Taking a DSLR on holiday

lordrobs

lordrobs

lordrobs

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I'm going on holiday next weekend and am considering whether or no to take my DSLR or just stick with my compact. I've got a few questions that people who travel with their DSLRs may be able to answer.

1) I take a lot of photos on holiday (200 - 400 a week normally) and with the best will in the world I'm never going to get round to post processing all of them. Should I still bother with RAW or just fire them off in JPEG? If I do go the RAW route is there a quick way of adding blacks and sharpness to all my photos as a batch leaving me the ability to post process just the really nice photos? I have Lightroom if that makes a difference but am a real amateur with it.

2) I have a Jessops Gadget Bag that came with the camera and it is pretty clunky. Do you have any recommendations for a more compact bag that will still protect my D5100 with 18-50 kit lens with a pocket for a few SD cards?

3) We are traveling light (aka on the cheap ;) ) and have only got one bag between the two of us going in the hold and taking a carry on bag each with the rest of our clothes on to the plane. Will my camera have to go in the bag or can I hang it off my neck? Will the fact it is in a bag effect this? I'm flying with Thomson and am not 100% sure on their policy, although I will call them to check if my online search for info remains fruitless.

Thanks in advance for any advice!
 
Does the 5100 have dual write ability? (can you set it up to write to both jpg and raw for each shot?

You'd need more mem cards but it would solve your issue.

But yeah you could set up a preset to do sharpness and blacks

kd
 
King Damager said:
Does the 5100 have dual write ability? (can you set it up to write to both jpg and raw for each shot?

You'd need more mem cards but it would solve your issue.

But yeah you could set up a preset to do sharpness and blacks

kd
Click to expand...

I can confirm it does have this
 
You could just shoot jpeg fine if you wanted, or just get a couple of extra memory cards.

I use the slingshot 302 for my hols, it's big enough for my D700, 16-35mm, 70-300mm, rocket-blower & battery charger + room for a few bits.
It's within carry-on regs & JUST about small enough to fit at my feet, rather than going in the over head lockers.
 
If you can't be bothered with processing and think its all a hassle, might as well just stick with shooting jpeg. You still have a degree of control over how the jpegs come out in camera due to the preset options and manual adjustments modes.

The advantage of shooting RAW is to have more scope to change or possibly fix an image, especially in regards to exposure and white balance.

You can easily setup a basic preset in Lightroom to batch apply processing of your images, where using jpeg or RAW. Personally this is how I work, as I use a basic first pass correction preset on all the images from a shoot. I then go through them picking the ones I like and fixing or doing more work on those that need it.

As for travelling with the camera. It depends on what airport you are travelling from and how the staff are. With Photography not being allowed in terminals and security, I can't imagine they will be over the moon about you having a large camera around your neck that can't go in a bag. An airport like Luton for example where low budget airlines operate, they are very strict on hand baggage allowance before security. So provided your hand baggage is under the size allowance, might be worth trying to attach it to a bag. I personally would just wrap it in clothes in the hand luggage or something.
 
Not many airlines will let you take off and land with a DSLR strapped around your neck or not stowed in the overhead baggage compartment for safety reasons although they may allow you to take it in another small protective case or bag so you can stow it away safely
 
lordrobs said:
1) I take a lot of photos on holiday (200 - 400 a week normally) and with the best will in the world I'm never going to get round to post processing all of them. Should I still bother with RAW or just fire them off in JPEG? If I do go the RAW route is there a quick way of adding blacks and sharpness to all my photos as a batch leaving me the ability to post process just the really nice photos? I have Lightroom if that makes a difference but am a real amateur with it.
Click to expand...

I shoot them in RAW, i've done both the take laptop with me and process photos from the day at the end of the night and process them when i get home.

I find i get more of them processed in the former....still have NYC photos to do 4 months on.

lordrobs said:
2) I have a Jessops Gadget Bag that came with the camera and it is pretty clunky. Do you have any recommendations for a more compact bag that will still protect my D5100 with 18-50 kit lens with a pocket for a few SD cards?

3) We are traveling light (aka on the cheap ;) ) and have only got one bag between the two of us going in the hold and taking a carry on bag each with the rest of our clothes on to the plane. Will my camera have to go in the bag or can I hang it off my neck? Will the fact it is in a bag effect this? I'm flying with Thomson and am not 100% sure on their policy, although I will call them to check if my online search for info remains fruitless.

Thanks in advance for any advice!
Click to expand...

I don't take a bag, it hangs off my shoulder through customs. They only require you to tuck things under your seat during take off and landing. So just do that.

I have a messenger bag that is big enough is i want to put my camera in. As for SD cards, its tiny...fits in any pockets.
 
Dave L said:
I'd just take a decent compact; you'll soon get pee'd off carrying around an 'SLR
Click to expand...

I don't know. I always take mine, and i've never had any issues carrying it during the day. My camera bag is small though. It's a easy as carrying a tiny rucksack or very small satchel.

I don't really take it out in the evening if I know i'm partying.
 
What is your carry on bag like? I assume you are taking a normal bag/rucksack for everyday use? If so then don't buy another bag and just stick it in the norlam bag all holiday. Unless you're throwing bags around or dumping heavy things in it all the time then your camera is going to be fine. I don't get camera bags most of the time, if you want a bit more protection wrap a tshirt or spare jumper round it.

Shoot in RAW and Jpeg, jpeg takes up little more space than raw on its own so you're not going to lose that many photos, compromise by going through your photos and deleting bad ones as you go along, saving lots of space and time when you get home.
 
Thanks for all of the advice. Because we were being cheap and only went for one check in bag I can't make taking my DSLR work this time round no matter how much I try and juggle stuff between bags. Looks like it will be my (rather basic) compact this time round :(

I hope we'll be getting away later in the year and that time we'll be driving so weight won't be a problem and I'll take both cameras.
 
I took my SLR round Oz and NZ for 3 months and it started to becoma a right PITA. Near the end of my travelling a gust of wind took my bag off the bench I was sitting on. Camera broke.

Always took my Point and Shoot since.
 
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