Whats lenses to take to Egypt?

Please keep the pictures coming.  I am enjoying it all vicariously.

mfuhlendorf wrote:

Hey guys,

I want opinions! I'll be going to Egypt for the first time next week, and I'm super excited. I want to travel super light, as many cities are in the itinerary: Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Qena, Hurghada, Alexandria...

I will take only my GX-85 with 4 spare batteries, a mini tripods, polarizers and some lenses. I might take also my Olympus E-PM2 converted do infrared, not sure yet. My current lens list is this:

• Samyang 7.5mm f3.5 fisheye
• Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8
• Panasonic 20mm f1.7
• Olympus 75-300mm f4.8-6.7 II

I would love to take lenses for all occasions but I want to carry as little as possible for maximum flexibility. Other options in the lenses I own include:

• Super wide: SLR Magic 8mm f4, Meike 6.5mm f2; Olympus 8mm f8 fisheye cap;
• Standard zooms: Panasonic 12-32mm f3.5-5.6, Olympus 14-42mm f3.5-5.6;
• Wide aperture: Olympus 25mm f1.8, Olympus 45mm f1.8, SLR Magic 12mm t1.6;
• Tele zoom: Olympus 40-150mm f4-5.6 R;
• Macro: Olympus 60mm f2.8;

So, I can't take it all. I want to have the most flexibility and lowest weight. Best cost-benefit in weight vs flexibility, I might say. I'm mostly torn between the wide aperture options, on whether to take the 75-300 or the 40-150 plastic Oly, on choosing the 7.5mm fisheye vs the 8mm rectilinear lens, and on whether taking the macro too is a good idea.

If you have been there, what do you think? Is the 300mm necessary, or 150mm is enough for details of the huge monuments and perspective compression shots? Is the macro useful? Fisheye or extreme wide 8mm (wish I had a wide zoom, would be perfect)? Is the infrared body worth it?

Any other tips for the trip itself as a hobbyist photographer?

Cheers,

___________________________
Max M. Fuhlendorf

12-60 mm

20mm

55-100mm (cheap and light)

BACKUP BODY - the most crucial thing of all. And maybe a backup charger too, as well as lots of batteries.

There's a strong case for taking the 12-60 and nothing else - except you need a backup lens as well as a backup body. Backups are more important than the choice of lens, when you are travelling a long way away from eBay or your favourite camera shop.

TheEye wrote:

I'd be careful with the drinking water in Egypt. Bottled only. Giardia is lurking.

Yes. Its kinda painful to me, as I reuse bottles always in Brazil and use glass or metal most of the time to reduce my plastic footprint...

Here we are going to the market and buying 1.5 liter bottles by the dozen to take everyday.

Whenever I have some free time I will

I also post daily to Instagram @mfuhlendorf

These were from today's Giza Plateau tourist trap tour :

Keep in mind that I'm an amateur, my formal training is in video not stills, and that many of not most of these are almost shot blind: only shots taken at eye level were properly composed, those where I had to use the flip screen were just guessed as the sun is overpowering and the screen almost impossible to see 🤷

___________________________
Max M. Fuhlendorf

Hi, this thread is a bit old (6 months old), but this thread is closest to my topic/question of interest.

We are planning trip to Egypt. We read that camera cannot be taken into pyramids and must be left at the entrance. Sure, that is no issue. I will follow the rules. But as long as my camera gear is safe at the entrance. My wife claims it is better not to bring the camera on the trip, as it is not safe. (Maybe she is tired of waiting on me to take photos.  )

Can you share your experience on what happens when you have to enter the passage under the pyramid. Is there well organized staff that will watch over personal belonging (including camera gear)? Is it safe to leave the camera gear at the entrance?  Many website said it doesn't appear to be safe, as the cameras or bags are just left on the ground.

D00M wrote:

Hi, this thread is a bit old (6 months old), but this thread is closest to my topic/question of interest.

We are planning trip to Egypt. We read that camera cannot be taken into pyramids and must be left at the entrance. Sure, that is no issue. I will follow the rules. But as long as my camera gear is safe at the entrance. My wife claims it is better not to bring the camera on the trip, as it is not safe. (Maybe she is tired of waiting on me to take photos. )

Can you share your experience on what happens when you have to enter the passage under the pyramid. Is there well organized staff that will watch over personal belonging (including camera gear)? Is it safe to leave the camera gear at the entrance? Many website said it doesn't appear to be safe, as the cameras or bags are just left on the ground.

Sorry, I have no experience of the pyramids. If cameras or bags are just left unsupervised on the ground I would be very doubtful about that arrangement. Are you going as part of a group? If there is a group leader, he/she might well have the job of 'guarding' your possessions, so that might be OK. I can see there could be security issues connected to individual situations: you have to research that somehow. But as far as security in general is concerned, my approach is to take whatever I need; leave whatever you are not using in the hotel; take several memory cards or some kind of storage device so that you can leave shots you have taken back in your hotel room. In the end if you get robbed you get robbed - just make sure you're insured. And use common sense. Whenever I have lost stuff when travelling, it's been my own fault largely. Like that drunken evening in a Bangkok bar  ...  And someone in Belgium may well still have my Pentax K5, a 50mm f/1.2 prime, and my (now expired) passport ...

D00M wrote:

We are planning trip to Egypt. We read that camera cannot be taken into pyramids and must be left at the entrance. Sure, that is no issue. I will follow the rules. But as long as my camera gear is safe at the entrance. My wife claims it is better not to bring the camera on the trip, as it is not safe. (Maybe she is tired of waiting on me to take photos. )

Can you share your experience on what happens when you have to enter the passage under the pyramid. Is there well organized staff that will watch over personal belonging (including camera gear)? Is it safe to leave the camera gear at the entrance? Many website said it doesn't appear to be safe, as the cameras or bags are just left on the ground.

Oh boy...

First which pyramids? Sakkara? Giza? Neither of them have any sort of adequate lighting and flash is prohibited. You can shoot away on the exterior all you like. Valley of the Kings? You can buy a hugely overpriced camera pass and try to again take no-flash interiors....or save your money and enjoy the marvel of 5000 years of preserved history and buy a nice coffee table book from Amazon for the interiors you are wasting time shooting. This also goes for the museums in general.....extortionate camera fees and drab images.

Bottom line....enjoy the exteriors everywhere. Insanely easy photo opportunities. You may be treated like a rock star by groups of students who love your taking selfies with all 50 of them. Assuming you are hiring a private guide/driver that would be about the ONLY way to trust your equipment will be in safe hands while you bang your head and get covered in dust and explore your ability to withstand claustrophobia.

The words "Egypt" and "organized" made me laugh used in the same sentence. A pure oxymoron . And I mean this kindly.

I spent two years posted to Cairo and loved it. I was also lucky (sad for Egypt) that tourism was completely dead and I have amazingly deserted images from everywhere. Going private versus some hideous group tour will cost a fair bit more but you wont be cattle and shoveled into semi-mandatory visits to pottery factories, perfumeries, and other sales events masquerading as "tours".

If you can afford it....4 day Nile cruise is a must. Again do your homework to avoid cattle class tours and treatment as a open wallet for shopping.

Sharm El Sheik is awesome. Go there. The Hyatt is my personal recommendation. Pay the extra few bucks for access to the private house reef away from hotel gen pop.

Alexandria is cool too...but really need a guide. The Four Seasons is where to stay. This is pretty much the ONLY place in Egypt to eat seafood of any type.

Also...buy Cipro OTC or get a prescription from your doctor along with something good for the cramps. I have just saved you thousands of dollars from a ruined vacation caused by mummy tummy. More coffee table books!

Or ignore what I said and go with dubious guidance offered elsewhere by people who may or may not have spent a week getting shoveled around dawn til dusk snapping forgettable images while trying to smile for selfies squeezing legs together to prevent eruptions

D00M wrote:

Hi, this thread is a bit old (6 months old), but this thread is closest to my topic/question of interest.

We are planning trip to Egypt. We read that camera cannot be taken into pyramids and must be left at the entrance. Sure, that is no issue. I will follow the rules. But as long as my camera gear is safe at the entrance. My wife claims it is better not to bring the camera on the trip, as it is not safe. (Maybe she is tired of waiting on me to take photos. )

Can you share your experience on what happens when you have to enter the passage under the pyramid. Is there well organized staff that will watch over personal belonging (including camera gear)? Is it safe to leave the camera gear at the entrance? Many website said it doesn't appear to be safe, as the cameras or bags are just left on the ground.

Just got back from Egypt (and Turkey) a few days ago.

You can't use a traditional camera in any tombs or pyramids that I am aware of. Sometimes you can take your camera bag inside with you, and sometimes not. I was able to carry my camera bag inside Abu Simbel, for example, but I was not allow to take any pictures. In the Great Pyramid or the Red Pyramid, though, I was not allowed to bring any gear inside. I would usually just leave my camera with our guide or driver. I don't recall any places to check your gear.

My advice:

1) Take your camera on the trip. There are lots of great photo opportunities outside the tombs and pyramids.

2) Upgrade your cellphone. The modern cellphones work remarkably well inside tombs and pyramids.

Pictures from 2021 -- not many tombs pictures up yet: https://mariematthews.smugmug.com/Egypt-and-Istanbul

Pictures from March 2020 -- with more tomb/pyramid interiors -- https://mariematthews.smugmug.com/Egypt

mfuhlendorf wrote:

Henry Richardson wrote:

Some of my Egypt photos in 2009:

http://www.bakubo.com/Galleries%202/Egypt/index.html

And a short trip report:

http://www.bakubo.com/egypt.html

Loved the pictures! I will see many of the places depicted in them

Did you feel safe carrying camera gear around Cairo? I have read conflicting things on this. I'm not carrying any ultra-expensive glass or cameras, but still, if robbed it would take me a few years to rebuild my gear collection...

I even considered taking a Panny 14mm pancake to use on the streets, it being so nice and cheap...

thanks for the help!

Consider insurance

A long macro with plenty of working distance from the scorpions!

So, you can take a photo with phone camera but a proper camera (no matter of its size and form) been disallowed?

alcelc wrote:

So, you can take a photo with phone camera but a proper camera (no matter of its size and form) been disallowed?

Correct.

You can take pictures anywhere with your phone, except for the mummy room in the new Foustat musesum.

Traditional cameras are only allowed outdoors for the most part.   Sometimes you can buy a permit, sometimes not

alcelc wrote:

So, you can take a photo with phone camera but a proper camera (no matter of its size and form) been disallowed?

I suspect it stems from copyright rules. There used to be a belief that a phone could not take an image worthy of large scale printing, so phones were not a threat. One day they too will probably be banned.