Digital Body

[Fuchur]

Hi There,

As I have a complete and very nice set of lenzes including a normal film body from Canon the EOS50e.
I wounderd if it would not be good to by the digital body of canon the EOS D60.

Does anyone have experience with this body and is it good for a nine month trip through africa?

Or should I just keep te EOS50e and normal film?

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CU under the Cu

Frank
http://www.crossing-africa.com .:. The Ultimate Travel on a Yamaha XT600Z

[A.B.]

Digitals are great, but I personally found them cumbersome to use on our kind of adventures, and that’s even in a Jeep. The batteries don’t last very long (not even a full day in most cases if used only moderately) and have to be recharged often. That might not be that easy on the road. Also memory cards don’t hold a lot of images and are very expensive so you’ll have to transfer the images to a PC often. Do you plan to take a laptop along?

I only take my film camera on the road now. Slides are still superior to any digital camera and you can always scan them when you get back home. While we’re at it: I also have an arsenal of lenses that I used to drag to every outing for fear that I would miss the perfect shot. Dragging all this gear and the lens changing actually slowed me down and photography wasn’t really enjoyable. Now I only take a 17-35 wide angle and a 70-200 zoom and my photographs are getting better all the time.


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A.B.
www.ShortWheelbase.com

[Ed Messenger]

The d60 is an excellent camera. I use a d30 at work and we have a d60 on order.
You will need a couple batteries and a charger, I don't know if there is a 12v available or if you have to rig up a converter.
It's really a question of how serious you are about the photography on your trip. A d60 with several lenses takes up a LOT more room than a decent amatuer camera. The bonus side compared to a film camera is you save a lot of space by not carrying film.
-Ed

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Ed Messenger
VRAA Expedition Society
www.drivetheglobe.com
www.gpsaccessories.com

[Photog Rob]

actually, that space saved by not carrying film is offset by needing to carry a bulky charger, several batteries, a bunch of properly-stored CF cards, and some means of backup and download form the CF's to some permanent media. And some specially-designed swabs or a can of compressed air to regularly clean the CCD, a task not needed with fixed-lens digicams. Failure to do so will result in black spots in your images... the later in the trip, the more you'll have. I have to clean my D1x's sensor every day I work outside.

Call me old-fashioned, but even while 90-95% of my pro photography business is digital now, for those remote places I still like the simple reliability of film, plus a small point-and shoot battery operated, small file size digicam. Your mileage may vary... and will.

Roberto.

[dagjen]

The D60 is a fantastic camera. I've had it for a month and wouldn't trade it for a film camera for anything.

BUT, if you're not going to carry the whole load, ie a laptop in addition to the rest of the gear, I would hesitate to move over to digital for an Africa trip. The images from D60 are incredible, but take up a lot of space, and I wouldn't rely on anything else than a laptop with a cd-burner, because you might find yourself stuck in some far away place with nowhere to transfer your pictures. Also, one great advantage of digital to me, is the ability to see and work on the images immediately, which again means a laptop. Which means more bulk, more fragile equipment, more charging problems, and a lot more costs.

As for a comparison to film. Well, you can print top quality A3 photos from the D60, and even ress them up bigger in Photoshop. If you're not planning on making posters, then it's good enough for most people (actually, with a little processing, you CAN make posters from the D60...).

And as has been said, keep the number of lenses to a minimum on the D60. Other than saving bulk, you save the sensor from being exposed to a dusty environment during lens changes.

Good luck, whatever you choose.

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Dag
http://RocinantesTravels.com

[rob_mader]

I took both a digital camera and my laptop on my tour of Australia with no major dramas. Admittedly, back then, the camera was a Sony FD-95 and not a D30 like I use now.

I plan to travel with the D30, but the duration of my trip will decide whether I take a laptop or not. I use IBM Microdrives, so can get about 700 pics per card.

I won't be taking my 100-400mm lens though - just my 28-70mm will be enough for the kind of shots that I take...

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http://www.robstravels.com