Cameras and Venice/Florence/Rome tour stops

Peter,

I have a few comments to add as well (well, perhaps more than a few)....

I've been travelling with a dSLR for the last few years, as photography is a large component of my travels. Despite the size and weight of the Camera, I'll continue packing it along.

The "rules" for Cameras vary to some extent, depending on location. In most places, Flash and Tripod are prohibited (although you'll probably see numerous morons with P&S Cameras flashing all over the place, as they haven't taken the time to figure out how to disable the flash).

There's usually a sign at the front indicating the policy at each location, but in my experience the rules are enforced sometimes and ignored sometimes. As someone else mentioned, the Borghese Gallery in Rome is especially strict and requires visitors to check just about everything including Cameras, Purses, Backpacks, etc. They missed the small P&S I had in my pocket, but there's no way I would have tried to "sneak" a photo as there are Guards in each room and numerous CCTV Cameras. Being ejected from the Museum in a humiliating fashion is not my idea of "happy travels"!

I had no problems with photos in St. Peter's and other Churches in Rome, and no problems in the Duomo in Florence.

As you're not travelling until September, you have LOTS of time to become familiar with the Camera. I'd suggest buying soon so that you can get used to it. The dSLR's definitely have a "learning curve"!

I'd suggest taking several Memory Cards of at least 4GB capacity. Memory is cheap at the moment, so there's no reason not to have lots of capacity. One spare Battery is also a good idea, as well as a robust case to protect the Camera during travel.

On the subject of Cameras, I've always used Canon so that's what I'm familiar with. I'd recommend checking the reviews at This Site, This Site or others.

continued.....

Peter,

Part II....

The new Canon T2i looks like a good choice but I haven't seen reviews on it yet. Canon tends to divide their Cameras into 3 groups - "entry level" (T1i, T2i, etc.), "semi-pro" (40D, 50D, 7D) and "pro" (5D, 1D, etc.). As you move up the line, the Cameras not only increase in price but also size & weight. You'll have to decide which group is most comfortable.

The subject of Lenses is a bit more "subjective". On past trips, I've travelled with three Lenses - 10-22, 24-105 & 70-300. None of these are particularly "fast" but they provide at least f3.5 so that's acceptable (except for the 70-300, which I believe is f4.5 at the wide end). I find that I use the 10-22 and 24-105 most of the time. I may take a 17-55, f2.8 this time as well, but haven't decided on that yet. Having stabilized Lenses helps in low light situations, supposedly providing an assist of about 2 stops.

In practical terms, I don't see a big difference between in-camera stabilization vs. in-lens stabilization. In reality, I've found that now that I have the Lenses I want, I probably won't be buying many more. Therefore the aspect of lower cost for Lenses without built-in stabilization isn't really an issue for me.

One other point to mention is the JPEG vs. RAW shooting. I tend to shoot JPEG + RAW (which creates a huge file for each photo, perhaps 12 GB - I have a reason for using that method though). You'll have to decide with option works best for you.

Good luck on your tour! I suspect that when you return, you'll book another one fairly quickly. I'll be heading for my 4th RS tour in a few weeks, and if the money & health stay the same, I'm sure there will be many more.

Be sure to put January 15, 2011 on your Calendar, so that you can attend the Tour Alumni reunion in Edmonds. There are always some wonderful reunions between people that have been on RS tours. It's also a great place to "test drive" other tours.

Happy travels!

I have a basic point-and-shoot, so will defer to the camera experts here re the DSLR and lenses.

The answer to the museums, cameras, etc. is "it depends" In Rome, for example, most churches allow photos. In Florence, many of them don't. The Borghese gallery in Rome requires you to CHECK your camera and any large bags upon arrival. The Vatican allows photos, except in the Sistine Chapel. I'm not sure about Venice.

Even where photography is allowed, flash is either not or frowned upon. It's disrespectful in churches (where some visitors may actually be there for religious, not tourist purposes) and not permitted in places like the Capitoline museum in Rome.

Also, keep in mind you have to carry the thing around. The key is to balance out camera/photo quality against carrying the camera for 2-3 hours while you walk several miles a day, plus the risk of it being stolen, damaged, etc.

Unless you've shot with a SLR before I would not suggest getting one for a trip. Although there are a lot of automatic settings there is still a lot to learn about them and it can take a lot of $ and practice to get results.

I would try to to go for a Canon G11 or a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35. They are all in ones with very good image quality and built in zoom lenses. The decrease in weight and ease of use ( no lens changes) is worth the slight decrease in image quality.

edit: I'm actually thinking of changing out my Nikon DSLRs and lenses for a Canon S90 for our upcoming trip in May. As technology is catching up my new mantra is smaller is better when it comes to shooting esp in cities. I'm also considering ditching my Nikon outfit completely (after 25 years of shooting) for one of the micro 4/3rds solutions offered by Panasonic and Olympus.

As luck would have it, I just got my FZ35 in the mail about three days ago. (It replaced a much-beloved and well-used FZ5.)

I know quite a bit about photography, and used a film SLR in the past. While I'm not up on all of the color settings unique to advanced digital cameras, certainly I'm familiar enough with exposure basics.

I am thinking that five months would be enough to figure out which end is up with a DSLR, hence my request for advice on a suitable kit. As far as brands go, it's a four-way tie between Olympus (e620), Sony (a500), and Canon (T1i.) Oly and Sony have the advantage of in-body stabilization. Oly is cheap, but the lens selection is poor. Canon has a huge selection of new and used lenses available, and lenses are readily rentable, but to get stabilization (I do very little tripod photography), I have to pay extra with every lens. I ruled Nikon out because in the bodies I can afford, (i.e. D5000), the lens selection is quite limited unless I want to give up AF, which I don't.

I've looked at the u4/3 system, but the lens selection is still too small and pricey for me.

Hi Peter. I bought the Canon T1i for our trip to Italy last September. I also purchased the 18-200 Canon lens. I bought the T1i because it was the lightest of most of the DSLR's and weight is an issue for me. I am also partial to Canon products and have owned numerous Canon cameras over the years. I love the camera & lens. I found it to be very versatile. The only thing I would like is a super wide angle lens but I don't want to add weight to my backpack plus it would be very expensive. I used to travel with a 28-105 lens & a 70-200 lens & it was just too heavy & cumbersome. Changing lenses is also a pain so I opted for the 18-200 lens & I'm glad I did.

I am considering trading my T1i for the new T2i. You might have a look at it & see what you think. The video has been improved in the T2i but otherwise, it's fairly similar to the T1i. We found that in most places, photography was allowed but sometimes only without flash. The 18-200 lens has image stabilization and it came in handy. I still propped myself up against a post or wall (if in a low light situation) to further steady the camera and I almost always got the shot. I was usually able to get great shots inside dark churches without a flash. We used a tripod for night shots. Hubby got the Nikon D90 for the trip as he is partial to Nikon products. He is very pleased with the camera & he got the 18-200 Nikon lens for it. We compared our pictures when we got home & the 2 cameras performed very well. I don't think you'd be disappointed with the T1i. The image quality is fantastic. Make sure you take a polarizing filter; it was very helpful.