What to take to peru and amazon?

[hazwing]

I am heading to peru in about a months time. We are doing the inca trail/machu picchu, amazon jungle as well as some of city/towns in peru.

I specifically bought a dslr for this trip in hope of getting some nice photos. Since we are doing the inca trail (a 4 day/3night trek), I'm conscious about weight that I am carrying. Currently the only lens I have is a sigma 18-200 II, but I'm planning on eventually adding a lens for low light situations - probably sigma 30mm 1.4.

I only plan on bringing a mini tripod; pedco ultrapod 2. I just recently bought a flash; 430ex II. Should I bring the flash with me for lower light situations in the amazon jungle? I'd be a bit self conscious about using the flash and disturbing the animals I hope to get photos of.

I'm tempted to get a ultra-wide lens, but not sure if I can justify the money I'll spend on it... I'm not sure how often I will use it after this journey. I was thinking of practicing taking panoramas, and going with that.

At the moment I have a cheaper hoya polariser. Should I consider getting some GND filters? Once again I'm conscious about how much money I will need to invest vs how much use I'll get with it afterwards.

Any other suggestions on what to buy and bring?

[illrooster132]

you can avoid the flash if you shoot with high iso (depending on the camera), shoot raw, brig wide lenses for the landscapes you can always crop a little to get the closer look.
i would not bring a big heavy zoom. a close up lens and a 50mm 1.8 should do for low light and inexpensive.
IMO. i havent use zoom for my Nicaragua trips. just my 17-40 and my 50mm get me covered.

[GJim]

You could rent any lens that you want to take along, but don't want to commit to the purchase.

[JHenley]

For Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail I would carry as little as you can. There is quite a lot of wildlife in the Machu Picchu Reserve (spectacled bears, giant otters etc.) but how likely you are to see them from the Inca Trail I don't know. If it was me I would probably just take the Sigma 18-200 - you're going to have enough to worry about with the altitude etc. to not be carting too many lenses around.

I've just got back from a few days in the jungle and the biggest problem (apart from it being ridiculously hot!) was low light, particularly under the tree canopy. As you say, flash probably isn't a great idea for the animals except if you get to do a night-time caiman spotting trip, in which case (for my camera at least) it was essential.

I've done both Machu Picchu and the Jungle with a kit lens (18-55mm) and 50-250mm. There's some pics on my Flickr here which aren't the best quality but will hopefully give you an idea of what you can do with that range.

Hope that helps. You might find that either your hotel or tour agency in Cusco will store stuff for you so that you don't have to carry it all on the Inca Trail, but obviously that'd be at your own risk!

James

[hazwing]

Originally Posted by GJim

You could rent any lens that you want to take along, but don't want to commit to the purchase.

Thanks for the tips, renting a lens is a good idea, particulary for short trips. However, I'm going to be away for 3 weeks, it will end up costing around $300 to rent the lens for the whole trip. I'd rather save my money and put it towards something tangible in future.

Originally Posted by JHenley

For Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail I would carry as little as you can. There is quite a lot of wildlife in the Machu Picchu Reserve (spectacled bears, giant otters etc.) but how likely you are to see them from the Inca Trail I don't know. If it was me I would probably just take the Sigma 18-200 - you're going to have enough to worry about with the altitude etc. to not be carting too many lenses around.

I've just got back from a few days in the jungle and the biggest problem (apart from it being ridiculously hot!) was low light, particularly under the tree canopy. As you say, flash probably isn't a great idea for the animals except if you get to do a night-time caiman spotting trip, in which case (for my camera at least) it was essential.

I've done both Machu Picchu and the Jungle with a kit lens (18-55mm) and 50-250mm. There's some pics on my Flickr here which aren't the best quality but will hopefully give you an idea of what you can do with that range.

Hope that helps. You might find that either your hotel or tour agency in Cusco will store stuff for you so that you don't have to carry it all on the Inca Trail, but obviously that'd be at your own risk!

James

Thanks for the advice, I will bring the flash for night-time walks. Do you find the animals get frightened by the flash? How did you find the humidity in the jungle? I've saved some dessicants to take with me, to try and keep things dry.

You have some very nice photos on your photostream. Were the wide shots, done by stitching panoramas, or cropping? I'm surpised how large some of the bird photos are, even with the 50-250 lens. Did actually manage to get pretty close, or were the photos cropped?

[dkizzle]

I agree that you should pack as light as possible. I went on a 2 week photography tour last month and I took 4 lenses with me. I ended up using 1 of them 90% of the time. I took my flash with me and never used it. Your plan of taking 18-200 & 30mm sounds good. 18 is wide enough.

[JHenley]

I only used the flash for night time caiman watching, which we did from a boat. I checked with the guide before using it and he said it should be fine, and the caiman didn't appear to be too bothered. I would have thought that most of the other animals would be pretty freaked by the flash so didn't try it. Having said that, one of the members on this site, Glenn Bartley, has some pretty awesome bird pictures from Peru which he appears to have used flash on - maybe worth getting in touch with him?

The humidity when we were there was 94%, but it never actually rained. The temperature was mid 90s in the day and a bit cooler at night. I found that the camera was mostly ok unless I held it too close to my body, in which case the lens steamed up! Dessicants aren't a bad idea though. The bigger problem was that even a shortish walk (5km) in the jungle had us all dripping with sweat and knackered - another good reason not to carry too much!

Thanks for the compliment on the photos. I think all the wide ones on Flickr at the moment are cropped. I have got some stitched panoramas from Machu Picchu but need to play with them a bit more. The birds and daytime baby caiman shots are all cropped a little bit but not much. They were all taken from a paddled canoe on some swampy rivers and lakes away from the main river. As well as being an awesome experience, this also meant we could drift in almost silently and get far closer to the wildlife than I'd thought would be possible. Of course I did find myself wishing for a longer lens, but as a trade off between length and weight I think the 250 was pretty good (bearing in mind it was on a crop body).

Hope that helps. Where in the jungle are you going? And which other cities/towns are you visiting?

James

[hazwing]

Originally Posted by dkizzle

I agree that you should pack as light as possible. I went on a 2 week photography tour last month and I took 4 lenses with me. I ended up using 1 of them 90% of the time. I took my flash with me and never used it. Your plan of taking 18-200 & 30mm sounds good. 18 is wide enough.

What lens did you end up using the most on your trip?

Originally Posted by JHenley

Thanks for the compliment on the photos. I think all the wide ones on Flickr at the moment are cropped. I have got some stitched panoramas from Machu Picchu but need to play with them a bit more. The birds and daytime baby caiman shots are all cropped a little bit but not much. They were all taken from a paddled canoe on some swampy rivers and lakes away from the main river. As well as being an awesome experience, this also meant we could drift in almost silently and get far closer to the wildlife than I'd thought would be possible. Of course I did find myself wishing for a longer lens, but as a trade off between length and weight I think the 250 was pretty good (bearing in mind it was on a crop body).

Hope that helps. Where in the jungle are you going? And which other cities/towns are you visiting?

James

We're going to the tambopata research centre. I'm really looking forward to it... it seems highly recommended on trip advisor. In addition to the inca trail and amazon junlge, we're also going to be in arequipa, colca canyon, lake titicaca/puno, lima and cuzco

[dkizzle]

24-105mm 4.0L IS was used most of the time. I used 17-40mm 4.0L was used for a few hours in Yosemite and most of the day in Death Valley.

[JHenley]

We lived in Arequipa for 9 months. It's a beautiful city, but make sure you find out from the hotel which taxi companies they recommend and only use those ones. We know far too many people who got into trouble getting into the wrong taxis!

I don't know the Tambopata Research centre but we were in the Tambopata reserve. Hope you have an awesome time!

[Dustman]

Originally Posted by JHenley

make sure you find out from the hotel which taxi companies they recommend and only use those ones. We know far too many people who got into trouble getting into the wrong taxis!

+1 ........be very very careful with your gear (and all your possessions actually)..........beautiful country, but crime does happen.

I also would buy/rent a wide angle zoom if I was you............the stars at night here are the most beautiful, almost zero light pollution, well not in Lima, but the rest of the country LOL

[treeoflife08]

I have just returned from the 7 day Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu. My gear included the Canon 17-55 f2.8 + Canon 75-300 along with the rebel. It added 1.2 kgs to my back pack but was well worth it in the end. Need to upload pics. Allow 2-3 days to acclimatise in Cusco and start Diamox 2 days before leaving home. Amazing country, humble people and fantastic views! Have fun.

[hazwing]

Originally Posted by treeoflife08

I have just returned from the 7 day Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu. My gear included the Canon 17-55 f2.8 + Canon 75-300 along with the rebel. It added 1.2 kgs to my back pack but was well worth it in the end. Need to upload pics. Allow 2-3 days to acclimatise in Cusco and start Diamox 2 days before leaving home. Amazing country, humble people and fantastic views! Have fun.

Thanks, but I've already come back from peru. here are a few threads with photos:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/....php?t=1225033
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/....php?t=1224312

Here's part of another post I did about what I brought:
"In terms of photography gear, I brought a sigma 18-200mm and sigma 30mm with a canon 600d. The sigma 30mm didn't see much use, because I couldn't be bothered carrying it in my day pack (left it with the porters). Also the trail can get a bit dusty so I didn't want to change my lens much. The versatility of the 18-200 was good, but retrospectively I do notice the images are not as sharp and clear as I would like them to be. I guess everything has a trade-off.

Also bought a mini tripod (ultrapod 2) which I used for the night shot. But besides that didn't actually end up using it much. Didn't find that much need of a external flash for most my peru trip, and am glad I didn't bother bringing one"

[x_tan]

Nice read, many thanks!

Almost settle with 5D3 + 24L II & 5D2 + 85L II!

New plan: 5D3 + 28-300L, 5D2 + 24-105L.

[Tony-S]

Make sure you're current on your hep A/B and typhoid fever vaccines.