Trip to Japan [What to Bring]

[[Hyuni]]

I'm going to Japan on Saturday for one week to meet up my old grad school roomate and tour the country.

Somethings I plan to do there:
Go to many famous landmarks,
Sumo match <-- awesome
eat at famous ramen, udon, and donkatsu restaurants,
go to a club
take photos of mount fuji
go to the ocean

I plan to do a LOT of walking, so traveling light is essential. I'm brining a small carry-on with only a few shirts, 2 jeans, a pair of shorts, clubwear, and underwear. I'd also like to bring as few photog equipment (gasp!) as possible.
Up until a week ago (before I bought the 1DmkII), I planned to bring my crumpler 5MDH with my 40D and Tamron 17-50 attached with the Sigma 50 1.4. That way I could get a lot of wide angle touristy shots of all the famous landmarks, and use the sigma for lowlight, indoor, and night photography (which I plan to do a lot of).
AFTER I bought my 1DmkII, I'm debating whether or not I should bring that instead. Unfortunately, the Tammy vignettes severely on it because it wasn't meant for 1.3x crop bodies, so I have no wide angle. So if I bring my 1DmkII, the only thing I could fit in my crumpler is the body and sigma (maybe a flash (but I probably won't need it)

I'm still leaning towards the 40D combo, but there's a strong urge that's telling me I should use my new baby...

Pros of bringing 40D:
ability to use wide angle lens
lighter and smaller than 1DmkII
I am better with the controls (fairly new to 1DmkII)

Pros of bringing 1DmkII:
better IQ and more features
better noise handling (I think)
1.3x crop
Stronger body/weather sealed
Less accusations on 40D (planning to sell it right after I come back from Japan)
spending quality time with my new toy :)

Or stuff everything my my SS200AW and use both? probably not...
Also, among my three lenses, which two would you bring and why?

I need a tad bit more insight to decide. Thanks in advance!

[[Hyuni]]

no suggestions? :(

[SYS]

If I were you I'd just take the 40D and the 17-50. When I toured South Korea a couple summers back, I just took my 40D and the 24-70. But because I did a lot of walking (MILES!!), I was glad that I didn't take any more than that. When you travel, things always add up more than you had anticipated. What about your image storage, such as external HD... And a laptop and such?

Don't forget a power adapter.

[tonydee]

I'd suggest the 40D and all glass (you are asking on a site for photo crazies). A 32GB CF or two. There are plenty of sites for which the 70-200L will be useful, and you'll need it for all but the closest seats at the sumo (only been to the Tokyo stadium, back when I only had the 400D and a Sigma super-zoom at 200mm f6.3 - too dark). You'll probably want it for Mt Fuji shots too, depending on where you take them from (Hakone's great if you've time, but need a bit of luck to get weather for viewing Mt Fuji... Lake Kawaguchi is a surer bet but much less interesting). Hope you have a fun trip. Might want to check out the camera shops while you're here - Map Camera, Bic Camera, Yodabashi - though you might get more for your 40D in the U.S.. Cheers, Tony

[Azyiu]

Just bring the 40D combo for the trip, man. Also, will you be bringing either a tripod or a monopod? You might want to bring either one of them for the trip.

By the way, make sure you bring along at least 4Gb worth of memory... ideally at least 8Gb. Enjoy the trip.

[sjones]

While in the city, try to hit some of the side streets and alleyways, making your way into the residential areas.

I believe CF cards are cheaper in the US, but if you need extra while in Japan, you couldn't be in a better country as far as availability is concerned.

[Azyiu]

CF cards in HK are dirty cheap! I got a 4Gb SanDisk Extreme III in March for just under USD 30!!!

[tonydee]

Here in Japan, I've found more aggressive pricing on CF online: last time was 6 months ago when I picked up a couple 32GB cards with good transfer rates for under 10,000 yen each. Some of the big shops don't seem to stock brands like PhotoFast - guess they'd eat into their premium brand sales too much - but they're good enough for me.

[[Hyuni]]

Sweet, thanks for the tips guys!
btw, I can't take all my equipment. My 5MDH doesn't fit everything and I don't want to bring my SS200AW because I hear it is HOT there right now. I can't imagine how uncomfortable it would be to have that on my back all day. Plus, if it gets damaged or stolen... that my whole setup. heh.
My tripod is out of the question. Too bulky and I'd have to carry it around everywhere with me and only use it in specific situations.
As for the memory, I only have a Sandisk III Extreme 4GB card but I'm bringing my external harddrive so I can dump the pictures into them. I think my 500GB passport should be enough memory :)

As much as I'd love to spend 100% of my time taking photos, I probably won't because then I wouldn't enjoy the trip itself as much. Plus, I'll probably be drinking almost every night haha I can't believe it's just 3 days away!

Thanks for the help, everyone. I think you all helped me come up with the best setup for my trip! I'll post some pics when I get back (if they are any good... I'm a newb :))

[Azyiu]

I will be looking forward to seeing some of your pics, man. Again, enjoy the trip.

[powaysteve]

Here in Japan, I've found more aggressive pricing on CF online: last time was 6 months ago when I picked up a couple 32GB cards with good transfer rates for under 10,000 yen each. Some of the big shops don't seem to stock brands like PhotoFast - guess they'd eat into their premium brand sales too much - but they're good enough for me.

I see you use Photofast cards. Are they reliable? I see where they are now making some superfast (533X) that are also a very good buy. Thanks for any info