What to bring for backpacking across Europe?

[Little Dragon]

I'm hoping to gain some different opinions on this. I'm going backpacking with some buds across Europe and I'd really like to take some memorable photos along the way. However, I'm not sure what to do.

1) Buy new smartphone and use as camera
2) Buy new digital camera (point and shoot or mirrorless)
3) Bring along T4i, possibly buy a better lens?

Reason I would buy a smartphone is because my current Nexus 4's camera is shit. I dropped it the other day and the screen needs replacing so I was thinking instead of shelling out the $100 to fix it, I can put that towards a new smartphone with a good camera. Having a cell phone is also lightweight, great for backpacking.

Buying a new digital camera. I'm talking about those compact ones you can put in your pocket. I have heard good things about these, but not sure if they are worth it at all. I'm thinking I would be better off buying a lens for my T4i (currently have a kit lens) and bringing that along instead. Only thing is that the T4i is big.

Thoughts?

[dirtsniffer]

Depending on your budget I would go with something like the s120 or the rx100. You'll probably get some 4/3 recommendations too. I'm just not familiar with them. I couldn't backpack in Europe with a slr. Talk about a pain.

[Little Dragon]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into them more. My budget is around $400-$600 so those two recommendations are great.

I'm not familiar with 4/3 cameras at all but have seen them quite a bit. Will do a little more research into them as well.

[msommers]

Backpacking Europe, you want compact, light, good ISO performance and wide.

http://www.thecamerastore.com/4245-Sony-Cybershot-DSC-RX100-II.aspx

[hrdkore]

+1 for above comments, backpacking with an SLR isn't ideal (heavy and bulky), but if you have a backpack that offers protection, it can be done. Backpacks will take a beating and if you are planning on taking the Eurail, they have baggage storage sections, which you are supposed to use, but please lock your stuff, and definitely take any valuables with you to your seat. Also invest in a anti-theft strap to prevent those snatch and grabs, usually not a problem if you are with other people.

Bring some after bite if you're staying in hostels, you could also invest in a silk liner to mitigate bed bugs bites.

[AccentAE86]

Honestly, when I go traveling, I don't take a camera with me anymore. Just the Nokia Lumia 1020 with camera grip does everything I want it to do. It has full manual controls, and you can shoot in DNG raw so you can edit in lightroom if you wish.

Here is a thread I started with a few pics I took when I first got the phone.

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/374512/i-got-the-lumia-1020-some-pics/

The phone is getting long in the tooth, being about two years old now. But it still does all your typical smartphone tasks, and the camera is just totally unbeatable. Stuff you just cannot pull off on other phones.

Like this for instance:

http://www.nightanddayphoto.ca/misc/forumpics/beyond/Tree.jpg

Size reduction and web compression wipe the living shit out of the branch details... but...

Mounted on a tripod using the camera grip, fully manual exposure underexposed by 2.7 stops to preserve all highlights and RAW file pushed in lightroom, 4 second shutter speed, ISO 100, manually focused onto the tree branches. You just can't do this with any other phone.

[Kobe]

I know you want to take photos but please be careful, cameras are really easy to steal on trains and I've heard of a lot getting stolen. I wouldn't spend to much money on one and I'd try to keep it reasonably small so you can carry it around in your backpack and don't have to carry it in an extra bag...

[Dumbass17]

When I did Europe via backpack (2003 holy crap) I found a small day pack at MEC with a pocket on the front of the shoulder strap for a camera. I found it to be ridiculously handy for quick snaps and never having to check if I misplaced my camera. Side thought but yeah

[msommers]

I ended up using this in Europe and it was awesome as a day bag because I didn't get super sweaty while walking around. Has a rain cover and the zippers actually snap together

http://www.mec.ca/product/5031-504/deuter-race-x-daypack/?q=deuter

Have you looked at some cameras yet?

[sl888]

Another vote for Sony RX100s. I'd say save yourself a little bit of money and go with the original. Very capable point and shoot. The gf is very happy with the one I bought her.

[Little Dragon]

Thanks for all the suggestions and insight. Haven't had the time to go out and look at anything yet. Will try to do it this week sometime.

[adamc]

Canon s120, Fuji x100t, or iphone 6.

[zaider]

My wife and I just came back from 3 months backpacking in South America. My wife and I are both fairly into photography (not crazy talented, but like taking pictures).

We brought an SLR (old Nikon D60), a more compact Point and Shoot (high end Pentax), and both our phones.

We found that we only took the SLR out on hikes or when we were specifically going somewhere cool where we wanted pictures (Machu Picchu, Torres del Paine, etc) and that when you're wandering around cities, its too obtrusive, so we made do with the P&S and the phones. Even though the D60 was old, the colours and white balance were much better than the P&S, so we tried taking it when we could, but that wasn't often. Most often, it sat inside our room.

If you're looking for a smaller camera, I'd highly recommend the Sony A6000. Its much smaller than a full SLR and takes really great pictures, great autofocus, and low-light performance as well.

+1 for not carrying around an extra bag for your camera. If nothing else, grab one of those neoprene inserts, if you're worried about a camera getting damaged, and store it in your day-pack.

I found that even with the camera on our phones being pretty good (Galaxy S4), the difference in quality and adjustment settings, not to mention ability to zoom (optically), meant that it was worth it for me to have the other cameras.

We came back with more than 5000 pictures from our trip... still sorting through them.

[nykz]

Bumping an old thread, I plan on going to Europe next year for 3 weeks, just wanted to see what the Beyond photographers would recommend for a nice point & shoot (and/or mirrorless)? Something easy and quick to use and not too bulky... Something that I can just grab and go without adjusting too many settings would be ideal.

It's a little early but I figured I'd get a list of recommended cameras and keep an eye on them for possible sales the next few months.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

[taemo]

if you have the money
RX100 series (III or IV)
Panasonic LX100

if on a budget, personally i would go Canon S120 or an Olympus TG-4 (waterproof and shockproof too)

but personally, when we backpacked Europe earlier this month, my most used camera was my Iphone 6+
most pictures on this album were taken with it
https://www.flickr.com/photos/itaemo/albums/72157658080957206

it's my #1 camera when shooting now and pull out my digital camera for the serious high-res shots
wouldn't mind getting a TG-4 for snorkeling though

[OTown]

I went for 1 month long backpacking trips 2 years in a row and brought along a canon powershot s95...

I think theyve updated the model to either S120 or S200... just do some research on both.

By far the absolute best point and shoot. Fully capable with a large enough sensor, full and easy customization, and a wide range of settings including aperature, shutter, filters, pretty much everything you need in the palm of your hands. Fits in your pant pocket as well.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by OTown
By far the absolute best point and shoot.

It's decent for a cheap P&S...I would not go as far to say the S120 is anywhere near the best. It's 2 years old, still using a super tiny 1/1.7" 12MP sensor, and a really slow lens (f5.7 on the long end). The S120 is the highest end model but is now discontinued (some places still have them for ~$400 which is nuts). The S200 is the cheaper version of the S120. It looks like they are positioning it down-market going forward, likely because large sensor P&S' are becoming much more common.



Originally posted by nykz
Bumping an old thread, I plan on going to Europe next year for 3 weeks, just wanted to see what the Beyond photographers would recommend for a nice point & shoot (and/or mirrorless)? Something easy and quick to use and not too bulky... Something that I can just grab and go without adjusting too many settings would be ideal.

It's a little early but I figured I'd get a list of recommended cameras and keep an eye on them for possible sales the next few months.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

The Sony RX 100 III is what I would be looking at if I were you. No need to worry about bulkiness or changing lenses, but can produce images closer to a DSLR than a cheap P&S. Assuming this Europe trip isn't a regular thing for you, you probably want a decent camera with you rather than a cell phone, but that is entirely up to you and what you hope to get out of the images.

The RX 100 IV is out now, but not only is it $1,200, but almost all of the improvements are speed related (4K, video frame rates, max shutter speed, etc.) so if you don't need those things, just go with the III for $370 less.

These cameras are wildly popular so don't count on too many sales, but there is no harm in seeing what Black Friday and Boxing Day bring.

[nykz]

Thanks for the pointers! I'll keep an eye out for the ones mentioned. I'm hoping Black Friday will have some deals, I'll have my iPhone 6 with me but I figured an actual camera would produce better quality images.

[msommers]

For inside churches, museums, etc you need something that can handle higher ISOs. iPhone is awesome everywhere else but I can't imagine their ISO performance can compare.

Earl's pics from Europe confirm you can get some great stuff outta that camera though, very impressive.

[adamc]

nm.

[dirtsniffer]

Going to Europe in May and I do not want to bring the D90. I am leaning towards a rx100 III but looking for opinions. If anyone knows of any boxing day deals please let me know.

[Go4Long]

Originally posted by dirtsniffer
Going to Europe in May and I do not want to bring the D90. I am leaning towards a rx100 III but looking for opinions. If anyone knows of any boxing day deals please let me know.

Where you headed? I'm doing London (Airshow) - Budapest - Rome - Paris - London in July.

[dirtsniffer]

Originally posted by Go4Long


Where you headed? I'm doing London (Airshow) - Budapest - Rome - Paris - London in July.

Flying in and out of london as well. The wife and I got return flights for $1000 each.

As of today our plan is:
London->Paris->Amsterdam->Munich->Rome->Barcelona->Porto->London

We are going for 4 and a half weeks, hopefully it's enough time to really experience the places cause I don't think we will be back anytime soon.

[Go4Long]

I'm going for 18 days, so it's going to be tight.

I've got some amazing cathedrals mapped out for the last leg of London. We're actually planning on pretty much avoiding London itself. Driving through Wales for the Mach Loop, etc.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by dirtsniffer
Going to Europe in May and I do not want to bring the D90. I am leaning towards a rx100 III but looking for opinions. If anyone knows of any boxing day deals please let me know.

If you've got any airmiles to use up, since they start expiring for everyone at the end of next year and are worthless for most flights, they have the RX 100 III "on sale" for 7,100 Airmiles ($710 equivalent). That's $90 cheaper than any store's price. Nothing too crazy though.

I wouldn't expect any amazing Boxing Day deals though. The original RX 100 is almost 5 years old now, and it was $399 still on Black Friday.

For that length of a trip to Europe, it's easy to justify the cost of a decent camera IMO if you are planning on seeing so many things. You'll likely regret it if you don't take anything or just use your phone. Worst case scenario you can just sell whatever camera you buy when you get home and recover most of the cost. Even if you got a small bag for your D90 it might not be bad to just take that.

[darthVWader]

Originally posted by Go4Long
I'm going for 18 days, so it's going to be tight.

I've got some amazing cathedrals mapped out for the last leg of London. We're actually planning on pretty much avoiding London itself. Driving through Wales for the Mach Loop, etc.

Mach Loop so jealous. I'm first gen Canadian from Welsh parents and my cousin is RAF. I've always wanted to check out the loop. If you get a chance head over to Portmeirion. It's about 45 min away and is a super trippy Italian town in North Wales.

[blitz]

Originally posted by dirtsniffer
Going to Europe in May and I do not want to bring the D90. I am leaning towards a rx100 III but looking for opinions. If anyone knows of any boxing day deals please let me know.

RX100 III is an excellent choice. I'd personally take a Ricoh GR (28mm) with the Wide Angle adapter (21mm), but I rarely shoot over 35mm anyway. The RX100 will give you a more versatile focal range.

I'd go with the III over the II as the wide end got a little wider on the III (24mm vs 28mm).

[dirtsniffer]

I believe the apperature is much larger on the long end as well

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by dirtsniffer
I believe the apperature is much larger on the long end as well

You get a much faster lens (24-70 equivalent) vs the older, slower, 28-100 equivalent on the II. You also get the pop-up viewfinder which is a huge bonus. You lose the hot shoe but for most people that doesn't matter. The III is the easy choice for most people. The IV is only worth it if you need cutting edge video/speed features. The I & II are too slow and the lens is not wide enough IMHO.

[ee2k]

Travel as lightly as possible, trust me, it gets tired to carry stuff around when backpacking. Get a phone with a good camera on it. Also once there, get a good data plan that keeps you connected. Don't take iPad, laptop, or anything heavy, and enjoy the scenery. Chances are you will not go through the pictures much after your trip anyway, so enjoy the moments.

[dirtsniffer]

Thanks for the advice. We are definitely going to travel light. carry on baggage (convertible back packs)

Definitely going to take something nicer than my phone camera though. Also will be travelling with a tablet.

[taemo]

That airmiles price for the RX100III is mighty temping although I personally prefer the older I and II but that's because 28mm is the widest I like to go now and I don't trust that pop-up EVF.

If you're backpacking and hopping from one location to another, then definitely +1 on travelling light.
Consider buying an extra battery for your camera too and maybe 2-3 16GB or 32GB instead of one 64GB.

[nykz]

I found the RX100 III off GadgetGear for $719.38, I believe you can get this price matched at BestBuy or other stores that offer PM. Seems close to the AirMiles deal if you guy's don't use airmiles or don't want to necessarily use your points.

http://www.gadgetgear.ca/sony-rx100-iii-black.html

[msommers]

Originally posted by nykz
I found the RX100 III off GadgetGear for $719.38, I believe you can get this price matched at BestBuy or other stores that offer PM. Seems close to the AirMiles deal if you guy's don't use airmiles or don't want to necessarily use your points.

http://www.gadgetgear.ca/sony-rx100-iii-black.html

Wow that's a great price.

They also have good prices on other things too. Is this site legit?!

http://www.gadgetgear.ca/cameras/nikon/nikon-d810-body-black.html

http://www.thecamerastore.com/7225-Nikon-D810-Body.aspx

[Go4Long]

Because I'm starting with an airshow I'll have my D810 with me...im actually staying down the block from the Gloucester Cathedral... Can't wait. Also going to check out Rochester cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral, Leeds Castle, cathedral of St Mary's, Salisbury cathedral, and a few others.

We're not really backpacking though, so having my gear doesn't worry me.

Here's a link to an interactive map of the UK Cathedrals:

http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/Cathedrals/

Here's a picture of Salisbury's interior:
https://religioustaleoftheuk.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/salisbury-cathedral-1.jpg


Originally posted by darthVWader


Mach Loop so jealous. I'm first gen Canadian from Welsh parents and my cousin is RAF. I've always wanted to check out the loop. If you get a chance head over to Portmeirion. It's about 45 min away and is a super trippy Italian town in North Wales.

I'm going the day after RIAT, so I'm not sure how much traffic there'll be, but we'll see.

[nykz]

Originally posted by msommers


Wow that's a great price.

They also have good prices on other things too. Is this site legit?!

http://www.gadgetgear.ca/cameras/nikon/nikon-d810-body-black.html

http://www.thecamerastore.com/7225-Nikon-D810-Body.aspx

I don't have first hand experience, first time I encountered GadetGear was based off looking for deals on the RX100 III.

Found links to it from RedFlagDeals referencing using them to price match.

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/best-buy-sony-rx100-i-ii-iii-camera-deal-save-up-40-after-pm-ymmv-1821321/

[Mitsu3000gt]

GG has no Canadian office at all. The domain was created in September 2015.

The website reeks of grey market product clues.

They do say this which is probably BS: "All items purchased from GadgetGear Canada come with local sales, support, care and warranty services."

The site is owned and managed by China European e-Commerce Limited (CEeCL) a company registered in Hong Kong.

No phone number, they specifically say they prefer e-mail only, and their "contact" section has numerous errors and incomplete sentences.

Probably fine for accessories and whatnot but I would never buy anything expensive from them or something that required a warranty.

If local stores are dumb enough to price match them though, that's awesome.

[dirtsniffer]

ya, the photos of the rx100 III are not the m3 but I believe they are the m1

[cream]

Have a look at photoprice.ca. It'll list a bunch of cameras' current prices at a bunch of retailers.

Just came back from a 3 month Europe backpacking trip.

To be honest, I didn't find lugging a DSLR that bad. Only sweating+strap around my neck got annoying. Brought a Canon 70D + 18-55 kit + 50mm prime + Ultrapod II in a LowePro Photo Hatchback 16L AW.

The ^ fit inside my 52L backpacking bag. Total backpacking weight was 10.7kg.

Having said that, buy mirrorless if you can. If money is no issue, Fuji X100T gets my vote.

I'd also recommend the portable tripod from above. Also I'm pretty amateur so I took pictures of literally everything. Ended up with 15,000 photos. ~100GB @ highest .jpg resolution.

Here's one of my favourite pics that I'm glad I brought the DSLR for:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/778/21457095878_e94c664d9f_c.jpg

PM me if you have any questions about Europe! Did everything from Ireland to Greece!

[msommers]

Once you've had a chance to go through you pictures, please make a thread highlighting your trip! Sounds amazing!

[Mitsu3000gt]

RX100 III airmiles deal is gone, they sold out already. That was fast.

[dirtsniffer]

So I need to actually figure this out now. I have it narrowest down to the rx100iii and the Canon g7 X. The Sony is 900 and the Canon is 670 so substantial difference, unless I factor it in to the cost of the trip.

I have had bad luck with the lens cover on previous canon point and shoots. It seems if you look at them wrong they get stuck. But I do like that it has a touch screen to select focus points. Anyone else have experience with it?

Or do I wait for the DL 24-85? If I recall it should be right in the same price range.

[Mitsu3000gt]

The G7X has a number of complaints right now, including sluggishness, slow AF, defective lens caps, and poor quality lenses. The RX100 III is going to be the better camera. The G7XII was announced to hopefully fix some of these issues, but won't be available until around May, so I'm not sure when your trip is but it sounds like it' soon. Aden Camera has the Sony for $849 if that helps.

The Nikon DL stuff *should* be the new one to beat in the segment (largely due to the AF and UWA option), but you're looking at May/June for those. The DL 24-85 will be $799 CAD so pretty similar ($999 for the 18-50).

If you need something now, I'd get the RX100 III. If you have some time, I'd wait for a Nikon DL and see if it ends up being as good as it is on paper.

[dirtsniffer]

Leaving May 5th, sounds like the DL is not going to happen.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Yeah most stores are showing the DL availability at June 30th. It might come out sooner but you can't really bank on that.

I'd just get the RX100 III and be done with it if you're leaving in a month, nothing's going to be coming out in the interim. That way you also get a month to familiarize yourself with the camera.

[nykz]

I'm still on the look out for a deal on the RX100 III... don't really want to pay full retail on it. Wish I got it during the air miles deal. :cry:

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by nykz
I'm still on the look out for a deal on the RX100 III... don't really want to pay full retail on it. Wish I got it during the air miles deal. :cry:

I've seen it go $100 off sometimes but not often (usually Boxing Day / Black Friday type thing). Our shitty dollar isn't helping either. The RX100 series has always managed to maintain a surprisingly high price.

[dirtsniffer]

So if I'm going on a trip with no computer for 4 weeks with no computer how many memory cards should i bring? probably 1000 pictures a week with a 20mp camera shooting raw?
Sounds expensive just to load up on SD cards. I will have a tablet but no idea if it can utilize an external hard drive

[blitz]

SD cards are cheap these days, and you don't need high speed ones. Lexar 64GB 633x cards are $50 a pop a few of those and you should be set.

On a vacation without a computer I personally will go through and delete shit photographs each night or every few days. Also stick with just RAW and not JPEG + RAW to save an extra 20-30% per file.

[dirtsniffer]

holy fuck the rx100 m3 is $1000 now. fuck

I think I will have to get the a6000 on sale for 730

[dirtsniffer]

Bough the a6000 at TCS this morning. They were able to price match memex after some discussion.

A good experience as always.

[nykz]

So my Europe trip is coming up in a month, is the Sony Rx100 III still my best bet for compact and easy to use camera? Don't want anything too big, but I read reviews saying battery life is terrible, so I'll probably need an extra battery to be safe. Before I pull the trigger on one just wanted to see if this is still the ideal point and shoot that has decent image quality. Any feedback is appreciated!

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by nykz
So my Europe trip is coming up in a month, is the Sony Rx100 III still my best bet for compact and easy to use camera? Don't want anything too big, but I read reviews saying battery life is terrible, so I'll probably need an extra battery to be safe. Before I pull the trigger on one just wanted to see if this is still the ideal point and shoot that has decent image quality. Any feedback is appreciated!

In the next month, I don't think you will find a better P&S. The Nikon DL series is looking to be the only thing better and they were delayed even further due to the earthquakes and problems with suppliers. I wouldn't expect to see those until Q4. The RX100 III is $200-$300 more than it used to be a few months ago though due to the exchange rate, which is unfortunate. Camera gear is crazy expensive right now.

You can get the RX100 III for 8,900 Airmiles at the moment (they have assigned an $890 value to it), which is comparatively a good deal if you are part of that program.

[taemo]

There's a used RX100 Mark II for $450 + tax at The Camera Store, so tempted on grabbing it but waiting for the DLs to come out.
IMO a really good deal if you don't need EVF and prefer 28-100 vs 24-70 equiv focal length