[Francis]

I'd drop the primes for such a trip. More often than likely you'll have one of the zooms on the camera. On the other hand, what better opportunity will you have to make full use of the primes... hahaha.

Stop listening to us, just go already and enjoy the photo opportunity.

[Frogfish]

Unless you are going on a photo assignment that's paying for the trip, I suggest you leave your Pentax gear at home and take a nice snapshot P&S. High humidity and condensation can wreck havoc and there's not much you can do to provide adequate protection. A perfectly adequate weather sealed P&S will cost less than half a good lens.

Other than bragging rights ("Yep, took it with a K-? paired to my fancy DA-??"), why risk ruining your good stuff?

...my 2 cents...

I'm sorry but that makes absolutely ZERO sense. I've lived here for 15 years and travelled all over China and never had a problem. And China probably has more cameras that the rest of the world put together !

EDIT - Ok I see you've played your Get Out Of Jail Free Card

[Francis]

Heck, China has more people than much of the world put together

[Frogfish]

Gents,

All reviewing all your suggestions, here is what I think that I will bring with me to China:

1) K200D: because it's the lightest body that I have and weather sealed
2) Wide angle: DA14, for low light situation that my Sigma 10-20 can't handle
3) Sigma 10-20
4) Sigma 17-70
5) DA35 for macro, although the Sigma 17-70 can achieve some great macro shots too
6) K50/f1.4 for low light situations
7) Lots of Eneloops, charger and SD cards
8) Nikon SB-28 speedlight as it's light and reliable
9) Silica gels and zipploc bags

The Sigma 10-20 and 17-70 will probably spend 80% on the body but we will see
Probably take my K20D as a backup body but leave it in the hotel to travel light.

1) Take your best camera and forget about light - it's not going to bother you that much, you'll be on coaches, trains and planes most of the time believe me ! If the weight bothers you that much PM me and I'll bring you a Black Rapid copy for $10 when you reach Shanghai - then you won't feel a thing all day. Maybe the K200D as back up though - just in case of failure or theft.

2) really not necessary

5) unless you are into the rain forests in the South then you really won't need a macro beyond your 17-70.

The rest sounds good !

[Frogfish]

Heck, China has more people than much of the world put together

Until you've been here you just can't believe how many shots are taken ..... the biggest problem at any interesting site is not the light but the queue of people posing for photos right in front of the object / scene of your desire !

[Francis]

Until you've been here you just can't believe how many shots are taken ..... the biggest problem at any interesting site is not the light but the queue of people posing for photos right in front of the object / scene of your desire !

That is true. We were in China during school holidays last year. That added a helluva lot of people at each site, getting in your way. Rushing your shot, hitting your bag, etc.

[pop4]

Gents,

All reviewing all your suggestions, here is what I think that I will bring with me to China:

1) K200D: because it's the lightest body that I have and weather sealed
2) Wide angle: DA14, for low light situation that my Sigma 10-20 can't handle
3) Sigma 10-20
4) Sigma 17-70
5) DA35 for macro, although the Sigma 17-70 can achieve some great macro shots too
6) K50/f1.4 for low light situations
7) Lots of Eneloops, charger and SD cards
8) Nikon SB-28 speedlight as it's light and reliable
9) Silica gels and zipploc bags

The Sigma 10-20 and 17-70 will probably spend 80% on the body but we will see
Probably take my K20D as a backup body but leave it in the hotel to travel light.

A few years back, I spent a year studying whilst on exchange in China, living in Hangzhou, and did a fair bit of travelling around the country. I had with me my K10D, Sigma 10-20/4-5.6, Sigma 17-70/2.8-4.5, Pentax-F 50/1.7 and Pentax FA-35/2.0. I'd say the 17-70mm spent about 70% of the time on my camera, with the 10-20mm on my camera the other 29.9%. The primes would've been on the remaining 0.1%. I had 2 D-LI50 batteries for my K10D and not once ran out of battery life, although the longest I was away from a power point was about 2 days.

Unless you tend to be a prime shooter or like changing lenses, my personal suggestion would be to ditch the primes except for one, just to mix it up a bit if you really wanted, and take the K20D, and 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 on your list. Oh, and also take a small compact camera too, I use the Canon S95, but anything that's not terrible should do.

Just my 2c

[ducdao]

A few years back, I spent a year studying whilst on exchange in China, living in Hangzhou, and did a fair bit of travelling around the country. I had with me my K10D, Sigma 10-20/4-5.6, Sigma 17-70/2.8-4.5, Pentax-F 50/1.7 and Pentax FA-35/2.0. I'd say the 17-70mm spent about 70% of the time on my camera, with the 10-20mm on my camera the other 29.9%. The primes would've been on the remaining 0.1%. I had 2 D-LI50 batteries for my K10D and not once ran out of battery life, although the longest I was away from a power point was about 2 days.

Unless you tend to be a prime shooter or like changing lenses, my personal suggestion would be to ditch the primes except for one, just to mix it up a bit if you really wanted, and take the K20D, and 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 on your list. Oh, and also take a small compact camera too, I use the Canon S95, but anything that's not terrible should do.

Just my 2c

So you don't think a fast 50/f1.4 is necessary? I will not bring a tripod with me so I wonder if I would miss a lot of night shots that way.

[ducdao]

1) Take your best camera and forget about light - it's not going to bother you that much, you'll be on coaches, trains and planes most of the time believe me ! If the weight bothers you that much PM me and I'll bring you a Black Rapid copy for $10 when you reach Shanghai - then you won't feel a thing all day. Maybe the K200D as back up though - just in case of failure or theft.

2) really not necessary

5) unless you are into the rain forests in the South then you really won't need a macro beyond your 17-70.

The rest sounds good !

Sounds like a great plan! Thanks!

[Frogfish]

So you don't think a fast 50/f1.4 is necessary? I will not bring a tripod with me so I wonder if I would miss a lot of night shots that way.

Yes, you will definitely need a low light lense. As I mentioned in post #15

You will need a low light lense - lighting anywhere in China (except good hotels & restaurants) is very poor in the evenings because they use very low wattage lightbulbs to save electricity - 15W instead of the standard 60W in the West ! Your favourite 50 or the K30 i would suggest.

As I said, if you want a $10 Black Rapid copy then P.M. a week before your arrival in Shanghai.

[ducdao]

Yes, you will definitely need a low light lense. As I mentioned in post #15



As I said, if you want a $10 Black Rapid copy then P.M. a week before your arrival in Shanghai.

Will do if needed, Kevin. Thanks a lot for you help thus far.

[123ben]

As I said, if you want a $10 Black Rapid copy then P.M. a week before your arrival in Shanghai.

Where do you buy it? Even at taobao I'm not able to find it for this price

[pop4]

So you don't think a fast 50/f1.4 is necessary? I will not bring a tripod with me so I wonder if I would miss a lot of night shots that way.

No, from my personal experience, and for my style of photography, I didn't find it necessary at all; Frogfish above on the other hand, says you definitely need it. We're both offering our opinions and trying to give you as much information to make an informed decision, but at the end of the day, it's your gear, your vacation and your choice as to what to bring or not. I actually only took the 50/1.7 because it was small and I thought it wouldn't take up too much space if I never used it. Now, a couple of years on, I know myself and my photography, a lot better, and I would not hesitate to ditch it. Don't forget, you're also planning to have a flash too.

And also, a tripod isn't the only way of supporting your camera steadily. I've gotten sharp shots at shutter speeds of ~1/10th just by resting both my elbows on something and creating a steady shooting platform, or bracing my hands and arms against something solid, and you can always rest your camera on a bench, fence, table, etc.

This was hand held at 1/8th whilst in Xi'an:


And if I remember correctly, this 0.3s shot was taken by resting the camera somewhere:


Excuse the poor photos, my photography has improved since then.

[simonkit]

I did a very similiar trip last October and found both my DA12-24 & DA17-70 essential - I actually found I took more shots with the 12-24 in the cities, particularly of temples etc. I did take a 40mm F2.8 but rarely used it. One thing is for sure - you'll have a great time whatever lenses you take!!

Simon

[Schraubstock]

I was in Shanghai only some 4 weeks ago and I did take a tripod but in the end did not use it once. The K5, as I quickly found out, performs exceptionally well at high ISO making it well possible to shoot free hand in well lit night scenes.

Check out the pics below, all hand held. First and second shot was taken during blue hour.

Greetings