Motorcycle Travel Kit Thoughts

ChuckingFluff wrote in post #15820020
Stick to the 7D the Rebels are cheaper for a reason. I've shot t3, t3i and t4i and I wouldn't trade my 7D for all of them combined. The t4i is pretty impressive indoors with low light but there are some posterization (some think it's banding) issues that I noticed in the images. If you still want a one lens solution and don't want the weight or cost try the Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD. light weight cost a lot less and image quality is pretty impressive.

https://photography-on-the.net …page=116&highli​ght=18-270

For the life of me, I can't understand this logic. You buy a DSLR for the image quality. Not to put the worst lens you can buy on it, and end up with point and shoot quality photos. Not that there's anything wrong with point and shoots, but at least save yourself the expense, weight and inconvenience. Spend your money on good Canon glass.

noisejammer wrote in post #15819171
Sadly not - many of them predated the ubiquitous internet but highlights were trips to Cape Town (4000 km loop), Botswana (1500 km loop), the Lowveld (1100 km loop with the classic bike club), two trips to the Drakensberg mts and QwaQwa (each a 1500 km loop). I started planning a solo expedition to Namibia (also around 4000 km) when work got in the way and moved me to the GWN.

That sounds fantastic! I hope to build a "portfolio" like that myself some day.

speedync wrote in post #15818666
I wouldn't bother with the 7D. Anything in the Rebel series from the T2i/550D on will give exactly the same results. Same sensor, same pictures. The bonus of the Rebel, is that it's smaller, lighter, cheaper, and because it's plastic, bounces better. Buy the cheapest body, and spend more on Canon lenses.
I have a 550D and 15-85 as my motorcycle travel kit, and it works a treat. Tried a mates 7D, and the only advantage I can see, is you can shoot fast moving subjects using outer focus points. Centre point on a Rebel is fine. If you buy a 650D, it has all 9 cross type AF points. Same as a 60D, but smaller and lighter.
If you want a bit more reach, just pick up the excellent, cheap, small, light and highly under rated 55-250. Plenty good enough for motorcycle travels. I shot these with that exact lens and my 550D on a cloudy overcast day http://www.flickr.com …0/sets/72157632​651954209/ To get anything much better, I suspect you'd have to more than quadruple your spend. But that's just me
I have the excellent 40mm pancake for inside type shots, and also a 24mm f/2.8. For me, it's the Goldilocks setup.

I can understand this, however, if I'm going to stick with a Rebel I wouldn't bother upgrading; I'd stick with my current T1i. And I might do that for a bit, we'll see. If I wait till the 7DII comes out, maybe the 7D prices will drop even more. Or I could take this line on the used 7D right now for a pretty good price. I actually like the larger body of the 7D better, and of course the tank-like qualities of it appeal to me too.

ChuckingFluff wrote in post #15820020
Stick to the 7D the Rebels are cheaper for a reason. I've shot t3, t3i and t4i and I wouldn't trade my 7D for all of them combined. The t4i is pretty impressive indoors with low light but there are some posterization (some think it's banding) issues that I noticed in the images. If you still want a one lens solution and don't want the weight or cost try the Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD. light weight cost a lot less and image quality is pretty impressive.

https://photography-on-the.net …page=116&highli​ght=18-270

I have no interest in going with a super-zoom that's going to give me even decent quality; I'd rather have a few great pieces of glass. Now would I turn down the 28-300L that was mentioned earlier? Well, aside from cost, the size and weight doesn't really appeal to me.

As a side-note, I just picked a 15-85 off the classifieds section here this morning, so I should have that in just over a week! Pretty stoked! And to the folks who keep suggesting the OM-D, I still intend on checking it out; it does sound like a nifty little piece of kit.

Jason,
That's great you're in a position taking your time. In that case, I'd recommend taking the DSLR and a point and shoot for the times you don't want to damage your expensive DSLR gear. One note, you'll probably be taking a ton of photos and may want to consider how to back them up. There are different options, you'll have to figure out what works for you best considering you won't have AC readily available. LOL!!

Have a safe trip and please share your photos when you arrive back from journey!!

jkdwings wrote in post #15818538
Thanks for the couple pennies! Every bit of experience people here have shared with me is proving to be valuable and create more options. Going as simple as a point and shoot has its appeals to my minimalist side, however, I don't think I'd be satisfied. This trip won't be on a time crunch at all, so I plan to take it slow and photography is something I'd like to make a good part of it. I'll be taking off indefinitely after convocation, until the money runs out I suppose. At that point, I may stay somewhere for a period of time before coming home.

Jason

cebuRyda wrote in post #15822020
Jason,
That's great you're in a position taking your time. In that case, I'd recommend taking the DSLR and a point and shoot for the times you don't want to damage your expensive DSLR gear. One note, you'll probably be taking a ton of photos and may want to consider how to back them up. There are different options, you'll have to figure out what works for you best considering you won't have AC readily available. LOL!!

Have a safe trip and please share your photos when you arrive back from journey!!

Hey cebu, yeah I'm all about taking it slow and taking it all in. It's a buddy and I going on the trip, so he'll definitely be bringing a point and shoot. Well actually, I'm going to get him into something like a G12 or similar style - we'll see what's available in a year and a half before we leave. In terms of backing up, I'll be taking an ultrabook of some kind; something solid-state that I can run PS on. Again, I'll get something closer to the time. Storage? I've got a good few external hds (1Tb and 2 Tb right now), so I'll take something like that with me as well to back up.