travel questions

[Kagari]

long time never post here LOL... i think this is a rather newbie question so here i go

1. any idea does camera bag count as hand luggage?
i got the hand carry thing from the agency and its reads camera do not count as hand luagage [can someone verify?] etou if it helps i'll be flying Northwest all the way.....

2. this would be my first time on a one mth + few days trip with my 400D, my last trip was a 3 days to thailand LOL....

a. what kind of lens to bring
kit lens is a must right?, then my prime lens [maybe?] and maybe a wide angle/zoom lens? all

b. subjets
well my mum complains that i take more RANDOM things then humans LOL.... but on a holiday what is recomended? cos the place i am going has very nice scenery....

c. shooting in which mode
i know raw is good then u can use certain program to manipulate once u have come back... i am probbly taking a 40gb 'transfer photos' hard disk, one 4gb and one 8gb cf card but raw = big size [is that true?] and usually i use jpg small LOL... but benefits of raw again?

d. lastly any special filters i need like a polarizing filter plus a UV filter?

hmm i think i am bring my tripod and also the flash .... lol but other then that any help on the above topics would be greatly appreciated
thanx

 

[dw2chan]

1. i'm quite sure you camera bag will count as a hand luggage. i'm assuming that what you read probably applies to point and shoot cams that just fit into a tiny pouch.

2a. what lenses you bring will depend on what you want to shoot. but i'll recommend you bring lenses that cover 18-100... if you do candids or wild life shots...maybe 18-200 or more
kit lens isnt a must if you have a better lens that covers that focal distance
if you have space i'd just bring all

2b. what you should photograph is all up to you. you shouldnt have to force yourself to take a photograph...most likely those will turn out bad
but for some ideas you could photograph
- candids (of the locals and of those you are travelling with)
- landscape/architecture
- touristy photos (those where ppl pose in front of some thing.... i dont really like these photos)
- wildlife
- food
- list goes on...

2c. i shoot only in raw for many reasons.
- it's better quality, you dont lose anything to compression. also you can decide how you want to process the photo yourself later instead of having the camera process your photos for u.
- you dont really have to worry about setting the whitebalance.
- while file sizes are bigger...memory is quite cheap these days (i have a 400d as well, the raw files vary between 7-11mb...so i'd say about 9mb average.)
- im sure there are other reasons...but those are the ones that made me shoot raw exclusively

on another note...if your hdd requires a computer to operate and u're not bringing a laptop... i would get more CF cards as you wont always have access to a computer

2d. again filters all depend on what you want to shoot. i always throw on a UV filter on all my lenses to protect them (if anything happens i just replace a $50-100 filter instead of a $1000+ lens)
polarizers, NDs, etc can all come in handy...but not really necessary...again...if i had space i'd bring them along

tripod and flash will definitely be useful

try to get ur equipment insured as well... and enjoy your trip! dont spend too much of it behind the viewfinder