Camera use in London
 

Hello from the good o' US of A! I'm making my first trip to London on the 21st of July with my wife basically for shopping although we hope to take in a site or two. We'll be out in the West End near Paddington figuring there's plenty of markets to visit nearby - although if anyone knows where to buy vintage toys please feel free to share your hot spots.

I would like to take my Canon camera along for the ride, including a couple of lens and flash, all of which comes in a 16" x 8" x 8" soft case which would obviously reveal its contents given that the name Canon is embossed on it. This is a 2500 dollar outfit so we're not talking about a 100 dollar point n shoot.

Does anyone have any experiences or tips they could share about the pros and cons of bringing a camera overseas.

I'm concerned that with an obviously large camera bag we'll stick out like sore thumbs as tourists which might attract unwelcome attention from scoundrels.

I'm just taking two lenses, an 18 to 55 mm and a 55 to 250mm for telephoto purposes. Is that too much ?

If I'm gonna be taking pictures on the "fly" it would seem that leaving the bag behind and only taking the camera strapped around my neck with one lens might be a better option - I have never done that before as the bag contains other items that come in handy and I would be concerned about it getting banged around in the hustle and bustle of the day.

What about Airport security, should the picture card be taken out of the camera prior to it being put through an x-ray scanning device?

Are there any particular rules of etiquette that I should keep in mind - other than common courtesy of course.

Any pointers or sites to see for photog purposes would be enthusiastically received also.

Thanks for your time.

Mike

Mike..

Let me ask you a question.

I ssume you might be a professional photographer based on your equipment list.

Now for many years, I had an SLR with all sorts of lenses, brought multiple rolls of film yada yada yada.

About 2 or 3 years ago, for about $150 I acquired a Canon sure shot digital camera...it is small, it has a zoom, I can shoot pictures to my heart's content...10 minutes after I get home by attaching a USB cable to my computer, I can download all the pictures, delete the ones I don't like, send the ones I like off to be printed (or print them myself).

Why the hell would you want to bring such a large expensive camera with you when youcan get pictures of almost the same quality with one of the middle range digital cameras available for less than $200 today?

Hi Mike. Firstly at the airport your camera just goes through in it's bag. No need to wrry about x-rays with digital.
Maybe you could look for another camera bag, one that doesn't scream camera bag - look at the Crumpler range for instance though there are plenty of others out there.
Do take both lenses. You will be disappointed if you only take say the wide angle one (which will get the most use in a city) and find yourself wanting to photograph squirrels in Hyde Park for instance.
I would keep the camera and lens and all the other stuff needed for a digital camera, in the bag most of the time. However you will see plenty of people with cameras around their necks taking photos so don't wrooy too much about it. Jst be ulta aware on the tube etc jusrt as you would be at home.
Have fun and enjoy taking those photos.

"Why the hell would you want to bring such a large expensive camera with you when youcan get pictures of almost the same quality with one of the middle range digital cameras available for less than $200 today?

Because any digital SLR will produce better photos than any digital P&S. The sensor is bigger for a start, meaning more detail and more importantly less noise.
You can shoot in RAW and correct the photos - jpegs are compressed and lossy and will lose detail EVERY time you open them, or do anything to them. You can take photos with a wider angle than a P&S offers. i could go on, but I won't.
If you have a DSLR take it on holiday with you - you will not regret it.

Hi W,

>If I'm gonna be taking pictures on the "fly" it would seem that.."

it would be a lot more convenient to get a Canon Prosumer (I love my GS3IS) and save the big, heavy unwieldy, expensive DSLR for when I have time to set up a tripod.

>..should the picture card be taken out of the camera prior to it being put through an x-ray scanning device?<

Not necessary.

>Are there any particular rules of etiquette...

It's a good idea to ask permission before taking a person's picture.

((I))

Let me just back up a little bit..I wasn't looking to put the OP down...if he is a professional photographer or a very advanced amateur and photography is his thing, who am I to criticize and I have no doubt the pictures will be of a higher quality than I can get with the smaller p & S digital cameras..but the question, of course, is to what purpose.

I still maintain that in general, perhaps not for Mike, today's mid range digital camera, do absolutely as good a job, if not better, than the old SLR cameras I used to lug around with me and for 95% of tourists who are not professional photographers, will more than do the job better than what we could do back in those days.

But if Mike or anybody else is somebody who loves photography and it is important to them, that's fine and certainly and clearly their perogative.

Will mention that on a recent tour to Russia in broad daylight on a busy street one member of our group who always carried two cameras (he is a pro) had one of the lens removed from his camera by a professional pickpocket. It was incredibly brazen. He had the names of his cameras covered with blackout tape because he had previously had camera equipment stolen from him in Europe. Just be aware that your expensive equipment will be very obvious to all.

Well, I'm sure not gonna argue about why in the heck take the high end stuff when my Fuji P+S will capture some "memories" just as well. That's why I posted, to get some feedback whether or not taking the "gear" is worth the risk. Obviously it depends on what I want to do with it, I'm leaving behind the macro lens and tripod even though I would love to get some extreme closeup pictures of the local flowers and bugs.... :-)

Thanks for the practical advice of taking a more discreet bag along, maybe I'll take the Canon bag for the trip to the hotel and back for traveling protection given that's what it is designed for, and use something more common for the touristy stuff. I guess just like anything you got to use some common sense.....

There is always plenty of advice on the Fodors forum - that's why it is such a great resource. And plenty of opinions. So here's mine:

I am a advanced amateur photographer who has been traveling to Europe for the last 10 years. Every time I go, I take less camera equipment.

I just got back from 5 weeks in France, Italy, Croatia and others and towards the end of the trip was wishing I had a high quality point and shoot and nothing else. I've thought that for the last 5 years.

Then I get home and start working on the photos and realize that I would not be happy with anything less than my DSLR. But that's just me.

Here's what I traveled with this summer

Canon 5D with three batteries and charger. Vertical grip removed.

Canon 24-105mm 4.0 L
Canon 50mm 1.2 L
Lens hoods for both lenses
2 4 gig cf cards
No flash

All of this was carried in a Mountainsmith lumbar bag. One water bottle pocket holds a lens in a neoprene lens bag and the other holds my sunglasses, etc.

The Mountainsmith bag works well because it doesn't necessarily say "camera bag." However, its hard not to see that I have a camera and even if I blocked out "Canon" on the camera, a wise thief would know I have an expensive set-up. The bag holds about $6K of stuff.

Next summer I think I will take 1 lens - the 24-105 4.0, which is image stabilized. I used to travel with a telephoto lens but I found that most of my photography requires wide angle lenses rather than telephoto. Landscapes or buildings shot from a distance with telephoto are often hazy. I also think that telephoto shots often make the subject seem out of its context.

Here are a few photos from my recent trip:

http://web.mac.com/sshephard1/Portra...e_2008_01.html

In Europe, I don't worry about this too much, but in quite a few Asian or African countries, when I am not using my camera I carry it in a ratty plastic bag.

I switched to a Prosumer camera, but for 35 years I traveled with an obvious camera bag over my shoulder and had absolutely no problems.

If you are still using film, consider a lead-lined bag, which will guarantee that you will be re-checked by security every time. The film shold be out of its container, otherwise European security will then pass it through the X-ray machine after taking it out of the lead-lined bag.

sshephard - I am curious - I know you created your website on a Mac, and it works fine with Opera and Explorer, but have you any idea why it doesn't work with Firefox ?

There are digital compact P+S cameras that can shoot in raw - most of the older Canon Powershot range could (not that it necessarily matters to the OP, but just in case anyone else is interested 8-) )

We have a decent camera setup as well -- canon DSLR with a wide angle, a telephoto and a macro lens. I ALWAYS want the lens I don't have. If you're going to be flying halfway around the world bring it all with you. In fact, I might even invest in one of those tiny tri-pods too, just in case. The worst that happens is that you lug it around one day, realize you won't use it and you can leave it in the hotel. Well, I guess the very worst that could happen is that they could be stolen, but as long as you are observant and stick to safe areas I really don't see that happening.

I guess the question I would ask you is "How sad will you be if you are unable to get the shot you want?" Heartbroken? Then bring it all with you. Mildly bummed? You can probably do without some of the equipment.

This is all coming from the girl that took her bogen tri-pod to Europe and made her husband carry it everywhere they went, just in case!

willit - you are the first one to tell me it doesn't work on Firefox. In fact, I use Firefox on both my Mac and my PC and it works.

Are you using Firefox on a PC? Do you have the latest version of Firefox and Java? I am running 2.0 on my PC

I'm not trying to put the blame on you and I do appreciate the head's up.

I would certainly take my tripod if someone else would carry it. In fact, I'd take another lens or two, if they would carry those as well. :-)

The image stabilized Canon 24-105 4.0L lens is truly amazing. I have a shot taken inside of St. Peters hand held at 1/15 sec. that I have enlarged to 16x24 and there is no evidence of blurring due to camera shake. IS is now part of many P&S cameras. It's revolutionary!

Most recent trip was early May 2008 to England and Scotland.
I took my DSLR Canon XTi w/ 17-85mm lens, 1-1gig card, 2 batteries, battery charger, and a photo vault. I came home with over 2000 photos in 2 weeks. Everything was shot at the highest resolution so I could crop and zoom when I returned to my computer.
There were times when I would have preferred a longer zoom. However the resolution is a godsend in those cases.
Is it possible for you to purchase or borrow a combination wide to zoom lens so you would only be traveling with one?
I did not use a camera bag. The camera was either carried in hand or over shoulder or in my 'shopping' bag.
Each evening I downloaded the card into the photo vault, erased the card, changed batteries and put the used one on the charger. Worked great. If I knew I was going someplace where I would be taking a lot of photos, I would throw the vault in my shopping bag also so I could download mid-day if necessary.
No problems at airports.
And I even got the camera back from a youth in York who volunteered to take a group shot so I could be in it too. That was a gamble that thankfully turned out to be a great photo and story.

A friend of mine brought her fancy camera on a trip to England once and just stowed it (and its bag) in an average-looking backpack while she walked.

She was careful not to pull it out in dodgy neighborhoods, but had no trouble when she pulled it out even in touristy (i.e. pickpocket haven) areas.

My concern wouldn't be crime - it would be toting all that stuff all over with me. Plus leaving it in the hotel room (or safe?) every night when you go out to dinner.

We never take valuables of any variety unless it's something we wear all the time (a watch or ring) and now I even take a toy watch - since I was unexpectedly splashed while wearing a good one.

Agree - that for vacation photos there's no reason not to take a small digital with a built-in flexible lens - unless you're a professional.

I guess it depends on what you plan to do with the photos once you're back home. I typically take my DSLR and 2 lenses with a compact bag when I go to Europe. Sure, it's a bit inconvenient at times to have the extra bulk, but the amazing photos I've enlarged to as much as 24" by 36" more than make up for the inconvenience and are some of my favorite souvenirs. There's no way a P&S would ever do this. Most of the hotel safes will accommodate this limited amount of gear (minus the bag). In my experience, I forget the inconvenience a few days after I'm back home, but I enjoy the mega-sized prints for years and years. If 4X6 prints was the goal, though, I'd just take a P&S. Enjoy your trip!
Michael

We were in England for two weeks in May, and I had our Canon Rebel with the mid size zoom lens (and regular lens), while my husband just wanted to carry our little Canon Sure Shot camera. I carried the camera in a regular backpack and that worked great as I also had room for a light jacket and other little items (water bottle, etc.). I am glad I decided to take the camera with the zoom lens or else we would not have had some of the awesome pictures we came home with after our trip.

I got tired of carrying my slr camera on trips to Europe and started carrying a digital point and shoot instead. Then we did a heritage trip to Romania and I brought the slr (film) and my brother and I each brought a point and shoot. We took turns with the slr. Many, many times we had side by side pictures of the same shot - the slr and either my Canon p&s or his Sony p&s. No comparison - the slr had superior pictures every time.

So, I asked for a digital slr for Christmas 2006, and have gone back to the "big" camera on my travels. I use the smallest camera bag I can fit the equipment into. On travel days, I tuck the camera bag into a day backpack. For sightseeing in the city, I use a tote bag/messenger bag with the camera (and often the camera bag) inside.

For a quarter century, we traveled with about 25 pounds of equipment -- two bodies, four lenses, flash, mini tripod, cables, lead-lined bags filled with film. I frequently wrote about travel, his pictures illustrated the published articles.
In retirement, we switched to a Nikon point & shoot and a digital camcorder. We edit the results into travel films -- I write and do the narrations, he edits the visuals and adds the captions and background music. We show the films at service clubs and libraries. The whole package including charger fits in the corner of a carryon and weighs less than 10 pounds.
We've never felt our camera equipment was in danger. But once, while shooting stills in Rome with the SLR, he had his wallet stolen from his pocket.

Not going to comment on the camera.

One thing you should be aware of is that we in the UK are obsessed with Paedophiles. If you take a picture of children (perfectly legal) you may be challenged.

If you take a picture of a bus and a child happens to be on the bus you may be challenged.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...blic-park.html

...funny though but the UK government takes pictures of children (and adults too) almost every move they make all in the name (not that I am necessarily indicating it is wrong) of the fight against terrorism (born of course long before Islamic fascism but against the IRA)....

Can't answer your question. Just want to remind you to check your insurance coverage.

I travel with my dSLR, multiple lenses, etc. I would never not take it all because I LOVE using my camera gear.

A couple things I've discovered for me:

If the gear will fit in a beltpack, they are a great choice for travel. They open at the top so you can switch lenses while you walk. The bag is always attached to you (carry it with the gear at your front), so it won't get left behind or grabbed when you're not looking. If you wear it while boarding the plane, it is not always counted towards your carryon limit.

If you'll be in urban areas, don't do a camera backpack. It's too easy for someone to come up behind you in a crowd and cut the bag. If you're not going to carry it on your back, then a sling bag is a more comfortable fit.

I do take my tripod. It is an inexpensive collapsible one (about $80), so I simply put it in my checked bag. It will easily fit in a 22" in roller. While it's not a big heavy duty tripod, it is enough to get those sunset shots, etc. If something happens, it's not a major loss.

I don't worry that my bag looks like a camera bag. As soon as I take my camera out of the bag, and I'm going to have the camera out often (that's why I brought it), everyone will know what I'm carrying. To me, it's more important that I have a good quality bag to protect my gear from damage than to hide the fact I have a camera.

A photog vest is a great thing to take along. Not only can you use it when you're out to help carry gear, but on your return home, you can pack the pockets full of souvenirs and wear it onto the plane. Because you're wearing it, it doesn't count as a carry on. Just take it off at security and run it through the xray, then put it back on until you're on the plane.

If you're interested in vintage toys, check out Pollock's. Great shop & they can probably steer you to where to get vintage toys if they don't have what you want. It's been a few years since I was there but they have a website:

http://www.pollocks-coventgarden.co.uk/

sshepherd, your site really doesn't work in Firefox - the front page does but none of the albums load. What a shame :(

I am not a professional photographer, just do it for a hobby but I wouldn't dream of going on holiday without my Dslr and at least a couple of lenses. I usually also take my tripod just in case (though I'm not sure I'd bother in London). I carry it all myself, in a Tamrac rucksack or in a messenger type photo bag. Oh offers to carry it but hey I choose to take it so I'll do the donkey work too. I leave it all in the hotel room when we go out to eat or whatever - never had a problem with that and can't see why you would.
I want the best possible photos I can take as memories, and that to me means my Dslr. I have a couple of my photos framed at A3 size, which you cannot be confident of doing with a P&S. Besides why fork out more money on a P&S when you've spent so much on gear already - put it towards another piece of glass I say :)

I do have it all well insured, including for if I have to check the gear - just in case we're flying when there is another no hand baggage allowed scare.

Taking photos is one of the chief joys of travel for me. I put off buying any kind of digital camera for years, because all the ones I tried were frustrating, they didn't feel like real cameras, they didn't take the picture exactly when I pushed the button, I couldn't even really tell when the picture was being taken. So for me, taking a digital point and shoot would be very unsatisfying.

I finally bought a digital SLR a year ago, the Canon Rebel XTi, and it has greatly enhanced my enjoyment of picture-taking on my travels. If I don't want to bring a camera bag, I just put the camera with one lens attached into my purse for the day.

"willit - you are the first one to tell me it doesn't work on Firefox. In fact, I use Firefox on both my Mac and my PC and it works."

I use firefox 3 - but later I will use an older PC that still has firefox version 2. FF3 does work if you use the "emulate IE" plugin.

By the way, I didn't mean it to be a negative comment, I really enjoyed your pictures.

Just to confirm that the site looks fine on Firefox 2 running on Ubuntu.

To the original question - I have a Canon S5 point and shoot, which I love, but even this is sometimes too large as a "holiday camera".

If I take it with me, I feel obliged to lug it around and take photographs - to the extent that the photography starts to take precedence over the vacation. I am sure that if I finally went for the DSLR, Iwould be even worse.

I now carry around a Canon S720 which seems almost the ideal compromise for me - it is small enough to fit into a pocket, but has 8MP and a 6 times zoom which works fine for me in 90% of the time. If I see something that cries out for a photo, then the camera is with me, but I don't feel guilty if I fail to return with 1000s of shots.

although if anyone knows where to buy vintage toys please feel free to share your hot spots. >>>>>

Camden Passage Antiques Market, which confusingly is not in Camden. It is in Islington. You need to go to Angel tube (which has the longest escalator in Britain - it's huge. Possible photo op?)

Turn right out of the tube and its a few hundred yards on the right.

As for the camera stuff? Buggered if i know.

An alternative

http://gallery.me.com/sshephard1#100168

So what is the best non-dslr camera that allows a person to shoot in raw and that has relatively low noise at 800 iso? Image stabilization would be good, too.

Some of you have me convinced that I should travel lighter.

I started using a Panasonic DMC FZ 18 and do not go over 400 iso. Yet the pictures taken without flash in badly lit underground chapels in Cappadocia came out fine.

http://tinyurl.com/64bpoc

The problem with the bridge cameras is that few have RAW. There is a non permanent hack for Canon cameras using CHDK.

See http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

I like a nice camera but try to keep it simple. Otherwise, the search for perfect pictures can totally dominate a trip. Can get so busy with the dang camera that you don't see what is right ahead of you.
However, I am quite intrigued that a number of Fodorites are so very proud of their equipment.

Proud of our equipment? Yes we are!

A few years ago, I was visiting the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I had my DSLR with a telephoto lens attached.

I walked in front of a young couple, and noticed that the man was holding a small point and shoot camera. I thought nothing of it until the woman saw my camera and lens and exclaimed, "Look how big HIS lens is honey!"

I looked a the man and he had an odd expression of anger and chagrin on his face. I was both embarrassed and amused.

Perhaps this experience is why I not longer travel with a long lens - I don't want to stand out.

Boy was I surprised by the answers here..no offense meant to anybody..maybe it's my eyes...I get absolutely stunning pictures with my basically point & shoot digital but it has many different settings that even allow me to either choose the shutter & have the camera select the f stop or vice versa..I would consider it a medium level camera..certainly no contest for an slr but then again it's 1/3 of the price and 1/10 of the weight.

I've compared my pictures with those of a good friend with slr equipment and it must be my eyes but I can't tell much of a difference frankly.

But I'm not a photographer...the pictures just represent memories.

And I can't believe it was just 15 years ago that I used ot lug around a film using slr.....

It's not camera that takes great pictures, it's the photographer.

A great photographer will get more great shots from a P&S than a lousy photographer will get from a top of the line SLR.

But, that doesn't mean a great photographer should simply use a P&S all the time. With better equipment, a great photographer will get that many more great shots because (s)he doesn't hit the limitations of the P&S.

While I'm not a great photographer, I found that my Canon G6 was giving me great results, but I was hitting the limit of the lowlight and telephoto capabilities. In addition, I found that I was missing shots because I couldn't change the manual settings easily. My dSLR resolved those issues and I'm having a blast trying to hit its limitations.

The other difference between the two is that with a dSLR, you can choose all the settings rather than the camera doing it automatically. For me, that's why I don't use a P&S - when I get that great shot, I want it to be because I KNEW what I was doing, not because the camera knew what to do.