Travel

[sartracker]

I'm traveling to Israel in the Fall on a Catholic Pilgrimage. As far as I can tell, taking photographs is okay everywhere we'll be but my dilemma is whether to take my Canon 60D with 2 lenses or a G10. I prefer to take the 60D but my kids think I'll either be arrested and/or annoy the others on the trip. I have used my camera many place around Europe, including churches and never had problems but thought I would ask for the opinions of other photographers. My thought is I might never have another opportunity to take pictures at these places and I should get the best I possibly can. Your thoughts?

[Chip]

I know more than a few people that have traveled to Israel, and I've heard no one complain about not being able to take photos. Much less about allowing photos to be taken with a G10 type camera but not an SLR.

Does the US State Dept. or the Israeli Embassy in the US have any useful info on their websites? I'd consider the lack of notices about restrictions on photography to be useful information.

As for annoying your fellow travelers, that seems more a function of the photographer than the camera.

If your 60D and 2 lenses will let you get photos that you can't get with your G10, then I say take the SLR and the lenses!

[thatBilly]

Originally Posted by sartracker

Your thoughts?

I thought it was only the British that were arresting people for taking photos!

Why not take your SLR? Seems like good advice from Chip.

[RichardTaylor]

Take your 60D. You will need it for the large dynamic range, low light levels, and tight scenes you will encounter.

See this Flickr set to give you an idea of what you will encounter. It's not mine and he was using a Canon 5DII.

Israel ????? - a set on Flickr

[sartracker]

Thank you Chip, Billy and Richard! I'm officially taking my 60D! I've gotten pretty good at being quiet and unobtrusive taking photos in churches and vary rarely shoot photos of people (but I might give it a try). I also was thinking of the lighting and know that with the lenses I'm going to take, I can get most of the photos without a flash. To me that's less annoying than flashes on P&S cameras.

I knew my fellow photographers would give me good advice and I wasn't wrong. It's still months away but I hope I can post some like Richard's friend on Flickr.

And if I get arrested, my husband is a lawyer and we're going with 2 Bishops so hopefully they can bail me out!

Thanks again! Kitty

[gdegerman]

I am sorry If I confuse you now when you made your decision... But I hate to travel with big cameras and I never come home with good images if I do. All my best pictures are captured with great compacts. I love the agility, and according to my experience big cameras effects everyone around you.

[SwissJon]

I travelled round Thailand last year with just my DSLR.. I took some stunning photos, but I can tell you, there were soooooo many times when I wished for a compact, to the point that I bought one while I was out there.. The thing is, when you're out looking for photos, the DSLR will be fine, but it's heavy and you can't put it in your pocket. You also can't hide it when you feel uncomfortable in an area.

I suggest you take both.. Carry your DSLR when you're on a tour, but if you want to go off the beaten track, take the little one.

Oh, one last tip.. If you leave a camera in a hotel room or you're travelling in a crowded place where you wont use the camera, take the memory card out of it and keep that somewhere safe. Travel insurance will pay for a stolen camera gear, NOTHING can pay for stolen memories.

[gturner]

If you take the SLR make sure you have a fast, wide prime. Something like a 20 f2.8 or 35 f2.0

[Jim Bryant]

Take your dSLR camera, most everyone else will take one. Have fun and don't care what your kids will think.

[Chip]

Good for you on taking the SLR. I just took mine on a holiday (along with 2 lenses and my flash). Very glad I did, even though it meant lugging everything around with me the whole time. No regrets.