South America - camera equipment to take!
Discussion
Hi guys/gals
In the next couple of months I will be in south america, traveling around through five or six of the countries there for a period of just under three months. What I would like to know from people who have been there or have had friends go there is, just how dodgy does it feel to be walking around with quite a bit of camera gear in your bag? All of my friends who've been there only took point & shoots so thought nothing of it. Though they all have many stories of muggings or people having bags stolen.
I recently heard a story of a couple walking in peru through a village on a designated trek who suddenly spotted they had paint on them. Turned out it had just been flicked on them by some kids who were hiding and a minute later as they tried to work out what was going on they were surrounded by older kids and adults and their bags (and the chaps SLR, which was probably the cause of it all!!) taken.
I've got quite a bit of equipment (400d and 40d) several lenses, laptop and loads of extra bits, it is all insured. In an ideal world I would love to take all of my equipment to get the best possible photos. However I'm thinking with all the stories I hear about how dangerous it is and I then read in the lonely planet guides about avoid here it's dangerous, avoid this place because mugging are very likely. It is making me think I should take the cheapest equipment (probably just the stock 18-55 lens and 400d and my fs100 camcorder) and try and get the best photos I can and avoid being a target for being mugged. I don't think I can do without my laptop for storage reasons and I would never get the laptop out in public. Just in my room at night.
Look forward to hearing from you, thanks.
In the next couple of months I will be in south america, traveling around through five or six of the countries there for a period of just under three months. What I would like to know from people who have been there or have had friends go there is, just how dodgy does it feel to be walking around with quite a bit of camera gear in your bag? All of my friends who've been there only took point & shoots so thought nothing of it. Though they all have many stories of muggings or people having bags stolen.
I recently heard a story of a couple walking in peru through a village on a designated trek who suddenly spotted they had paint on them. Turned out it had just been flicked on them by some kids who were hiding and a minute later as they tried to work out what was going on they were surrounded by older kids and adults and their bags (and the chaps SLR, which was probably the cause of it all!!) taken.
I've got quite a bit of equipment (400d and 40d) several lenses, laptop and loads of extra bits, it is all insured. In an ideal world I would love to take all of my equipment to get the best possible photos. However I'm thinking with all the stories I hear about how dangerous it is and I then read in the lonely planet guides about avoid here it's dangerous, avoid this place because mugging are very likely. It is making me think I should take the cheapest equipment (probably just the stock 18-55 lens and 400d and my fs100 camcorder) and try and get the best photos I can and avoid being a target for being mugged. I don't think I can do without my laptop for storage reasons and I would never get the laptop out in public. Just in my room at night.
Look forward to hearing from you, thanks.
Will you always be able to leave your luggage somewhere secure?
If you can, then why not take one of the bodies and all the lenses, then buy a cheap, non-attention-drawing bag locally. That way, you can ask guides, hotel staff or whomever how safe your itinerary is on any given day and pick and choose what you take out with you accordingly.
Also, if you don't have a reasonably decent compact camera, why not find a second hand one on Ebay? Get the best spec you can find in the oldest, dullest-looking format so you've got something really unobtrusive that you can use in the riskiest of places. Worst case scenario, it gets stolen but your nice kit doesn't. Best case scenario, you get some reasonable shots of places you'd not have been willing to take your main gear, and you then sell it on Ebay for more or less what you paid for it in the first place when you get back.
If you can, then why not take one of the bodies and all the lenses, then buy a cheap, non-attention-drawing bag locally. That way, you can ask guides, hotel staff or whomever how safe your itinerary is on any given day and pick and choose what you take out with you accordingly.
Also, if you don't have a reasonably decent compact camera, why not find a second hand one on Ebay? Get the best spec you can find in the oldest, dullest-looking format so you've got something really unobtrusive that you can use in the riskiest of places. Worst case scenario, it gets stolen but your nice kit doesn't. Best case scenario, you get some reasonable shots of places you'd not have been willing to take your main gear, and you then sell it on Ebay for more or less what you paid for it in the first place when you get back.
We I am traveling with my girlfriend and we won't be staying in the cheapest places luckily as we have a decent budget for hostels/hotels. We also won't be staying in dorms. So yes in theory we will always have our room to keep stuff in when we head out for the day. So that is very good thinking. Also like the idea of buying a local bag, something I hadn't thought about. Thank you for the reply.
I live in Argentina part of the year and have traveled all around South America with camera gear so might be able to give you a couple of pointers.
You said that you have camera insurance, good. Use it for what it is intended for. If all your gear gets stolen then you don't need to worry as you will get a nice new shiny one when you get back. Someone will come on and say "that is not the point" well actually for what you are doing, this is exactly the point. There can be no such thing as sentimental value when it comes to mass produced items that can easily be replaced. With this in mind I would just say to take whichever camera you prefer to carry around. If you are happy with a big body and long lens, then take that. Do keep in mind that people do react differently when there is a big camera around. Sometimes the best shots are made when people don't react.
Make your camera look a bit s
tty. You do not want everyone to know that you have the latest shiny Canon, Nikon, whatever, that is just asking for trouble. The first thing to do is either ditch the strap for something plain (and possibly longer) or at least blackout with permanent marker where it says the name in bright letters.
Second thing to do is cover up names and colours on the camera. Again use a black marker. Don't forget the lens cap. Next selectively cover the body with black tape. I have found that the sticking plaster tape on a roll works best. Again, paint it black. It doesn't get sticky like gaffer tape or peal off like electrical tape. When you want to make you camera all shiny again you just clean it up using alcohol. I don't bother as it doesn't make my pictures any better.
Images are another matter. These can't be replaced. Memory cars are very cheap and still the best way to store images short term. You might want to burn DVDs or an easier thing to do would be to take a couple of USB sticks with you. I wouldn't take your laptop unless you also want to use it for other things.
A lot of the problems you might have is down to how confident you are and how you project yourself. If you seem like you are apprehensive then you will have more hassle, camera or not. The best bit of advice i can give is to look like you know where you are going and to a degree blend in with the locals by copying their habits and dress. To give an example, I was chatting to an American girl last week who told me she was getting a lot of hassle and attention and hassle. It turned out this mostly happened when she went out wearing a bright red baseball cap. It is only really the tourists who wear caps and certainly not bright ones. Told her to ditch the hat until she was back in Texas. Problem solved.
Don't forget a clear filter, you will get dusty.
I have photographed riots before and although got surrounded by a huge mob who wanted to lynch me, once I said I was just a tourist then things were ok. Don't say your are Police or Press, either are pretty disliked in many s American countries. Also photographed a drug deal in a very dodgy part of the city and got shot at for my trouble, so not entirely recommended.
You said that you have camera insurance, good. Use it for what it is intended for. If all your gear gets stolen then you don't need to worry as you will get a nice new shiny one when you get back. Someone will come on and say "that is not the point" well actually for what you are doing, this is exactly the point. There can be no such thing as sentimental value when it comes to mass produced items that can easily be replaced. With this in mind I would just say to take whichever camera you prefer to carry around. If you are happy with a big body and long lens, then take that. Do keep in mind that people do react differently when there is a big camera around. Sometimes the best shots are made when people don't react.
Make your camera look a bit s
tty. You do not want everyone to know that you have the latest shiny Canon, Nikon, whatever, that is just asking for trouble. The first thing to do is either ditch the strap for something plain (and possibly longer) or at least blackout with permanent marker where it says the name in bright letters. Second thing to do is cover up names and colours on the camera. Again use a black marker. Don't forget the lens cap. Next selectively cover the body with black tape. I have found that the sticking plaster tape on a roll works best. Again, paint it black. It doesn't get sticky like gaffer tape or peal off like electrical tape. When you want to make you camera all shiny again you just clean it up using alcohol. I don't bother as it doesn't make my pictures any better.
Images are another matter. These can't be replaced. Memory cars are very cheap and still the best way to store images short term. You might want to burn DVDs or an easier thing to do would be to take a couple of USB sticks with you. I wouldn't take your laptop unless you also want to use it for other things.
A lot of the problems you might have is down to how confident you are and how you project yourself. If you seem like you are apprehensive then you will have more hassle, camera or not. The best bit of advice i can give is to look like you know where you are going and to a degree blend in with the locals by copying their habits and dress. To give an example, I was chatting to an American girl last week who told me she was getting a lot of hassle and attention and hassle. It turned out this mostly happened when she went out wearing a bright red baseball cap. It is only really the tourists who wear caps and certainly not bright ones. Told her to ditch the hat until she was back in Texas. Problem solved.
Don't forget a clear filter, you will get dusty.
I have photographed riots before and although got surrounded by a huge mob who wanted to lynch me, once I said I was just a tourist then things were ok. Don't say your are Police or Press, either are pretty disliked in many s American countries. Also photographed a drug deal in a very dodgy part of the city and got shot at for my trouble, so not entirely recommended.
Edited by Olivero on Saturday 28th February 17:41
Olivero said:
Del 203 said:
Olivero said:
Also photographed a drug deal in a very dodgy part of the city and got shot for my trouble, so not entirely recommended.
- mental note* Don't EVER go off the beaten track in South America!
Thanks for the detailed reply Olivero. These are some great tips/tricks that I will definitely adopt. I think I will stay away from photographing drug deals!! Sounds like you were very luck there.
Anyway as you say I have insurance therefore as long as I don't lose the photos it isn't a disaster. I have a backup plan for ensuring I don't lose photos. It involves burning DVDs and also as I happen to have a decent size USB HDD I will also use that so in theory I have two copies of my photos + the originals on my laptop!
Anyway as you say I have insurance therefore as long as I don't lose the photos it isn't a disaster. I have a backup plan for ensuring I don't lose photos. It involves burning DVDs and also as I happen to have a decent size USB HDD I will also use that so in theory I have two copies of my photos + the originals on my laptop!
Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff