Rent a camera when you only have one for a week long trip?

My usual travel kit.

Phhtt. I have a camera backpack for mostly water and other sundries for hiking, then my thinktank belt and shoulder harness for: camera bag, lens bag, lens bag. It's all relatively comfortable even if a bit bulky. If any hiking turns into any degree of scramble, it becomes less enjoyable with the belt bags filled with lenses, simply because I take up more space and my arms are a bit away from my body than usual. Not to mention tripod is in one hand or another. The 70-200 is the worst; I'd still love to leave it behind, but I always end up using it.

It's too late to cancel my rental. Kinda makes me want to puke a bit, since the chance of using it probably less than 1%. All these decisions, logistics and extraneous expenses is the reason I travel only once every few years. In the early stage it's sort of exciting to think of jumping on a plane for photography, but sheesh; so much stuff.

samueli wrote in post #18721057
It's too late to cancel my rental. Kinda makes me want to puke a bit, since the chance of using it probably less than 1%.

You're renting a 5DIV - use it 100%! It is a great camera with a great sensor.

samueli wrote in post #18720845
Don't even get me worked up on cards.

Dual slots on the 5DIV - I shoot Raw on the CF and JPEG on the SD, belt and braces right there.

airfrogusmc wrote in post #18721044
My usual travel kit.

That's a lovely looking bit of kit. What is it?

Mike wrote in post #18721299
You're renting a 5DIV - use it 100%! It is a great camera with a great sensor.

Dual slots on the 5DIV - I shoot Raw on the CF and JPEG on the SD, belt and braces right there.

That's a lovely looking bit of kit. What is it?

Thanks,

It is a Leica M Monochrom and a 35mm 1.4 Summilux FLE Asph.

buy a used older model that is solid for $250 instead, and then sell it for the same .. easy peasy (50D's going that for canon, I'm sure nikon has equivilents, and sony's aren't far behind)

edited... Oops.. didn't see you had it rented already.. but you are going to fall in love with that camera!

might try the alcohol fix on that top wheel.. seems like that might need a good clean out and it will work again.. if my old tired brain is remembering right...

Piece of mind when travelling can be a powerful thing and it has the ability to save a lot of time.

Case in point: I packed my gear bag to take on an 8-hour international flight. Everything was checked and tested except the body. Why? Because I had just finished using the body a few days ago. To save space and weight, I left the backup body at home. My bag was already pushing 25-30 lbs. While at the airport waiting for my flight, something told me to test the body out. I put in a battery, a card and attached a lens. Nothing. The camera wouldn't turn on. So I tried a second battery, a different card, and again, nothing. My body was completely dead. Luckily I had relatives that were flying to meet me in two days and they were able to bring a backup body, but had I discovered that the body was dead after I got on the plane, I wouldn't have been able to reach out to my family members and coordinate in time to have them bring the backup, and purchasing a backup would have been a very costly expense, as there were no rental houses that I was aware of. At the time, I had a point-and-shoot with me, but it wouldn't have been the same. So nowadays, I always travel with a backup when travelling overseas.

So what happened to the original? Upon return, sent it in for service and the entire board was dead. To this day, I'm still not sure how it happened, but Murphy's Law is alive and well.

MaxImage wrote in post #18721725
Piece of mind when travelling can be a powerful thing and it has the ability to save a lot of time.

Case in point: I packed my gear bag to take on an 8-hour international flight. Everything was checked and tested except the body. Why? Because I had just finished using the body a few days ago. To save space and weight, I left the backup body at home. My bag was already pushing 25-30 lbs. While at the airport waiting for my flight, something told me to test the body out. I put in a battery, a card and attached a lens. Nothing. The camera wouldn't turn on. So I tried a second battery, a different card, and again, nothing. My body was completely dead. Luckily I had relatives that were flying to meet me in two days and they were able to bring a backup body, but had I discovered that the body was dead after I got on the plane, I wouldn't have been able to reach out to my family members and coordinate in time to have them bring the backup, and purchasing a backup would have been a very costly expense, as there were no rental houses that I was aware of. At the time, I had a point-and-shoot with me, but it wouldn't have been the same. So nowadays, I always travel with a backup when travelling overseas.

So what happened to the original? Upon return, sent it in for service and the entire board was dead. To this day, I'm still not sure how it happened, but Murphy's Law is alive and well.

This is the story that validates my $300 rental. Thank you. Plus, I do get the play with the 5DIV.

ksbal wrote in post #18721679
might try the alcohol fix on that top wheel.. seems like that might need a good clean out and it will work again.. if my old tired brain is remembering right...

You're brain is not so old and tired when you're recommending simple first step of "try cleaning it". Thank you for suggesting it!

ksbal wrote in post #18721677
buy a used older model that is solid for $250 instead, and then sell it for the same .. easy peasy (50D's going that for canon, I'm sure nikon has equivilents, and sony's aren't far behind)

edited... Oops.. didn't see you had it rented already.. but you are going to fall in love with that camera!

You're probably right.

Mike wrote in post #18721299
You're renting a 5DIV - use it 100%! It is a great camera with a great sensor.

Dual slots on the 5DIV - I shoot Raw on the CF and JPEG on the SD, belt and braces right there.

That's a lovely looking bit of kit. What is it?

airfrogusmc wrote in post #18721044
My usual travel kit.

Yes, that is a nice kit. What's nicer about it, is that you are focused in your travel photography style; while I'm all over the board, and need to bring every last drop of equipment to ensure I make a few good photos.

samueli wrote in post #18721742
Yes, that is a nice kit. What's nicer about it, is that you are focused in your travel photography style; while I'm all over the board, and need to bring every last drop of equipment to ensure I make a few good photos.

It would probably surprise you in how much different the shooting experience is and thus how different your work will look. I am a firm believer in you don't miss shots you just learn to see and photograph different shots.

Once my 5D failed when I was on a trip. I was in an museum aircraft carrier when a bead of sweat must have gotten underneath the LCD. The whole screen went blank and I got error messages (and even though it was new, I had to pay for a new circuit board because it was deemed water damage). When the 5D died, there was an Office Depot near by: I just bought a Rebel with kit lens and still got plenty of nice photos during the rest of the trip. Luckily, I think the newer 5D models have more weather sealing and are more impervious to sweat.

samueli wrote in post #18720834
I have a 50D, but the top wheel is completely dead - after I bought new batteries for it of course.

when you say "dead", is it slipping or just not responding?

see: https://martybugs.net …Dial-On-A-Canon-DSLR.html