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On Traveling Without The Big DSLR Camera

by Pam Mandel (RSS feed) on Jul 23rd 2012 at 10:00AM

I own a Nikon D200 with some extra stuff, including a 28-300 telephoto lens that weighs a ton. I have a Panasonic Lumix (that's what I used to shoot this picture of dusk in the Serengeti), and an iPhone. I have a video camera, too (the only thing on my list of gear that I did not pay for – I got the video camera in a promotional scheme two years ago). I've traveled with all of this stuff and used it all, though I'll confess that I never did fall in love with the video camera.

I have some formal training in photography, some hardcore classroom time combined with some unofficial apprenticeship with an architectural photographer in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am no stranger to the darkroom (oh, I just gave away my age). I used to shoot, develop and print my own work, though I don't miss the darkroom. Digital photography has made me love the art even more, though I decried the clumsiness of my first 3-megapixel camera – the metering was bad, the battery life atrocious and the optics, second rate. Digital gear has eaten film now; the quality is just as good and the optics in my phone are 97 times better than that of my first digital camera.

And while I'm not sorry I hauled my full kit to Antarctica and the Serengeti, I am dead tired of carrying all that weight around. A day behind that heavy SLR with the telephoto, and my arm aches. I hate the hassle of carrying around a pack full of lenses, batteries, maybe a flash, a tripod, and whatever extras I've packed in preparation. Sometimes, a full pack of photo gear is what keeps me from traveling carryon only. And there's the added concern about the value of all that gear – a need to keep it safe and under my watch.

I've been shooting with my iPhone 4s for about six months now, and with a Panasonic Lumix for maybe two years. When I headed overseas last month, I decided to make a leap of faith and leave behind the big guns and travel with gear that I could fit in my pockets or the little Swiss Army shoulder bag I like to carry when I travel.

Gallery: Ditching the DSLR: Photos by Gadling Photographers

Did I miss having my DSLR? Not at all. I felt surprisingly light and taking pictures was easy – easier than on any trip I've ever taken. I split my use about 50/50 between my new Lumix and my iPhone, and the work I got was as good as on any trip that I took with my DSLR. Here are some of the reasons I loved shooting light:

Low light: I don't own the lenses for my DSLR to shoot in low light without a tripod. Night shots – I could never get them right before. My phone and my pocket camera handle low light much better than my SLR.
Point-and-shoot: Good photography is about the eye, not about the gear, and my point-and-shoot lets me do just that, fast. Read a little Cartier-Bresson on the decisive moment, and you'll see what I mean.
Super smart settings: Yes, you can tweak the settings like crazy, but you can also shoot in auto. Go ahead, call me lazy – whatever. I'm using the brain inside the camera to enable my eye. I like being able to do that.
Display over viewfinder: With my SLR, I was always stopping, steadying, framing – with a camera stuck to my face. It interrupts the conversation. Shooting from my solar plexus allows me to watch and listen and shoot at the same time.
Ease of access and use: My camera was always right there, not zipped away so it was padded and protected, so I simply shot more pictures. It fits in my back pocket; it's about the same size as my wallet, so it's easy to take anywhere.
Serious zoom: The 20x optical zoom on my Lumix is rated as equivalent to a 35-500 lens. That's some range for optics that fit in a camera that's the size of my wallet and weighs about the same.

The downside?

Bright light: It's hard to see the viewfinder in brightly lit settings. At a few locations, I wished for a viewfinder and this camera does not have one.
The menus are insane: Sure, I'll figure them out. But I know all the controls and what they do on my DSLR and I can tweak them fast. The navigation system viewfinder-based pocket cameras are basically a computer and you navigate through it as such. This is a learning curve issue that I'm sure I'll master.

Lots of companies are making higher-end pocket cameras – my favorite is Lumix by Panasonic, but Olympus makes them, and Nikon and Canon too, as well as a number of other electronics brands. We've upgraded the Lumix three times at our house – not because it was broken, but because we wanted the improvements. I can't speak to the other brands, I simply don't know them, but I can say that yes, it is possible to get thoroughly satisfying shots with only a pocket camera. I loved traveling that much lighter, and what did I sacrifice? Not much. Not much at all.

Filed under: Gadling Gear Review

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Marsha Jul 23rd 2012 2:12PM

Wow I just blogged about cameras too. Guess you answered my question about what camera you use. LOL

Scott Jul 23rd 2012 2:12PM

Very nice article. What model Panasonic Lumix do you use?

pam Jul 23rd 2012 2:15PM

I'm shooting the DMC-ZS20 now, but again, it's my third one. The previous was a 14x zoom, the husband still uses that one.

Yoshi Jul 23rd 2012 5:49PM

Wow! I'm really glad you posted about this! Just recently, I visited Europe for the second time. The first, I lugged around a Nikon dslr, and of course, a laptop to do editing on the road. It turns out though, that this time around, shooting with just an iPhone (and Camera+ app) as well as the tiny but mighty (GoPro) HD video camera did just as well---even better. No heavy backpacks, no worrying about electronics getting stolen. And the pictures were more candid because I took them in the moment!! Everything I had could stay on me at all times (the GoPro even comes with a lanyard hook, of which I conveniently clipped to my tank top strap...great for crowded areas.)

SparkyComeHere Jul 24th 2012 8:28AM

It's not just me then. In the past I've spent a small fortune on my Canon DSLR, f2.8 throughout lenses, fancy Speedlight flashes and the rest. The results are stunning, when they get used that is.

Then a few years back I started teaching photography in high school. The students often shunned 'real' cameras in favour of iPhones and compacts, and the result, great pictures. I gave it a try and I was hooked. Now my 'camera gear' only makes a rare appearance having been replaced by an iPhone 4 and a Panasonic Lumix LX3. Yes, I sometimes miss the telephoto lens and the crystal clear viewfinder, but I'm enjoying my photography much more and shooting more and better pictures..

I've even relegated Photoshop and Lightroom to occasional use preferring instead my iPad and a few great apps. It's the old adage, the best camera is the one you use.

Jessica Spiegel Jul 24th 2012 6:21PM

I'm with you, Pam. I was really glad to own a DSLR for the South Africa trip, but these days I'm much more content to bring my small cameras - I call 'em "purse cameras" - than the behemoth. I do think I still take better photos with the DSLR, largely because the zoom is manual and the I can use a viewfinder to really see what I'm framing better than the screen shows me, but (like you said) some of that is a learning curve issue. At least I keep telling myself it is. When does that downward slope of the curve start to hit, again?