Camera Labs

So a question for you guys:

What photography kit would you take on a multi day white water rafting trip?

I'm likely to be going to Nepal kayaking in October and one of the river trips will be the Sun Kosi, an 8 day journey on big grade 4 water camping on white sandy beaches.

There are a lot of issues including water, sand, battery life and card space. There is also not a lot of room and accessing anything packed on the raft is nigh on impossible apart from at the beginning and end of the day.

Dry bags have proven untrustworthy, the only thing I would trust expensive camera kit to is a Pelicase. The 1200 size will fit in the back of my kayak and a 550D body (or similar) + lens will fit in it (7D's are too tall).

Kit in the pelicase would be accessible to me easily all day so would need to be suitable for rafting/kayaking shots.

There would be some very limited space on a raft for nicities for eveninghs, nights and mornings (tripod, flash and lens maybe)

I also have a Pentax waterproof compact that is great for my B'Aid pocket

So, what would you pack? Devil is in the detail I think

Ian

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Canon EOS 550D (with Magic Lantern)
18mm - 135mm Kit Lens, 50mm f1.8, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM
430EX II Flash with Phottix Strato Wireless Tigger Set
Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 with 496 Ball Head. Gorilla Pod SLR
Canon Powershot A720IS with CHDK and intervalometer script. Pentax Optio W90

My Blog - http://www.ianganderton.wordpress.com

I put the 7D in a waterproof bag and pack it into the compartment on the sit-on kayak. But then its as stable as a barge.
I only ever took a P&S on multi day kayak trips and I haven`t done any of those for a while. But this was on relative small white water kayaks.

The Pelican case sounds like a good solution. Flash and Tripod seem a bit over the top, unless you have room, just improvise .

How good is the Pentax IQ wise?

I am picturing that during the the rafting trip, its mainly a quick action shot, happy snap and landscape photos. I question whether there is time and sufficient drifting time to make it worthwhile getting the DSLR out to take photos. Considering limited space in pelican case (and do you have a big zoom) is there going to be that much more benefit taking a DSLR over a P&S. Consider risk of loosing, damaging gear etc.

I guess I would be taking my Powershot S95 with spare battery and the little gorilla tripod and leave the DSLR behind.

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Canon Powershot S95, Canon 7D, 15-85, Canon 85 1.8 USM, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L IS Macro, Canon 70-300L IS USM+Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic

Maxjj- I certainly wouldnt recommend anyone to put a 7D in a drybag and in the bottom of a sit on top. I work for a distributer of both products and have worked in the outdoors all my working life. Neither are waterproof.

Secondly sit on top kayaks arent suitable for this kind of kayaking

It was as a result of a kayak trip to Nepal this April that I decided that the Pentax wasnt up to the job, zoom doesn't get in close enough and pictures have a lot of noticeable noise. I brought my 550D for exactly this kind of photography

When kayaking and rafting most shots are taken from the bank. Harder rapids tend to need inspecting and this is always a good photo opportunity.

Evenings spent on beaches are also full of great potential images.

Here are some shots from the April trip


Some kids and myself at the get in for the Kali Gandaki
Model PENTAX Optio W90
ISO 80
Exposure 1/400 sec
Aperture 4.2
Focal Length 5mm


Mr Yeti on the Kali Gandaki
Model PENTAX Optio W90
ISO 80
Exposure 1/320 sec
Aperture 4.2
Focal Length 8mm


Me on the Kali Gandaki
Model PENTAX Optio W90
ISO 80
Exposure 1/250 sec
Aperture 4.8
Focal Length 14mm


Terraced hillside fields above the Kali Gandaki
Model PENTAX Optio W90
ISO 200
Exposure 1/250 sec
Aperture 5.5
Focal Length 25mm


Traditional Puppet in Durbar Square
Model PENTAX Optio W90
ISO 160
Exposure 1/50 sec
Aperture 3.5
Focal Length 5mm


Tibetan Monetary in Bodanath, Kathmandu
Model PENTAX Optio W90
ISO 80
Exposure 1/500 sec
Aperture 4.2
Focal Length 5mm

Lots more photos HERE. An article on the trip was published along with photos in the June 2011 issue of Outdoor UAE. A link to a copy of it can be found HERE

As a camera to have on you all the time no matter what the environmental conditions the Pentax W10 does ok. Its proving robust enough to cope with life in a PFD pocket. It NEEDS bright light though and the flash always seems to pick up dust making photos taken outside at night useless.

I had an Olympus Tough for a while and it was crap. You can read an honest comparison review on my blog here

So back to the subject in hand, these are my thoughts at the moment for my kayaking / rafting / traveling camera kit:

Pentax W90

Pelicase 1200
in the Pelicase:
Canon 550D with 18 to 135 Lens and 16Gb Fast SD Card
Spare battery (x2)
Spare SD cards (2 x 16Gb)

In with dry bag in clothes dry bag or maybe in a another, smaller, pelicase
50mm f1.8 (or f1.4 (tbc)
Gorilla Pod SLR
Travel battery charger (mains and 12V) for Canon and Pentax
Ipod and lavalier mic (for recording sound for video blogging)

I'm pondering the following:
My Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 with 496 Ball Head
A flash unit
I have a Silva Solar II that I've used very successfully for charging a video camera on a 3 week wilderness open canoe trip in Canada's Northern Territories

Any comments on the above? Is there a better lens for keeping on the camera in the pelicase?

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Canon EOS 550D (with Magic Lantern)
18mm - 135mm Kit Lens, 50mm f1.8, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM
430EX II Flash with Phottix Strato Wireless Tigger Set
Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 with 496 Ball Head. Gorilla Pod SLR
Canon Powershot A720IS with CHDK and intervalometer script. Pentax Optio W90

My Blog - http://www.ianganderton.wordpress.com

Don`t worry the camera stays dry enough. I just take the sit-on to local lakes for a bit of a exercise and exploring.

cool pics, I can see why you want to take more gear.


I came across this site a while ago, makes for an interesting read
http://www.garyluhm.net/home.html

see his tips http://www.garyluhm.net/bio/tips.htm

and expedition gear

http://www.garyluhm.net/bio/tips_0311.html

http://www.garyluhm.net/bio/tips_0211.html

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Canon Powershot S95, Canon 7D, 15-85, Canon 85 1.8 USM, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L IS Macro, Canon 70-300L IS USM+Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic

Maxjj- good find, interesting site and some great photography tips.

Sea kayakers have the luxury of being able to carry more weight in the boat than a white water kayak. Their boats are designed for load hauling long distances in the first place. A white water kayak is a lot more sensitive to weight and has a lot less space. An indication of this is shown when you look at the length of my sea kayak at about 5 meters and my white water kayak at 2!!!

For the April trip we had with us just our kayaking clothing / equipment, a set of shorts / t shirt / fleece for wearing off the water, a sleeping bag, bivi bag and mat. This lasted up for about 14 days of the 16 we were in country. We carried no stove either packing food that didn't need cooking or eating at local tea houses along the way. Any camera kit has to also be pared down to the bear essentials.

I can justify a 1200 pelicase for in the boat as a maximum + a few extra nicities to go on the rafts of supported trips.

_________________
Canon EOS 550D (with Magic Lantern)
18mm - 135mm Kit Lens, 50mm f1.8, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM
430EX II Flash with Phottix Strato Wireless Tigger Set
Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 with 496 Ball Head. Gorilla Pod SLR
Canon Powershot A720IS with CHDK and intervalometer script. Pentax Optio W90

My Blog - http://www.ianganderton.wordpress.com