digital slr - risky?

kirsten1969

Im going on a tour of Kerala & Tamil Nabu (two weeks) then traveling around for another two in February/March. Am a single woman......First time to India. Am serious about my photograhs...and just bought a new digital SLR (Canon EOS 10D) which is fantastic - but expensive... I'm fearful of theft etc. Any thoughts?

picklepak

Great camera! Everyone will want to see the LCD screen, and you'll have a dozen people clamoring over you to see the picture you just took. The slash-and-run theft that's common in Asia and many other places rarely happens in India. Just keep in mind that your camera is worth more than most Indians make in several years of daily work, so lock it up when you leave your room and on the train consider sleeping with it tied to you somehow.

kirsten1969

Thanks. Yes, terrible to think about the relative value of such a thing (money, money, money)! Or maybe it's just the way it is....If I travel with it, will strap it to myself somehow.

mdchachi

I suggest getting some travel insurance that will cover it if it's lost or stolen. I'm planning to take about $3000 worth of camera equipment with me when I go. The pictures are more important to me than the risk (which I'm hoping can be minimized via insurance). I haven't yet found the insurance (been too busy making travel arrangements and reading up on other topics).

If you happen to be in Kochi the weekend of 2/21 let me know. Maybe we can meet up. (Nothing to fear, I'll be with my wife. )

aach

I didn't look where you are from but I live in Canada and have a great house insurance plan through Meloche Mennox. They cover camera equipment theft on holidays through the house insurance - even for my upcoming trip to India for 4 months. I too plan on bringing several thousand bucks worth of equipment too. A little bit nervous but the insurance helps. When you are on trains etc, be careful about bringing the camera out. I have a little automatic camera that I bring out for such journeys if there is something I want a photo of along the way. Otherwise, my prof. camera remains locked up in my bag in a pelican case. I have the good fortune/ misfortune to be absolutely unable to sleep on trains so I pretty much have an eye on my stuff all night long. eek: Oh well, I catch up the next night. I guess being an insomniac has it's advantages sometimes. Wait a minute, that's the only advantage........

The only thing for you to worry about with the whole digital thing is to have enough memory so that you can make high resolution photos - if you are serious about your photos and want to eventually blow them up shoot it at the highest possible resolution. 1Gb cards are expensive but worth it. This should also be covered under your insurance plan.

I'm a little jealous of the digital camera owners! I am still using film (don't get me wrong I have a fantastic medium format camera) but I would be thrilled to show people photos of themselves......

kirsten1969

Yes, I will look into travel insurance for the equipment.
Spoke to someone & they also travel with such & said it was very important to get a police report if something does get stolen...

*aach* I love medium format. The quality is still the best (that you can carry without inspiring a hernia)...

*mdchachi* I will be in Thiruvannamalai around the 20th visiting the Arunachala temple...I end up in Chennai on the 25th & am now working on where to go from there - or stay put & hire a driver to take day trips....or go to Goa? I'm playing it by ear for now.

bijapuri

if you think you are going to be worrying about your gear a lot, then don't take it. lotta times the gear removes us from the experience anyway, ya know?

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radz

Hi
theft ,it can be happen anywhere ,Just becareful when you travel night trains.
Enjoy
radz

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Apana

Whilst I am not sure whther the 10D is worth what several Indians make after years of work, one of the factors to keep in mind that people always want to look through your camera/binoculars/spotting scope thereby putting you at risk of an eye infection.

There are two ways around this, refuse outright, or carry a cleaning cloth and wipe the viewfinder clean before putting it to your eye. If you do let anybody peek through the viewfinder insist that they put the strap aroud their neck before they do so.

Apana

Alan D

Good advice Apana. We've shared our binoculars with hundreds of people and not yet picked up an eye infection.

The binocular strap around the neck is an absolute must especially if it's on top of a fort wall. So far - so good!

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What a long strange trip it's been!

e101g

And dont forget to post your pictures here when you get back.

kirsten1969

YES, YES, YES ! ! !

edwardseco

A small cheap camera would be great for the usual personal shots so that you don't have to pull out your beauty except when doing pro shots..

dajuad

I traveled around with a coolpix 5000 without problems. Someone was so impressed with the foldable screen they wanted to buy it from me. Otherwise people sometimes wanted to look at the screen. Indians loved to take pictures of my children and love to be in pictures. I have to send several to different people I met. The best part of photography in India is taking pictures of the people.

I tend to agree that simpler cameras i.e. non interchangeable or few interchangeble lenses are best. It is so easy to get so wrapped up with the equipment that you miss the picture. Anyhow flash is often not permitted or acceptable and tripods aren't either. I would bring a few gigabyte cards however.

I would also bring pens. They seem to love them and they open doors easier than money. Got to see the sacred part of the Ekambareshwara Temple that way but photos were strictly forbidden.

Pundy

Pens? You mean simple ball point pens that I would have laying around my office? What is the deal with that? Am I missing something?