Equipment for japan trip


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ChongK

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Nov 15, 2007
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Hi all CSers,

I would like to know a external flash is needed for my japan trip? As i'll be going to Tokyo Disney land and osaka to some small towns.

Other than a wide angle lens,what other equipments are essential for me?:dunno: (tripod?)
pls do advice.



Thank you


Cheers! :D
 

for me, when i travel,
i dont usually bring a tripod cause its heavy and bulky.. but depends on what u like, if u like night scenes or do very serious landscapes, ya, tripod definately needed..

Wide is definately very very important for me..
I will bring

1. 10-22mm (for landscapes)
2. 17-40mm (walkabouts)
3. 70-200 (for some portraits and faces from far.. haha)

i will also bring flash.. if at there u find u wont use that much, just leave inside the hotel?
 

Hi ChongK

Most of us will tell you what you need depends on what you want to shoot.
( But might not be the easiest and helpful advice if you are still new to it )

Different people will have different styles of shooting. Some will tell u bring a prime
lens and be happy with it.

For me it is more of a compromise. I cannot bring everything down to shoot everything interesting, i cannot possibly bring my micro setup to take macros or my long telephto prime lenses. But I would love to capture most of it on the go

I usually bring along a wide angle lens and a telephoto zoom, as well as a 50mm prime lens for dimmer places. Your 55-200mm is slightly more telephoto and might not be the best for tight areas when you are taking pics of your family. Alternatively, just rent an 18-200mm zoom and you will have good flexibility and coverage and an enjoyable trip. ( Switching lenses no matter how fast you are , can still be abit of pain sometimes ). The DX wide angle zoom lenses are pretty lightweight and good.

Tripod - I always carry one. Good to get one along. I know there are people who vehemently objects to having one on a trip. But thats the difference in the kind of shots we want to get.

Flash - I hardly use flash for my type of shots, but i still bring for the occassional rare need. I am just KS

Spare batts
Cleaning stuffs, the usual
Storage - more cards, or an on the go harddisk to leech the files out.
Filters. Not really necessary if you do not see the need.

Ryan
 

Thanks Giantcanopy and yamcake for yr advices, it seems like i have to rent quite a few items.hahah!
I don't have a flash,and as you know SB-800 prices dropped alot and i was contemplating whether to get or not ;p

Secondly, i don't have a wide angle lens(other then my kit lens).I was thinking to get Sigma 10-20mm,would that be a good choice? :dunno:

For the rest like spare batt,cleaning kit,tripod, its all in my inventory :bsmilie: luckily for me my bag allows me to attach my tripod,so carrying it around would not be such a hazard :p


:cheers:
 

Used flash in the past, but learned to capture the ambient light, more realistic even i you've to turn up the iso. Largely depends if you're shooting posing people or landscape. For fill in just use the built in flash. Otherwise just stick to the kit lens or prime and stand further back a bit, get the sigma only if you intent to shoot the landscapes primarily.
 

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Thanks Dennise for yr piece of advice :) and yes i would love to capture more scenery than ppl,of cos capturing memories is the main thing :D So looking at the circumstances,maybe a external flash is not really needed :dunno:






Cheers! :flame:
 

Other than a wide angle lens,what other equipments are essential for me?:dunno:

Well, definitely a camera :bsmilie:

*cough* Sorry about that. Well, I'd bring a flash. Useful outdoors too for fill flash. And indoors, if you can bounce the flash, it looks much better than a blurry shot with ambient light.
 

Thank you lennyl for yr advice, yes of course a good camera.ahha

For my built in flash i think it would help,(at least abit)..HAH! If not i'd have to rent or buy a flash,no cash at the moment lol,just gotten a battery grip.hahah! ;p





Thanks and :cheers:
 

For my built in flash i think it would help,(at least abit)..HAH! If not i'd have to rent or buy a flash,no cash at the moment lol,just gotten a battery grip.hahah! ;p

Yeah, built-in flash can be used for fill flash. I'm not sure how much it costs to rent a flash, if it's not in the budget I wouldn't bother then. Personally I would have bought the flash before the grip, but that's just my preference. Do consider buying a flash in the not too distant future though - used properly, it opens up so much more possibilities.

Have a good trip!
 

Yeah, built-in flash can be used for fill flash. I'm not sure how much it costs to rent a flash, if it's not in the budget I wouldn't bother then. Personally I would have bought the flash before the grip, but that's just my preference. Do consider buying a flash in the not too distant future though - used properly, it opens up so much more possibilities.

Have a good trip!


Thanks alot for your time and advice,hmmm basically i got the grip cos of Nikon's D60 small hand space,and partly cos of extra battery and further more a shutter button which is very helpful :D Talking abt external flash,i'm eyeing on Nikon SB-800,from what i know its discontinued so prices have been dropping and i think its a good time to get it :gbounce: hahah!

Thank you once again,
Have a good week ahead :D
 

why not the 11-16 2.8 ? or tok 12-24 f4?

oh yes, i was recommended the 11-16mm f/2.8 my friend is using it and said its good. any idea how much it cost? :dunno:

For tokina 12-24mm is not bad,but f4, i prefer faster lens.haha :mad2:
 

Tokyo Disneyland is a terrible place, the rides are older than my grandma and the queue is crazy not worth it. But yeah, I tend to feel that having a flash beats having one more lens. See, a flash lets you take pics in poor lighting, while even the fastest lens doesn't work as well with a kit lens with a flash in such a situation.

Since you're on a holiday, you probably will take group shots or shots with a high dof to see the scenery behind the group, so a flash makes sense. Just remember to learn how to use it first before bringing haha.
 

if you'll be taking group photos, bring a flash.

note that if you're actually taking the rides in Tokyo Disneyland, a speedlite + camera combination can get VERY unwieldly, since you'll need to stow/retrieve quite frequently.

you should not be using a flash in most of the rides in any case, as it spoils the experience for others (eg. It's A Small World); if you're trying to capture the atmosphere then a combination of fast prime and high ISO is your best bet:





wide-angle really depends on your shooting style; personally i'd prefer to have the wide range available over the long.

if you can do without the battery grip, ditch it - the less bulk you carry the better. all that extra weight on your back/shoulder adds up over distance.

as for the tripod - it's great for low-light scenery if you have time to set it up, but is really troublesome to handle in fast-moving, crowded places like Disneyland. you'll really have to make your own call on whether you'll kick yourself later for not having it around.
 

Tokyo Disneyland is a terrible place, the rides are older than my grandma and the queue is crazy not worth it. But yeah, I tend to feel that having a flash beats having one more lens. See, a flash lets you take pics in poor lighting, while even the fastest lens doesn't work as well with a kit lens with a flash in such a situation.

Since you're on a holiday, you probably will take group shots or shots with a high dof to see the scenery behind the group, so a flash makes sense. Just remember to learn how to use it first before bringing haha.

Thank you tjhan for yr advice,haha now i'm caught up with a flash and no flash situation..:hammer: it is true that flash would help in low lighting,and i dont mind using it as a fill light,its very tempting to get a speedlite now cos of SB-800 is discontinued.But money is a problem..haha

thanks! :thumbsup:
 

Nice pictures you have there Varf, and it is true that having a flash would spoil the lighting,but i believe if you noe how to control it,i can use it as a fill light. Group pictures is a must for flash,but for scenery i don't think its needed, so is it a yes or a no to flash? LOL! :flush:



Anyway,thanks for yr pics and advice. btw what lens were you using for yr pics?(just curious to know) haha :D
 

I must say though, that when travelling, I much prefer to use a compact camera over an SLR. I find myself not bothering to even take the SLR out of my bag when overseas, and letting the others with their small cams do the job. It's more of a "cheh, take these things for what, the pic won't be good anyway" mentality.

Get a LX3 lol.
 

Thanks tjhan for your input :) it feels great to take a compact cam around cos its light-weight and jus pns. But i do want to get more experience by using my SLR ;) though i'm a newbie,but i'm willing to learn and experience more with my cam.haha.
Yes,it maybe troublesome,but a good picture will paint a thousand words :D



Cheers tjhan! :bsmilie:
 

If you are going with small kids, forget about photo time, they have no patients to wait for you. My kids are quite big enough to understand, but i always end up playing catch up:bsmilie:

If you go with gf, sorry, I can't remember already.... that was too long ago:think:

So if family with small kids - esp with pram and all - maybe PnS will just do fine, SLR only at nite to sneak out on your own... but then again PnS has long lag time and refresh time

If just go with wife (and I suppose same as gf), SLR quite alright as long as there is shopping time (without the camera of course)

During my honeymoon, I only used a 50-mm PnS film Nikon - IQ not bad even now
For my Hokkaido trip in Dec, I will be bringing a PnS (as backup), 18-55mm (main use) and 55-250mm hopefully to shoot cranes in national park
 

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Thanks for sharing two200 :D Btw,i'm the youngest child in the family,currently taking my O's and going for a japan trip at the end of the year.haha..so i guess shd not be a problem using my SLR, the adults will understand. I hope :) haha ;p





:cheers:
 

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