Traveling - P&S or dSLR?

My wife and I are taking a trip to Europe in the spring for about 3 weeks. (England, France, Belgium, Netherlands) She lived outside of London for a couple years, but I've never been so this is a very important trip to me. I really want to take a lot of pictures on this trip, and I'm hoping to have at least a few printed at larger sizes that 8x10.

I originally was trying to decide which P&S to purchase, and settled on the Canon G10. However, after picking up a XSi, XS, and D60 I realized even with a lens they aren't significantly heavier than the G10 and produce significantly better pictures at higher ISO. The one positive in the G10's favor is it can fit in my pocket if it has to.

For those of you with SLRs, do you usually take them on big trips or do you leave them behind in favor of a P&S?

Also, if you brought your SLR on such a trip, do you find you end up taking enough pictures at high ISOs to have made it worth bringing it instead of your P&S?

mprice78 wrote:
[snip]

mprice78 said:

For those of you with SLRs, do you usually take them on big trips or
do you leave them behind in favor of a P&S?

Click to expand...

I always take an SLR. If I have a weight/space problem I only take one lens and carry the camera in a holster type case. I normally take a P&S as well for my wife to use and as a backup.

mprice78 said:

Also, if you brought your SLR on such a trip, do you find you end up
taking enough pictures at high ISOs to have made it worth bringing it
instead of your P&S?

Click to expand...

Normally, but not always. I nearly always use ISO 400 on a trip, often use ISO 800 but only use higher ISOs very occasionally.

The problem is that you don't know in advance whether you will need the high ISO. Sometimes it is vital. The same is true of an external flash and a small tripod.

--
Chris R

I take both because I sometimes don't want to lug around my DSLR all the time. I also have practiced and learned how to use my DSLR. It took me quite some time to be comfortable using it on a regular basis. How much effort are you willing to put into learning about photography and practicing different shots to get them right?

Also, for landscape shots there isn't a big difference between my point and shoot and DSLR. You mostly want everything in focus for those shots and that's easy for a point and shoot.

Even my fairly large Nikon D200 is easy to carry in a small bag if you just bring the basics. I have two bags, my big one with everything in it and a small one I call my man purse, fits two lenses, body, spare battery and CF cards.
--

mprice78 said:

My wife and I are taking a trip to Europe in the spring for about 3
weeks. (England, France, Belgium, Netherlands) She lived outside of
London for a couple years, but I've never been so this is a very
important trip to me. I really want to take a lot of pictures on
this trip, and I'm hoping to have at least a few printed at larger
sizes that 8x10.

I originally was trying to decide which P&S to purchase, and settled
on the Canon G10. However, after picking up a XSi, XS, and D60 I
realized even with a lens they aren't significantly heavier than the
G10 and produce significantly better pictures at higher ISO. The one
positive in the G10's favor is it can fit in my pocket if it has to.

For those of you with SLRs, do you usually take them on big trips or
do you leave them behind in favor of a P&S?

Also, if you brought your SLR on such a trip, do you find you end up
taking enough pictures at high ISOs to have made it worth bringing it
instead of your P&S?

Click to expand...

I take both - a pocket size camera is good but sometimes you want the best and don't mind carrying a bag

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/w-photos/

I vacation is Europe almost yearly and i have always used my point and shoot. But lets face it, Europe has something amazing around every corner for you to photography. The G10 is a great camera and has many great reviews.

I must say, now that I have a D300, I would never go on a vacation without it. I may still bring my P&S, but my camera is a must now. I would suggest getting one lens that is a do it all style, so you are not carrying all that extra kit. I own the 18-200mm VR which I have coined as my do everything vacation lens!!!!!!

Good luck

There was a time when I traveled with an SLR or DSLR and two to four lenses. Three years ago, I decided that carrying all that gear was a burden on the shoulder and back, a problem from a security aspect leaving it in hotel rooms when going places that it was too cumbersome to take. We were going to London and planned on being at theater and in museums often, and that meant leaving a bag of gear in a hotel room for many hours at night. I decide to purchase a Leica Digilux 2 and take it instead. It had a 28mm - 90mm (equiv) lens and it was known to produce high IQ images at ISOs up to 200.

While bigger than a G10 it was easy to carry everywhere but was not concealable. I made better photographs on that trip than ever before. I had no issues with lens decisions or changes. It was light, and it was fast to draw and shoot. I shot very little few shots over ISO 100. I did some at ISO 400 and they were fine because the noise had a film grain appearance. My only criticism was that the 90mm long end was too short and the 5mp file was too small to allow for cropping to the center to get a telephoto view in a final image output.

I bought the G10 because it is small, feels good in the hand, has rally good IQ, has 14.6 mp allowing real room for cropping. Has IS so it effectively allow you to shoot in low light using lower ISO, and has a great zoom range for travel. In my mind, it is an excellent travel camera.

--
Weisgrau

'The best camera to shoot with is the one you that is with you.'

http://www.g10shooters.info

If you should decide to travel with a DSLR, you might want to bring
the compact along as well......
(a) just to have a backup camera

(b)for small video clips .....especially if there is action, sound or music .

I carried an ultra compact Canon SD870IS (28mm wide angle) on a 2 week European vacation a year ago and for 95 percent of my shots, it was fine....( but we all have different standards and preferences)....

bruce

p.s. As I don't print bigger than 8x10 , though I could get good results even larger, this little ultra compact (Canon SD870IS)is perfect for my needs....

I keep it my my coat pocket or just hide it in my hand.....Sure a DSLR would be great, but like most things in life,it's a trade-off.

have a great trip,
bruce

If you were not going to use a dSLR on the trip of a lifetime, when would you use one? But, although you can do things with a dSLR you can't do as well with a compact, that represents a significant learning curve, and the trip of a lifetime is not the time to be climbing it.

--
2 November 1975.

'... Ma come io possiedo la storia,
essa mi possiede; ne sono illuminato:
ma a che serve la luce?'

Arguments can be made for both... I personally prefer using a DSLR (I have two, an Olympus and a Nikon).

If you choose a DSLR, get a 2 lens kit, like a D60 with the 18-55VR and 55-200VR or if Canon the XSi w/ 18-55IS and 50-250IS.
Other DSLR options:
Sony A300/350 with 2 lenses

the A350 has an articulating LCD screen with Live View (not sure about the A300). Both of these also have ib-body image-stabilization.

Pentax K200D with 2 lenses. Pentax actually was my second choice in '03 when I made my first DSLR purchase. Olympus was my first. This also has in-body IS.

Olympus E420 with the 2 lens kit. The body as well as lenses are a little smaller than the rest of these options. This DOESN'T have IS.

Olympus E-520 with 2 lens kit. Same as above, with in-body IS and more external buttons for ease in changing some parameters.

--
shinndigg
http://www.pbase.com/shinndigg