 but the image quality is excellent and lighter and cheaper for now. I got it for around $600. I'll tell you in a year if it worked out well for my RTW...

I also carried around a Canon Rebel 2000 film SLR while traveling for two months. I had one extra lens and a small, point and shoot digital (Fuji FinePix). I carried them all in one small, purse size camera bag -- went every where with it.

Since the trip, the digital has died and the Rebel keeps going, even after four years of abuse. I have thought about switching over to a digital SLR, but I love the quality of slide film so much, I just can't bring myself to switch to digital yet. And I'm waiting for the digital SLR prices to drop a bit more.

By the way, I saved a lot of money by finding a professional camera store in China to get my slides developed. They came out great, and at a fraction of the cost at home.

maybe im just old fashioned but theres something about having the tangible photograph and negative that pleases me so..digital pictures are fun an easy though so what i plan on doing is taking a small digital for random fun party drunken pics and then my film SLR for alone on a mountain top pics....

You may have made a decision by now but...

I just spent 5 weeks in Asia with a digital Nikon D100 (bought 2 years ago). 5,000 photos and can't imagine ever working with film again.

I'm a professional photographer and can justify the cost but the bottem line is, digital blows away any film these days. Better quality, more accurate colours, no need to carry 2 or 3 cameras with different ASA film. I'm sure this may cause a little debate but basically I say a no-brainer if you can afford the D70 or Canon.

Storage can be a problem. I carried a 1 GB card and a 512 MB card plus a portable hard drive, worked well. You get around 350 images per GB with the D70 and D100.

I just wanted to update and say I'm happy with my decision. I'll probably bring the Rebel out for some streetscape shots when it gets warmer and I'm not lugging around a heavy coat, but I've been bringing it along and using it on my touristy outings. The digital, meanwhile, fits right into my purse and is perfect for those nights out and those pictures I'm just playing around with. The photos on my film SLR are better composed, I think, and I spend more time setting up the shots. The digital pictures are just snapshots.

By using digital you are supporting a more environmentally friendly medium. Less waste.

The chemical used in film processing are nasty awful things. Photolab employees are generally low paid, overworked, and need to spend their days inhailing noxious fumes. That is how it is in the US. I can only imagine the conditions and enviromental safeguards they have in Asia with the cheap processing mentioned.

For those who talk about quality: Do you bring your film to a good lab to be processed? Or do you take it to the 1 hour photo place- or drug store lab? If you take it anywhere other than a prolab your quality argument is probably a red herring.

As for cost- the numbers just do not work out in favor of film.

I don't know how many places you plan on going, but if you take a significant amount of pictures, you could easily spend the cost of a good digital camera body on the price of film processing alone. Especially if you are using a good lab. And don't forget how much the film is going to cost to buy- again are you going to buy cheap film, or good quality? How much can you bring with you? 10 rolls? 20? Either way you are going to end up paying through the nose when you need to go buy some when you run out.

Professionals are switching to digital every day, for the simple fact it costs less and offers comparable quality, and higher productivity.

You already have the lenses. You don't need the filters anymore- because unless you have filters that are as high quality as the lens- you can do what the filter does in post, without the accompanying loss of light through the lens as having the filter on when you took the picture.

I think a circular polarizer might be the only filter you couldn't duplicate

I had thought alot about this too, though I'm carrying alot of gear I tried to weigh the balance between bulk/weight and performance.

Since the question isn't "SLR or small digitial cam" I guess that for me there simply was no choice. I had to get a digital. With a good digital SLR (like the D70) you should be able to fill a memory card with great pictures. You get instant feedback and can see the highlights, histogram and camera settings. Even though the difference between a small LCD and a full sized screen (or photo viewer) can contain suprises both positive and (*ahem*) negative, getting instant feedback from the camera rather than waiting for a dark room is great. Even with the D70 I still often take multiple shots with different settings (aperture, ISO speed, exposure compensation, etc) in order to ensure I get the shot I want. I just can't imagine getting as good a results with an analog camera for that reason alone, but there are certainly photographers far more experienced and talented than me! For me the digital SLR has been a great choice.

Recently, I was told by a digi pro-lab worker that the professional printer inks/toners aren't much better (if not worse) than the noxious chemicals of traditional prints. Instead of poisoning the workers, they just get dumped somewhere and poison the ground.

Granted, this is second hand, but I thought I'd share it.

PC

Clay, I worked in a photo lab for over three years (ended in January 2005) - it isn't quite as bad as you make it sound! Yes, slightly overworked, slightly underpaid (who isn't?), but the "noxious fumes"? You make it sound like we spend all day getting high, getting cancer and killing any chance we have for children!