To bring camera or not?
 

This summer I will be going abroad by myself for my first time! I will be studying in France and then travelling to Italy, Germany, and Switzerland after my summer semester is over. I recently bought the newest Canon DSLR camera, and was wondering if I should bring it with me or not. I love photography but am not an avid photo taker. The main thing holding me back from bringing it is the fear that it will be lost/stolen when I am traveling after the program. I will be staying in many hostels/air bnbs and I'm not sure if I want the responsibility of constantly worrying about my camera. I'm also worried that having a nice camera as a small, young girl will make me more of a target for thieves. I have an iPhone that can take pretty decent pictures, but am worried that they won't be as great of quality as I would like. Thanks for any advice. :)

Someone would far more likely steal your iPhone than a big SLR. But wether you take it or not really depends on how much you think you'll use it. You will have amazing Photography opportunities - but maybe your phone and/or an inexpensive point and shoot would be enough for you.

My thought is why have a camera if you don't take it where the opportunities are? It can be stolen anywhere, not just in Europe, if you don't take the usual precautions. Personally, I'd go without my phone rather than my camera, just a question of priorities. Your call.

I had a similar quandary for the last few years - not just the risk of having a full-size DSLR stolen, but also the bulk and weight and how/where to carry it is often a problem.

I largely solved it by buying the small but mighty Olympus TG-4 (T as in tough - can be dropped and won't break, can be under water and is sealed). Very light-sensitive, just about never need the flash!

Then after a couple of trips when I was very happy with the results except for the desire to go wider and longer, I splurged on the wide screw-on lens attachment, and now I can take in the full width of ballrooms in castles and city squares etc without having to try pano shots.

Then I splurged further on the tele screw-on lens attachment, and now I'm a happy camper. The camera is usually in a chest pocket on a lanyard around my neck, the two lens attachments in a belt pouch, and I take LOTS of pix and they come out pretty darn well and can be enhanced at will (I shoot raw files). And the videos aren't shabby, either. An amazing little beastie.

So if you can throw money at your problem, that's a way of doing it.

If you plan to only photograph in JPEG mode with either camera, the quality of the file won't matter much because they will be similar. JPEG is a compressed file, which means it's the lowest quality by default, no matter how sophisticated the camera you use. If you studied digital photography, you would fully understand this.

Your dslr will certainly offer more features and lens options, but the iPhone is pretty feature-rich, too. If you're only shooting JPEG, and both cameras are shooting in Automatic mode, traveling with both cameras could be redundant.

If quality is your primary desire, then you need to shoot in RAW. Knowing how to shoot in RAW properly requires a bit of study. In order to bring creativity into your photography, you need to learn how to shoot in manual and forget about Program (automatic) mode.

@NYCFoodSnob I do shoot my photos in Manual mode, so I know that there are some great photo opportunities.

Thanks to everyone for the advice!

You have to decide what values are relevant to you. Some people think the value and the price tag are the same thing and continue to hold onto this view through their life. While others might start from the price tag-value equivalence in their youth, but eventually realize something else is more valuable, such as missed opportunities that never come back.

As another indicated, your iphone is likely to be more of a target than a camera.

A larger view is to integrate the chance of equipment loss against what you can get out of it while it is in your possession to come up with overall risk/benefit picture. The trade-off point is different between the individuals. If the value is in the picture as opposed to the hardware, you can protect yourself from the collateral loss of the hardware by backing up pictures. I backup all my pictures every night. Even if my hardware is lost, all I would lose is a day worth of pictures. For me, that is the only value of owning a camera.

I take a high-end compact camera on my trips similar to what another poster mentioned. It takes nearly as good pictures as a DLR while small enough to put it into my jacket pocket. In my view, a camera with me all the time is worth infinitely more than a greatest camera left at home.

NYCFoodSnob: <i>If you plan to only photograph in JPEG mode with either camera, the quality of the file won't matter much because they will be similar. JPEG is a compressed file, which means it's the lowest quality by default, no matter how sophisticated the camera you use. If you studied digital photography, you would fully understand this.</i>

JPEG compression is not equal among cameras, either. Don't expect a cheap P&S or an iPhone to necessarily produce JPEG files of equal quality to a Canon DSLR. Cheaper cameras have cheaper circuitry, and doing really excellent JPEG compression quickly required more involved circuitry that costs more.

JPEG allows for different levels of compression as well; the less compression, the better the quality but the larger the file. That's why "Super Fine" JPEG shots may have better quality but will be larger files on your memory card.

Nonetheless - even though I shoot RAW+JPEG all the time with my Canon DSLR, the JPEG files are pretty damn good, too, and I suspect almost no one would ever be able to tell the difference. I've printed JPEG files many times from my DSLR, even very large prints. The biggest benefit of a RAW file, really, is that you have much more control over manipulating the final image - and it's easier. You have more color information stored in a RAW file, so you can alter the image over a wider color range. But honestly, the average photographer is not going to care about much of this stuff.

Even so, what really matters much more than JPEG vs. RAW is the sensor in the camera. I guarantee you the sensor in the Canon DSLR can produce far superior images in many lighting situations than the best iPhone. In perfect light, you might not notice much difference. The difference would be more apparent in lower light situations. Even the best phone cameras have much smaller sensors than DSLRs, and the bigger the sensor (in general) the better it can handle low light images without "noise" or "grain" in the images.

There's nothing wrong with shooting with automatic modes if you know how to use them. I usually shoot in P (Program Mode) for daytime snapshots; one benefit of using RAW for photos like that is that it's much easier to correct exposures with RAW files. I shoot in Manual mode only when I'm taking what I believe are super nice shots - or night shots on a tripod. Otherwise, it's just way too time consuming to shoot everything in Manual when I'm walking around a city and exploring and taking pictures with my DSLR.

We spend 1 month in June/July, and 1 month in Sept in France every year. My wife has a "point & shoot" and usually takes about 3-5,000 pictures per year. No problems with theft or loss. When we get home, she spends about 1 month per trip developing a Shutterfly book for each trip. We've been doing this since 1999.

Here is the book from our June/July trip last year. She is still working on our Sept trip.
https://stududley.shutterfly.com/53

Click on Full screen.

Stu Dudley

Hi
The question was to take or not to take. Not how to use a camera.

I am also of the advice that if you have a nice camera it is because you like to use a nice camera. And to use it you have to take it.

So Nymph have a nice trip !

I have considered this when planning my trip to Europe...and decided I will put up with lugging my Canon DSLR around because I will get much better photos and can use all the settings for a perfect shot.
Use several SD cards so if the camera is lost or stolen you have not lost all your photos. I can buy another camera but replacing the photos means another trip.
You have the camera = you like photography = take it.

I wouldn't dream of leaving my Nikon Dslr at home! We love photography and that is a huge part of the enjoyment of our trips. I just take it with me everywhere!

I always take my DSLR with me when I travel.

It will be a great opportunity to learn about your new camera and develop your skills too.

Do print out the photos of your trip. Maybe make a book of the best ones. Photos taken on phone tend to stay on the phone and rarely see the light of day again. The same thing can happen with DSLR photos once transferred to a computer. Printing a book, or a few favourite photos means you can enjoy and share the photos.

nymphlys I think a DSLR will make you photograph less, not more. The camera doesn't matter much: your enjoyment and attention do. You could also buy something like olloclip to give you a better lens on your iPhone. That way you have many of the imaging options (but not top notch image quality of course). I photographed rescues in the Mediterranean last autumn and I used my iPhone for that because it was less threatening to the people we got on board and because it was just so easy to have it on me and not have to grab the "real" camera. I did use an olloclip wide angle lens though.

Snapseed is a great editing app for editing on the go.

I do a lot of reportage nowadays, for which I bought a secondhand Fuji X-T1: it's a small camera, the lenses can be small and it has a great wifi connection function so I can upload to the web through my iPhone. For me that is the ideal combination. Also consider the weight you'll be carrying while walkabout in a city. If you think it might make you leave your camera in the hotel, you've already made your choice.

<i><font color=#555555>"I do shoot my photos in Manual mode, so I know that there are some great photo opportunities."</font></i>

That is interesting. The vast majority of amateurs do not know how to photograph in Manual. Whether they do it or not may not be the issue. Do you know what you're doing when you shoot in Manual mode? I know a few people who call themselves professionals, and they don't know how to shoot in Manual either.

And of course, if you want to shoot anything of "value" in low light situations on Manual, you're going to need a tripod. The vast majority of travelers who travel with a camera do not travel with a tripod. Without the tripod, you limit yourself in a serious way, IMO.

When you use the word "value" and JPEG in the same sentence, you end up with the words cheap, worthless, and pre-manipulated. But I can't help not using my professional brain power to analyze your question. Yes, you may be able to do a few clever things with the JPEG photos you take while you travel, but, without an education in digital photography and without good RAW files, you will never know what you could have produced with those once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunities.

The truth is, it takes a lot of work and a serious education to take a masterful digital photograph. Most tourists wouldn't know what that looks like or what you need in a digital file to produce a master print of true value.

True value - money and time spent, matters to some amateurs, but most people only wish to acquire a visual memory of their travel exploits. You certainly don't need to burden yourself with two cameras shooting JPEGs if a visual memory is your only goal.

I don't normally address photography questions on travel boards. I think there are more appropriate places to get a worthy education in photography. The correct answer to your question depends on what your goal actually is. For instance, if you want to seize the opportunity to use your trip to better learn the dslr, then the answer is simple: take it and deal with the extra weight and redundancy. As someone said above, I believe street thieves prefer the iPhone over any Canon dslr. The dlsr is much harder to sell on the black market.

Good luck and safe travels.

OP, a further thought or two, regardless of what mode you use to photograph, will you have a computer with you or some other means of backing up photos taken with a DSLR?
If not then stick with your phone which you can set to back up to the cloud.

If you do have a computer with you then the DSLR is not the only thing you need to worry about when staying in hostels. Generally there are lockers available for a fee though.

The best camera is the one you have with you, and a good photographer can take fantastic photos with anything that will take photos. No amount of gear will turn a mediocre photographer into a great one. Practice and understanding your tools will help, but a good eye is essential.

I take pics by looking at the target and clicking.
Same as when I use a rifle actually.
Would there be more to it ?
:-)

Shooting is shooting.

If you have the camera stolen, you will travel with no camera and no SLR pictures. If you do not take your camera, same result, so what's the difference?

F4 and be there.

WoinParis, I always tell people I coach that photographing is just knowing when to push the button. But ah! the magic is in the "when".

"F4 and be there." Must be a 4/3rds shooter.
The phrase for the rest of us is F8 and be there. Thanks to Weegee.

In fact the best F number depends on many things, including desired depth of field, available light and the lenses "sweet spot". F8 works pretty well for most things though.

I wouldn't take the camera myself. Not about having it get stolen or whatever, but it's just extra weight and one more thing to worry about when you're moving around.

I'd just use your phone - but I do agree, be careful with that, because it would be a lot easier for someone to grab and run than a camera!

Hi nymphlys, I have the same worry as you did, and I mostly stay in hostels/guesthouses, but I never traveled without my camera, and so far nothing happen to it. Being cautious is the key. I'm also a small, young girl; trust me, that doesn't has anything to do with the thieves: they will steal from whoever they could, be it a male or female, strong or weak. My brother was a muscular man but his camera got stolen in Netherlands. I learnt from his lesson.

Put your camera into lockers in hostels. You should be able to check in advance if the hostel provide this service. Many hostels do it for free nowadays - at least the good hostels. While traveling, put the strap of your camera on your neck, never put it out of sight.

Eventually, what's the point of a camera if we can't use it in need? :)

Moreover, if you take out your iPhone too often, the possibility of your iPhone got stolen is higher than the camera.

As Ansel Adams said, "a good photograph is knowing where to stand." At least, in terms of scenic photography, I've found that to be so true.

The "when" matters more when you are photographing action or people, not something I do so often - although if you are shooting outside, obviously you care about where the sun is, what the sky is like, etc. If it's a day with scattered clouds, sometimes with sunbreaks, the "when" can mean trying to guess when the sun will break through and light your subject the way you want it - or "when" the sun will rise or set, etc.

Like hetismij2, I default to F8 at least on my 24-105mm lens that I use much of the time when shooting manually. I'm not a big fan of narrow depth-of-field - it's an overused technique I think, one that really works sometimes but not always. I usually want to see the whole scene, not just the subject with a blurred background. Of course, it depends what you are doing. Even though I shoot in "Program" mode much of the time (unless I'm using my tripod), I still pay attention to what choices the camera is making for shutter speed and F-stop. If the light is good, and I don't need anything special, I'm usually happy with the choices it makes. Part of shooting is knowing how to use your camera to its fullest potential, even if it's a basic camera with manual focus, as my first real 35mm camera was. With my DSLR, I've looked carefully at hundreds of my shots and learned what I care about and what doesn't matter.

my glorious "when" derided. Of course the when matters in any situation, not only action or people. When do you fire the shutter, that's the eternal question. Followed by "how do you gesture with the camera?", the gesture taking up the entire body. :) :)

Sharpness is a bourgeois concept.

zoom lenses. pah!

I take my camera on travel and enjoy using it, but don't want carry it with me everywhere, every day. If I'm not carrying it, I keep it locked in the hotel safe. It sounds like you might not have a secure place to store your camera -- that would be a problem for me.

If you're happy with the photos and videos you get with your phone, then the most carefree option is to stick with that. Maybe spend some time before you go experimenting with the photo options on your phone so you can make best use of it while you're traveling.

IF I did want a camera separate from my phone, I would just buy a tiny point & shoot digital camera. I see no point in packing a "new Canon DSLR" by a "small young girl" who is not a photographer and will be staying alone in hostels.

Followed by "how do you gesture with the camera?", the gesture taking up the entire body.

menachem I'm sure there's some wisdom in this...can you explain to an amateur?

"When" is everything with lighting IMO...

suze: I don't see any link between "small young girl, staying alone in hostels" and "no point in packing the camera". You couldn't have known more hostels than me. I took the caution steps, and no strangers have touched my camera. There is always a point in packing the camera, if the OP loves photography, as she said.

I also fail to see suze's point. But I often do. Her size, youth, profession and travel status would seem to me to have no bearing whatever on her wish to take some good pictures.

There is no point in a small point and shoot and a phone. The phone will probably produce better photos.

As I said upthread though if OP has no means of backing up her photos she either has to carry, and risk losing, a lot of memory cards, or stick with phone and save to the cloud.

Same with batteries. You will need at least one spare, and the charger for it, so you have to decide whether you want to carry those as well.

Personally I see no point in owning a DSLR and not taking it away with you, if at all possible. There are extremely comfortable, and theft proof, straps and bags available. I left mine behind just once, on a flying visit to the UK, and I so missed having it. Now it's always packed and always carried.

And you are actually less likely to get your camera stolen in the hostel than out on the street. Or in fact, the only time I've had items stolen like that were when they were locked in the car. I really don't think it matters what you look like- age or gender. Theft is a matter of opportunity and inattention on your part.

I am not saying let your guard down but honestly the only thing that has ever disappeared on me at a hostel was food. People don't generally touch other people's stuff in your room. Not only too many witnesses but also unless you flash your valuables around, people won't know you have enything worth stealing.

<if the OP loves photography, as she said.>

Well she ALSO said:

"and I'm not sure if I want the responsibility of constantly worrying about my camera"

Her words.

I love to travel, I like taking photos, and have never used a fancy camera myself. I'm not sure why that is so hard to understand.

Back in my film/SLR days, when I would do multiple mental calculations for fill flash and more, I kept my camera on F4 at the hyperfocal distance and aperture priority in case I had no time to calculate a shot. F8 could yield too slow a shutter to allow a grab shot. I couldn't afford autofocus, just autoexposure.

Now that smart cameras are cheap, I concentrate on the image and let the chip figure out the numbers.

I have no doubt the OP will take her lovely camera and be glad she did. In my 50s I began walking long distance paths in England, no support, small pack with all I needed on my back, medium format Rollei with film, charger on my front, plus 35mm slr, film, etc. Yes, heavy but had the time of my life and kept it up year after year. Then went home to the darkroom. Life and travel have gotten a whole lot lighter, lest we forget.

sundriedtopepo one can get very philosophical about photography, but at the end of the day it is "making one thing out of everything". Or, as the photographer, you bend "reality" to your will, framing it, selecting, taking a split second out of time and expanding that to a permanent state. That is the inherent tension in photography that I love, the tension by what happens in front of you that is time based and how that is shot, caught and fixed.

The practice of the photographer is determining the position of the "body with the camera" in physical space so that the photograph can be made, and then to determine when the shutter will be fired. That is all there is to it. Of course it is the confrontation with the time based world that makes this into such an exciting adventure.

There's a lot in here about the frame of mind of the photographer, questions whether you intend your photographs to be windows or mirrors etc.

here's Paris:

https://flic.kr/p/NU9frW

>>I love to travel, I like taking photos, and have never used a fancy camera myself. I'm not sure why that is so hard to understand.

suze: we don't aim here at understanding you. We try to understand the OP and provide her advises that she needs. In the end only she knows if she need her camera or not. It has nothing to do with weather you want your camera or not. About constant worrying, I have said twice in this thread, and I'll repeat the 3rd time: put it in the locker in the hostel, no more worry, end of story.

No idea if the OP is still even reading this thread...
But, if so, how often do you haul your DSLR around to actually take photos where you live? If it's not more than once a week, for example, it's really not worth the bother.

Your camera will be absolutely adequate for what you intend to do.

Just take sensible precautions to keep it safe - don't leave it unattended on a table, don't use it on public transport, etc. Might be a good idea to buy a lanyard to use around your neck, too.

Maybe OP will be the photograph of her generation. Maybe not.
Not my turf but I can imagine wanting to take it if you have it.

<i> To bring camera or not?
Posted by: nymphlys on Feb 9, 17 at 8:23pm</i>

You will be happy you did. Keep the strap around your neck and keep one hand on the camera to keep it from bouncing on your belly, and to keep other hands away from it. Theft in Europe is primarily by invisible pickpockets and not by brute force. Back up your images every night, just in case. The pictures will be worth more to you than the camera.