Sapphire73

If your choice is between 18-135 or 18-200, bring the 18-200 unless it's way bigger.

 

...BTW, how do you like your Tamron lens? I have looked at that 18-270 lens for years, and wondered why no one else makes it. My FIL had a few of their lenses but I have never owned one. I think you have even more lenses than he did! :)

The 18-200 used to be my main travel lens but I have been leaving it home more often lately and using the 18-135 because it is lighter. The Tamron PZD 18-270mm comes in handy as long as one keeps in mind that it's a bit soft when fully extended. I had the earlier version and like the PZD version much more. It is the only non-Canon lens that I own, but one of my sons has several Tamron lenses for his Canon 60D.

When traveling somewhere that I may revisit (not a once in a lifetime experience), I sometimes purposely limit the lenses I take to focus my efforts on getting the most out of them. On a trip to Big Sur in January 2014, I took the 70-300mm and the 10-22mm. An unusual choice of lenses that worked out well. We were there for a family wedding and happened to see a couple of California condors on the day of the wedding. I didn't get any great photos of them, but good enough to see their tracking numbers and google them later.

For years I carried my Sony DSLR with several lens and have wonderful pictures from trips to Africa, Australia and other places. I did grow tired of carrying multiple lenses and changing them in dusty road conditions .... so after much research I purchased a much lighter Canon bridge camera with a 50xzoom and was pleasantly surprised that I could be tourist and photographer and pretty happy with my photos with considerable less hassle. When we headed to Macchu Picchi and the Galapagos I debated long and hard about bringing the DSLR and the lenses but eventually left them home. Fate was on my side for when I fell at Macchu Picchu and spent the rest of the trip in a sling I was still able to use my Canon--- would never have been able to lift and hold the heavier Sony with its long lens. And I have great pictures taken thru gritted teeth!!

 

Bridge camera and small pocket point and shoot travel with me everywhere now!

So sorry to hear that you fell at Machu Picchu! Glad your camera worked out well for you in spite of your injuries, and that it continues to serve you well.

This has been a great thread!

 

WRT OP's question - we did the Basel-Amsterdam cruise with the two small cameras mentioned above. I'd go with the 18-135, and I'd leave that on most if not all of the time. You may run into occasions where the 18 isn't wide enough but in those settings you're up so close that the picture would be distorted. And I find that with such a wide angle, you get too much sky and not enough landscape. So I wouldn't bring the 10-22. That said, I've never had such a wide-angle lens so maybe I'd love it...

 

WRT to the 70-300, I personally wouldn't bother with that either. If I wanted a closeup, I'd probably crop an image taken at 135. With a crisp DSLR shot, some cropping probably would be acceptable. There were only a few times that my 120mm zoom wasn't enough and in those cases, Chris' P&S was fine.

 

The 28 prime lens sounds handy for downsizing the camera and since it adds almost no bulk, go for it.

[Missed seeing this earlier]

Thanks for your input on this - reflecting both your experience cruising from Basel to Amsterdam and the goals of balancing the desire for good photos and traveling light. Currently thinking that I will take the 10-22 mm wide angle lens, the 28 mm prime, and a relatively compact zoom (18-135 or 18-200 or the Tamron PZD 18-270).

The 10-22 mm lens is invaluable for landscapes and I found it handy for my first attempts to photograph the Milky Way in Big Sur as well. Great lens - if landscapes are a priority. And Lightroom 5 is pretty good at minimizing the distortion. But I leave it home more often than not.

I appreciate your thoughts on the mirrorless cameras and follow up question for Bescotti as well. So much food for thought!

For Canon shooters, if you could take only ONE prime lens...what lens would it be?

I have 4 prime lenses: 60mm macro, 50mm "nifty fifty", 40mm pancake lens, and the 28mm. Since I am using a crop sensor camera body, the 28mm is the one I use most for a walk around camera - especially on busy city streets. It is less intimidating to people in rural Africa as well. I also love the macro lens but tend to use it more often when shooting locally.

Looking forward to hearing how others respond to your question!

I have used Canon dslrs for some years, including my 7D with all the big lenses but last year for my European trip I switched to the Olympus mirrorless and haven't looked back.

 

I've just returned from a month long African photographic safari with my camera club and again ditched my 7D for my Olympus and am extremely happy with the results. Half of my fellow travellers had also moved from dslrs to mirrorless and instead of being divided into Canon and Nikon camps, we're now either Sony or Olympus users. One thing I did find on that trip was that the Olympus batteries far outlasted the Sony batteries (Sony batteries lasted less than a full day while the Olympus could sometimes last 2 - 3 days).

 

Whichever way you decide to go, your 70D or something else, I recommend a wide angle lens as I found I got more use out of that in Europe for plazas, interior shots, etc. than my long telephoto lens.

Thank you very much for your input! I am really drawn to getting a mirrorless camera but have decided to wait a bit longer after exploring the various options. Hard to choose! Interesting that you were divided into Olympus vs Sony users (no one using the Fuji cameras?) and that the Olympus batteries lasted so much longer.

A month long photographic safari in Africa sounds wonderful. Hope you enjoyed it!

I appreciate your recommendation to take the wide angle lens and perhaps skip taking the longer telephoto (70-300mm). The 18-135 might be a bit short but I could take a slightly heavier 18-200mm.

Thanks again!

Happy to help. And excellent point about Lightroom. Also, I'm not sure what kind of camera strap you're using, but I used a Black Rapid RS-Sport 2 "slim" sling camera strap that worked great for the active days we had. It definitely helped given the weight of my camera and lens.

That sling strap looks very useful. Thanks for mentioning it. Hesitant to try it for this trip since I will need to layer for warmth, but will definitely keep it mind. I use a Crumpler strap and wear it like a sling, so it already distributes the weight of the camera pretty well. But I could have used something like that in Masai Mara in 2014 when I used 2 camera bodies to avoid having to switch lenses!

I've been watching what's going on with the new mirrorless cameras and it is tempting to jump in. I guess I'm going to wait awhile, though, given that I just bought another dSLR yesterday. :D

Congrats on the new camera! Enjoy!

I have a Canon Powershot and it has a 20 to 1 zoom. The pictures below are of a snow play area below the Jungfrauhoch.

I love the camera because I do not have to lug extra lenses around

Nice photos. I usually take a Canon Powershot as a back up camera, and I do appreciate that zoom! Thanks for your input. :)

This is such a hard decision. Last time I lived in Europe, we didn't have digital cameras so I am SO looking forward to having mine on this trip. At the same time I don't want to drag along a lot of heavy stuff either. I have a Canon 5D MII. Love it but man it gets heavy. I'm still having an internal struggle over what lenses to bring. I plan to do a photography tour in Prague so I want to make sure I have good stuff with me. Just got an iPhone 6+ and plan to use it as my back up camera when I don't want to lug the biggen out with me. I want to bring my tripod as well because I want to get some shots for HDR work. There's more weight :(.

I hear you. In my case, I started using a T4i instead of a Canon 7D when I was about to get a knee replacement but now have the 70D, which I love. But moving to a full frame camera was out of the question for me. So are the heavier lenses. Hope you enjoy your time in Prague and the photography tour! Sounds like fun. :) I am thinking of taking a gorilla pod but no tripod on this trip.

I must admit I've switched from DSLR to a bridge camera in the last few years.

 

Yes the DSLR quality can be better, but I'm getting a lot more photos with the bridge camera due to not having to change lens and being willing to carry it with me everywhere.

Good point. :) For now, my iPhone is the camera I have with me most of the time and I try to remember to back it up and clear out the photos before we leave on a trip.

I took my dSLR on my last trip with a 15-85mm lens, knowing that I'd be lacking on the wide and really long ends and with low light shots, but I also knew I wouldn't be willing to lug around a bunch of lenses all day. My DH on the other hand, took his Sony RX100 III and got some really nice photos, but also was able to shoot many indoor shots I couldn't. Personally, I'd go even lighter next time than I did on my last trip vs. adding more lenses to my arsenal. But that's me. Sounds like lugging heavy gear isn't as much of a concern for you ... I think you'd be pretty well covered with the 15-135mm and a fast prime (although you'd probably run into the same issues I did with shooting architecture shots, so you may want to add a 10-18mm or 10-22mm (although you may not find the likely distortion pleasing).) Not sure I'd bother with the 70-300mm, but I think it all comes down to what you're will to carry. Sorry for kind of a non-answer, but the reality is that you sacrifice at one end or another to a certain extent.

Great input, Bubbulz. Thanks. I think you are right that I could leave the 70-300 at home. I could substitute an 18-200mm lens for the 18-135mm but it feels more cumbersome. (The camera and 18-135mm and 28mm prime weigh around 3 lbs, so not all that heavy.) And I think you are right that I might really appreciate having the wide angle lens. Lightroom is doing a pretty good job with correcting distortion these days.

Several people on a photography forum have mentioned liking the Sony RX100. Sounds like you had it all covered between the two of you!

Some of the new mirrorless cameras are really impressive, but I'm not sure I'd jump into the investment quite yet given all the rapid changes we're seeing right now.

Yes, I am a bit hesitant. It is interesting to see how many professional photographers are going that route and seem happy with the results.

Not sure whether or when we will be able to take another river cruise. We had to book a November cruise for DH to be able to get away from work and retirement is a few years off. But we'll see.

Thanks again for your thoughts on this!

Love that Panasonic LUMIX FZ300!! Great photos, quick and easy to use, much much easier than carrying around a lot of lenses. The LUMIX and the IPhone for quick pics that I might want to upload right away is all that is necessary.

Thanks for your input on this. Sounds like the Lumix is a good option.

You might want to try a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ300 (or a used -FZ200) before you replace your entire kit.... You can see examples of what a -FZ200 can do in my France blog (link in the signature below).

Thanks for your input on this, Jazzbeau. You got some great shots with the Lumix. I especially like your shots of Monet's garden, and the camera served your very well with capturing the stained glass window in the Chartres cathedral.

I have a Canon PowerShot SX260 that I carry when I don't want to take a DSLR out and about, so I wouldn't really be in the market for the Lumix even though it would give me a bit more reach. But I appreciate your mentioning it here and hope that it will help others looking for suggestions on what camera to take on a river cruise.

Putting this question out there for those who are into photography and who have experience cruising European rivers. I have been to Zurich, Lucerne, Mainz, Boppard, Amsterdam, Brussels, etc. so I have some idea of what I will encounter. But this is my first river cruise, and I would love your input.

I carry a Canon 70D DSLR camera and a couple of lenses whenever we travel internationally or closer to home. (In the past year we have traveled to Korea, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Brazil.) I have a point and shoot camera and also use my iPhone camera - as back up - but am definitely taking a dslr on this cruise. In recent years, I have made sure my equipment is lighter and easier to carry and I try to figure out what lenses I am going to want the most.

If you were taking a dslr camera and some lenses on a European river cruise from Basel, Switzerland along the Rhine and Mosel rivers and ending up in Bruges, Belgium (and the World War 1 battlefields nearby) for a few days - what would you be taking with you? What focal lengths you have found useful?

I am currently thinking of taking a small, fast prime lens (28mm) for an inconspicuous walk around camera that can handle low light since we are traveling in the shorter days of November. And a moderate zoom lens (18-135) for doing wider or closer in. Those would be the two that I carried around with me most of the time. But I think I might want an extra wide lens (10-22mm) for shooting landscapes, architecture, etc. And a 70-300mm lens that could come in handy for photographing birds (storks, swans, etc.) and isolating details of the environment (castles on a hill, an architectural detail, etc.). But I wouldn't want to carry 4 lenses with me each day. I can carry the dslr w/any one of the larger lenses in a small camera bag and the 28mm prime in a very small purse and I also have the plastic sleeves that add some protection when shooting in misty, foggy weather.

One last thing - I have looked at some of the new mirrorless cameras but will probably wait to buy one of those. I compared the (replacement) cost and weight of my Canon equipment and a Fuji X-T1 option with comparable lenses and the Fuji kit would be almost as heavy and more expensive. But if you have set aside your dslr equipment in favor of a mirrorless camera, I'm sure that would be helpful info for others reading Cruise Critic. And a mirrorless camera may be in my future. :)

Many thanks!

Sapphire73

Two weeks from today we will be on our way to embark on a GCT cruise along the Rhine and Mosel rivers. Looking forward to our first river cruise!

I have been wearing some kind of compression socks since we started flying long flights (to Australia, Japan, South Africa, India, etc.). I took the need even more seriously when I had a knee replacement. My favorite compression knee highs are made by Sockwell.

Ssshhh! Don't tell anyone. We keep bottles of the "good stuff" in our cabin to enjoy after dinner, sometimes before dinner.

Sounds like a plan! Thanks.

Barrheadlass and CPT Trips, thank you both for your input. My guess is that we will make do with what we are served, but thought I would check in with experienced GCT travelers!

Cheers,

Sapphire73

Question for those who have traveled with GCT.... How was the wine that they served with dinner? Thinking I heard something about the option to pay more for higher quality wine but not sure. Any thoughts on the wine served on your GCT cruise and the pros and cons of paying extra for your wine? Just curious.

Thanks!

I decided on my trip last year that the slow pace was too slow and my next trips would be with Overseas Adventure Travel and in fact have 2 trips booked with OAT.

Barrheadlass, hope you have a great time on the trips you've booked with OAT! We have some (older) friends who did many trips with OAT and have just started doing GCT river cruises. They have loved them all. And some younger friends of ours just did several African safaris with OAT and have now booked a trip to the Galapagos and Machu Pichu with them for next summer.

I am guessing that I may welcome a moderate pace in the ports in that photography is one of my hobbies and I can usually find a subject of interest (to me) as I walk along. It might be a doorway, a sign over a shop, a window box of flowers (in nicer weather) or something more typical (famous building, statue, etc.).

Hope you enjoy your cruise!

Thanks for all the information! A general question about GCT: do they split you into groups based on your activity level?

When we chose GCT for our first river cruise (about a month from now), we knew that they don't split people into groups based on activity level. But we decided to go with GCT based on what we heard (from friends and online) about the quality of the tours and expertise of the program directors. This and the overall itinerary were our top priorities.

We just had a chance to visit with friends who took a GCT river cruise in France this summer and loved it. They were very impressed with their program director, the shore excursions, and the background info and discussions about the places they were visiting.

They were one of the youngest couples onboard and said that older travelers suggested they take an Overseas Adventure Travel trip next instead of another river cruise - thinking they would like a faster paced, more active trip. But they were very happy with the river cruise.

Looking forward to our trip!

Hard to believe that our trip starts in about 5 weeks! Looking forward to it but so much to do before we leave (including traveling to Brazil and back). In another thread about Outerwear, CPT Trips offered further input on this specific trip and I have copied the pertinent part of the post here.

There is a fair amount of free time for you to explore on your own. We did a number of things on our own and can share some ideas if you are interested. Finally, when in Belguim, never have the same beer twice. There are too many to try to limit yourself; if you are a beer geek, skip anything you have seen in one of your local stores.Enjoy!

CPT Trips that is a very kind offer! You clearly had a great time on this trip. I have just gone back to read your reviews of this trip, and it looks like your PD was Helene? We haven't heard anything about who our PD will be. Not sure whether we will hear ahead of time or not, since we aren't Inner Circle members. It also looks like you did some research before your trip and found some things you wanted to do on your own.

My husband is very much looking forward to sampling various beers. We had one night in Brussels in August on the way to Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso (as in the country in the news where there was recently a military coup that seems to have been peacefully resolved). We sampled some beer and chocolate while we were there. Definitely looking forward to our post-trip extension to Bruges! But we will also enjoy sampling wine on this trip and various food specialties.

I am guessing that we will go on most of the tours and also explore the towns a bit on our own. My husband and I are both interested in history - and DH's grandfather served in WWI and his father in WWII. I will be curious to see how often our path intersects with places they saw under very different circumstances! (I have yet to pull out a map and do a careful comparison.)

I have thought of a few questions after reading your reviews:

1) What did you most enjoy seeing or doing in Basel?

2) What did you think of the optional trip to Luxembourg? What did you do there beside visiting the two cemeteries? And was the trip there scenic?

3) I am also wondering what you thought of the home visit? I see many positive comments in the reviews.

4) Another question for anyone who has traveled along the Rhine and Mosel rivers is whether there is any food (or beverage) that you might recommend our buying to take home with us (that is allowed)? We are traveling home on Thanksgiving Day and postponing our family gathering until our return, so it might be nice to bring some special treat home.

Many thanks!

And that's why I shop online;) Look at Sierra Trading Post for options, and check their facebook page for current coupon offers (I usually keep a cart full, waiting for their 40% coupons to come out:o)

 

(I'm warm blooded - I do not travel with down unless the temps are going to consistently be below 15 F - I just don't need that degree of warmth - a cashmere sweater and a waterproof jacket & a warm scarf are usually enough for me, and if I need more warmth one night, I prefer to add a baselayer - silk, Uniqlo heattech etc- than to carry a bulky outerlayer that would be too warm for me most days. But everyone needs to know their own internal thermometers and compare that to the expected highs & lows of the destination....)

Thanks for the reminder to look at Sierra Trading Post in the future. I know that I will need warmer layers than DH to be comfortable walking around for long periods in chillier weather. The Thermoball (down alternative) looks like it will pack very nicely and take less room than a polartec fleece, for example. So we'll see. The Philadelphia area is getting a little cooler at night, making it easier to try on these clothes (than humid 80 degree weather!).

I am still planning to get silk baselayer as well.

Thank you for taking time to give further input!

That is a great trip Sapphire73, we did it in reverse in March '14.

CPT Trips, I will start a new thread about the GCT cruise on the Rhine and Mosel Rivers. Thanks.

You might want to check out sporting goods stores for a lightweight water/wind proof jacket.

Looked in 5 sporting goods stores but only found one option that might work. Will try it with the "down" jacket.

We use at least one roomy back back for our carry on. Then we take it with us on the daily tours, a good place for outerwear as we unlayer or to carry the waterproof layers and umbrellas "just in case."

Great idea to use a backpack for layers, umbrellas, etc.

Thank you for your input!

We are going on the GCT Romance of the Rhine and Mosel, starting in Basel on November 4th and doing the post-extension in Belgium - coming home on Thanksgiving Day. We went looking for some outerwear last weekend and I found a thermoball (lightweight down alternative since I am allergic to down) jacket that I like. But am still trying to figure out what jacket to wear over it.... The advice here is to make sure that I have a good waterproof and windproof jacket when traveling this time of year, right?

A key factor for me is to not feel so bundled that it is hard to take photos. I already have a microfiber jacket that would allow plenty of freedom of movement but it sounds like I will really want a windproof, waterproof (rather than water resistant) shell if traveling that time of year, right? I will take an umbrella that I can use if it is pouring rain....

My husband is all set as he found a waterproof jacket at Eddie Bauer with a down jacket that can be zipped into it or worn separately. And it has a life time warranty which is great!

Any other last minute tips for traveling along the Rhine and Mosel that time of year?

Many thanks!

Taking my first river this coming November - Budapest to Passau on Uniworld. Roz

Thank you for starting this thread. We are going on our first river cruise this November (Basel, Switzerland to Brussels, Belgium) and this is very helpful information. I have an allergy to down but will look at the other suggestions.

Many thanks to all who have taken the time to respond!