Traveling to china in August

[a_ho]

My dad has planned a little trip to china, since he hasn't been back since he was a teenager. It'll also be my first time going. We bought a package deal from a travel agent. So were going to be in china for about two weeks. I think we are going to shanghai, Beijing, and then hong kong.

I'm not to prepared for this trip and not to sure what gear to bring with me. I want to brig my MBP and upload my photos every night but I don't want to take a chance of it being stolen or damaged so I was thinking I should just purchase a a handful of cf cards and batteries for back up.

Thinking about bring the 50d with just the 10-22mm. Having second thoughts of bring my tripod because I am afraid it's going to be a hassle carrying it around.

Any suggustions or advices are welcome.

Thanks in advance.

[HKdave]

Whether you take the MBP or not, I would purchase a few more cards - you will then be able to keep your completed shots safe. Memory cards are pretty cheap but lost shots especially for a significant trip such as this are irreplaceable.

Unless you are really going to get out and take some night shots, I'd leave the tripod at home. That said, if you have transport arranged and it can be kept in the car / hotel, will it be too much hassle? 10-22 will be a good lens for the places you mention, especially HK. You may want to consider a second lens with a longer focal length (24-105 would be ideal), as if nothing else, if your 10-22 malfunctions or breaks you're left with no photos on the trip of a lifetime. It's always worth having a back up.

There are a lot of other threads with some good information on travelling to China / HK. Try searching this forum. Hope you have a great trip.

[ckckevin]

there should also be plenty of camera shops in HK, beijing and shanhai since those are some big cities. I don't recommand bringing a tripod over there. If you really need a tripod, buy it over there, they should be super cheap.

[a_ho]

Since i'll be traveling around with my dad and a group of other people, I'll probably just go without the MBP and the tripod.. Two less thing I'll have to worry about. It's also agreat advice to bring a extra lens. I didn't think about that at all.


Any suggustions on any place/websites that selling Cheap memory cards and batteries??

[N0glock]

I have been to Southern China twice in the summer, August and Late June, be prepaired for increadable humidity, (hopefully further north is better) had one night in August 102 degrees and raining like someone turned a hose on, tripod will be cheap, buy your memory here name brand memory is the same price here as it is there, when buying in China at small shops and malls there is some expectation of haggling, also be carfull of buying things that are name brand in China there are no problems with infringing copyright/patent/logo. If the price is to good it is probibly fake.
Have fun, I found China to be safe and the people very friendly.

[a_ho]

thanks for the advice. I really really hope the weather wont be too bad, since i really hate the heat.

But i'll probably buy the memory card here so i wont have to worry about buying a fake one or one that wont work and not being able to go back and return it.

[ckckevin]

and make sure you have something that will help out with humidity. HK is very humid. High humidity and high temperature can lead to fungus growth in lens.

[JackLiu]

I've been to China several times over the years. We generally plan the trips for May or Oct when the temperature is relatively comfortable. Traveling between May & Oct you may experience high temperatures and high humidity as-stated by others. Your 50D w/10-22mm lens will take care of, say, 90% of your anticipated images. Yes, by all means purchase memory cards (4GB) locally because those sold in China are suspect re quality. Be sure to bring an adapter for your battery charger so you plug it into an electric wall outlet. Have a wonderful memorable trip with your dad.

[a_ho]

i totally forgot about the wall outlet. Where can I get those at???

i'll probably have to check out the local electronic stores

[smcclelland]

Any place like Circuit City or The Source should sell the wall sockets. Depending where you travel there's a few you have use (north american style with no ground, two fat prongs and the triple prong). Definitely leave your tripod at home, I brought mine with me to China here and it's been more of a PITA and I wished I had of just left it back home as I've now hiked Mt Huangshan, Mt Tianzi and done a large section of The Great Wall with it strapped to my back... Lens wise bring the 10-22 and your 24-105L. You'll probably wind up using your 24-105L the most as I see everyone around here using them and I've been relying a lot on my 24-70L.

Prepare for the heat and hydrate yourself as much as possible. It may feel like a cool breeze but it's very very hot here in the summer and Beijing can be extremely dry. Wear lots of breathable clothes as well to dissipate the sweat a little.