General Photography

[garyc]

So without starting a seperate thread about it, any suggestions on a decent travel camera?

Generally neither my wife nor I are photography buffs so it would have to be something that simply works, is portable and doesn't require a mountain of lenses.

Googling around there's lot of suggestions for a superzoom like a lumix FZ1000 or even mirrorless like the X-T10.

The updated list from National Geographic for the top travel cameras is here: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/top-10/top-10-compact-cameras-for-travelers-2017/.

The recommended Nikon bridge camera is the P900. That thing is huge and maybe a smaller sibling would be in order.

Some of the cameras on the list are not widely available in South Africa.

 

[Hamster]

P900 is stupid as a travel camera.

 

[Arzy]

Budget?

Canon G3x has great zoom and 1" sensor which means way better photos you're going to get with a regular bridge. It was about R13k last time I checked so getting pricey.

If you want a smaller camera there's always the Panasonic TZ-70 (TZ-80 is newer but 70 performs better in lower light). That's about R5k

Don't buy into the megapixel madness for these cameras.

The updated list from National Geographic for the top travel cameras is here: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/top-10/top-10-compact-cameras-for-travelers-2017/.

The recommended Nikon bridge camera is the P900. That thing is huge and maybe a smaller sibling would be in order.

Some of the cameras on the list are not widely available in South Africa.

P900 is stupid as a travel camera.

Most stores in SA seem to have the P900, but yes, it is huge. Reviews even comment on how high the flash needs to pop out just to avoid the lens when extended.

Difficulty is that most of the review available suggest camera's that aren't in SA

 

[airborne]

What do you guys want to use these extreme zooms for?

Unless specifically needed for sport or wildlife what's the point?

 

[Dom1n8tr1x]

It's rated to 25kg.

Great! The extra 20 odd kg will come in handy.

 

[bwana]

Great! The extra 20 odd kg will come in handy.

Yeah. My lens camera combo weighs in at about 8kg iirc.

 

[Dom1n8tr1x]

Yeah. My lens camera combo weighs in at about 8kg iirc.

Yes I need something a bit more heavyweight. My old Manfrotto has a load capacity of only 5kg although it's build very rugged.

This tripod is ideal for using it for both my camera or my rifle.

 

[Hamster]

Most stores in SA seem to have the P900, but yes, it is huge. Reviews even comment on how high the flash needs to pop out just to avoid the lens when extended.

Difficulty is that most of the review available suggest camera's that aren't in SA

http://www.cameraland.co.za/panasonic-lumix-dmc-fz300-digital-camera

http://www.cameraland.co.za/canon-powershot-g3-x-digital-camera <- I own this one

http://www.cameraland.co.za/panasonic-lumix-dmc-tz80-digital-camera-silver

 

[garyc]

The bridge cameras bring up the question of how much zoom one needs while traveling. I took a telephoto zoom on a couple of trips and then stopped taking it along since it hardly got used.

It would be interesting to hear from the others here. How much do you use the telephoto end of things for travel photos (excluding game reserves obviously)?

 

[RanzB]

DxO Labs is giving away DxO 9 for free

 

[FluxZA]

See Nikon cancelled their DL series
http://www.techradar.com/news/cancelled-nikons-dl-premium-compacts-will-never-see-the-light-of-day

looking to get a compact camera
currently looking at the Panasonic lumix ZS100,
anything similar?

any thoughts on this lumix or other "compacts"?

 

[bwana]

Over 9000 shots though a single battery yesterday (9153 to be precise)

 

[RanzB]

Just brought in the Zhiyun Crane for a very reasonable price. Will be using it on the X-T20 (possibly) and the X-T2.

Set up the balancing and all that and first indications seem to be awesome paired with the autofocus from the newer Fujis.

Might look into bringing down a few to sell

Over 9000 shots though a single battery yesterday (9153 to be precise)

I get about 500 on a good day

 

[prod]

I get about 500 on a good day

Most I've managed is around 1000 on an overnight hike in the mountains, with 2 cameras even. 9k is crazy

 

[AirWolf]

Over 9000 shots though a single battery yesterday (9153 to be precise)

View attachment 427822

Please share your secrets, oh wise one .

 

[bwana]

Please share your secrets, oh wise one .

No secrets to share - those batteries are just impressive, especially if you consider it's about 8 years old, possibly more. There was still 10% left when I swapped it out for a fresh one.

 

[garyc]

Have a camera that has not needed batteries since 1967. It has however needed regular sensor replacements.



My best battery life is from a Pentax K-3. With the rear screen turned off it fills all of it's memory cards by the time the battery indicator has just started to move off 100%. Never managed to finish the battery within a day. The worst is my Fujifilm X-T10 - look at it wrong and it spontaneously empties it's battery. Putting even a 16GB card in this thing feels like wishful thinking.

 

[prod]

^ legendary pocket rocket that. I've always wanted one

 

[garyc]

^ legendary pocket rocket that. I've always wanted one

Got it from someone who was throwing it away. All that I had to do was make some new light seals for it, everything else was working perfectly despite being 50 years old. The lens quality and the metering are surprisingly good. BTW: no batteries needed- the light meter generates enough electricity to power the camera.

 

[bwana]

My best battery life is from a Pentax K-3. With the rear screen turned off it fills all of it's memory cards by the time the battery indicator has just started to move off 100%. Never managed to finish the battery within a day. The worst is my Fujifilm X-T10 - look at it wrong and it spontaneously empties it's battery. Putting even a 16GB card in this thing feels like wishful thinking.

Most cameras can...