Photographic equipment

Normally I travel with 2 Nikon 601 bodys and 2-3 lenses. This time one of the camera bodys broke the very first day. So I could go on with the second one and in fact I didn't need the second body (normally loaded with a highspeed film) this time. The lens of choice is still the Tamron, in my case the LD II, 3,8-5,6/28-200 NAFD. Some of us already had a newer version. But there is no better lens for travel, no better value for money, either. The Sigmas I carry along are only for safety reasons if the Tamron breaks. It may make the point even clearer, if I tell you we had 3 people with single lens reflex cameras and they ALL used the Tamron.

Apart from the zoom there is something one definitely needs in Australia: the widest wideangle one can affort. I never missed it before, but this time nearly whenever lifting the camera. I seldom saw a good Australia landscape picture not using the wideangle or a panoramic camera.

Now and then I used the inbuild camera flash, sometimes the stronger external flash. But normally I try to use the natural light as much as possible. Professionals in their studios are able to arrange a natural looking light. With one single flash sitting ontop of the camera it can seldom be done. Better place your camera on a tripod, somebody's shoulder or what ever and get atmosphere as it is. And you won't have to worry about red eyes, either.

A new tool I used this time was a digital camera, a Canon S30. First of all I bought it for underwater shots, along with a waterproof case. Generally speaking I am very happy with that little box that allows to check the pics instantly and also makes little movies, if required. I sent some shots to the lab to get chemical prints. In the 10 x 15 cm format I ordered one cannot see a lack of quality. I also ordered some exposures on slides as I wanted to fit these pictures into the slide show. They look great, but they're expensive. The only thing that worried me was the fact that the underwater case kept fogging and nothing really helped. So I still have few pics of the reef as I normally couldn't use it down there. If you know what to do about that, please let me know.