Traveling to Developing countries?

[MichaelJ1987]

G'day all, Im traveling to Vietnam Hoi Chi Minh (Saigon) and was wondering if anyone has any tips for equipment, places and things to look out for. Ive never been overseas and Im a little worried about the security of my nice new DSLR camera while Im over there. The camera came with a bag but it kinda lets everyone know Ive carrying a fairly expensive camera, any suggestions for a more inconspicuous bag will be great. Also Ive got a full size tripod, 10gb worth of SDHC cards and a 18-55mm VR nikon lense any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

Read back issues of photography magazines at your local library.

Usually they feature a trip each issue. You may just find one on Saigon. These features usually show you nice pics, suggest when and how to get similar. For interest they usually detail the trip telling you what happened and any special considerations.

Leave the tripod home. You'll look and be able to move like an ordinary tourist then. Realistically how much low light stuff are you going to do. Do you want to be in remote areas at dusk to get a special sunset shot? Would any after dark stuff you do be any different in Saigon as back home where you are familiar with being out and about at that time?

A DSLR in a discrete bag doesn't look too much different to any other tourist, it's the tripod that'd stand out.

Just my $0.02

[Rooz]

michael, i know when i last travelled to asia the 3 things i missed most:
1. a wide angle lens for the stunning landscapes
2. a longish fast prime like the 85/1.8 to be able to take street shots but isolate my subject from busy backgrounds.
3. a nikon cos i was shooting canon at the time. lol

asia has something interesting ever turn you make. trust me you wont want for intersting subject matter.

[T06]

Welcome Michael, you've come to a really down to earth site that is good for some useful advice & we excell at using credit cards too.:D Mate what already has been said. You've got a VR lens so don't worry about the tripod, if you do find you need one you'll pick one up dirt cheap somewhere but like stated it is a dead giveaway. Set forth, take pictures, come back & post them here, thats an order.;):)

[MichaelJ1987]

thanks guys you've all been a great help

[MichaelJ1987]

thanks for the great advice guys

[Rhys]

Don't forget you can hire a burly local to look after you for very little cash.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

One last thing, you'll usually be able to find a store/cafe/photo shop to download your memory cards to CD/DVD.

check the disks before you delete anything from your cards. Probably buy/use multiple disks for each image.

When you get home make sure you're virus checkers working before loading the disks.

My brother brought back some beaut virus' (fortunately of the computer kind)from his recent trip:(

[tim11]

You should buy a plain looking backpack that can store the camera body and a few lenses. This way no curious opportunists will notice your expensive camera bag.
I suggest you get a good card reader if you haven't thought of it, so you can leave the USB cable and software cd at home. Very likely, you will need a power adaptor too and I don't think it will very hard to find one in the markets in Saigon.

[MichaelJ1987]

thanks for the great input guys, keep those ideas coming

[FlashX83]

As for a bag, the Think Tank Urban Disguise (http://www.thinktankphoto.com/ttp_product_UrbnDsgs.php) line and the LowePro Stealth Reporter (http://products.lowepro.com/product/Stealth-Reporter%20D200%20AW,2045.htm) line are both well regarded as good bags that don't scream STEAL ME and come in several sizes to fit how much gear you have.

[moneypenny02]

If you want a shoulder bag, I really like the crumpler bags--like the 5 million dollar home bag (or larger depending on what you want to carry). When I traveled I just had that bag with my wallet & phone stuffed inside & that shoulder bag--that looked like a normal book-bag--slung over my shoulder. (plus as a girl, its just more my style than a backpack) ;-)

[@dam]

Greetings from Chile. This is my 16th country on an around the world trip. Most places I´ve visited would qualify as "developing". I use a Crumpler 5 million dollar home bag. It doesn´t look like a camera bag...more like a messenger bag, so that helps. On the rare occasion that I leave the room without my camera gear, the camera stays in a pacsafe. Other than that...just keep your wits about you...don´t look like a target. Also, NEVER let your bag out of your site and, preferably, grip. When I sit down, i usually wrap the camera bag strap around my leg, or set it on the table right in front of me if it seems like a safe place (just don´t so much as turn your head without putting a hand on the bag though). Oh yeah...get a rider on your home owners insurance and or make sure your travelers insurance covers the full value of your gear.

Unless you´re doing a lot of low light photography, you won´t need the tripod much. It´ll just be a big advertisement that you have expensive gear most of the time.

Check out the shots from my trip on my website and let me know what you think.

www.adamandshawn.com
www.flickr.com/adamandshawn

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

@dam

Great site, photos and background story to you trip.

I don't understand your motivation for putting your trip on the web since there's no advertising or anything but I'm glad you do it. It's nice for me to travel (& live) vicariously.

[Ken.]

First, I'd say insure the entire kit for theft and damage. Along with the "big kit" take a small, inconspicuous camera. Preferably one that takes AA batteries in case you and your charger part company but I'd go with one with long zoom over AA's given the choice. Sandisk makes a tiny MobileMate card reader that plugs directly into a USB port. Most likely you'll be shooting JPEG and you will find internet access somewhere, so upload (some of) the images to Picasa. Picasa will take full sized uploads and you can buy extra space. (Picasa will convert RAW on upload.) If there's any chance of dampness or high humidity get silica gel packs. I use lens wraps to protect the cameras. Once wrapped, they can be tossed in anything. But I'd definitely insure the kit. It's surprisingly inexpensive.

[@dam]

@dam

Great site, photos and background story to you trip.

I don't understand your motivation for putting your trip on the web since there's no advertising or anything but I'm glad you do it. It's nice for me to travel (& live) vicariously.

I thought about doing adds...but I'm not sure how to do it. Suggestions?

The primary motivations, however, were...
1) Keep in touch with friends and family without spamming the inbox of everyone we know. We do this instead of postcards.
2) Give ourselves a project...I'm learning a little about keeping a website going...writing...photo editing, etc. It keeps the mind going a bit. That way we're not total bums :)
3) Forces us to make occasional journal entries, that are safely backed up.
4) Provide a source of information for people who are considering their own 'round the world trip

Still...we always check our blog stats, and it is always motivating to know people are not only checking it out, but enjoying it and returning. We should cross over about 7000 hits soon :)

[Rooz]

Greetings from Chile. This is my 16th country on an around the world trip. Most places I´ve visited would qualify as "developing". I use a Crumpler 5 million dollar home bag. It doesn´t look like a camera bag...more like a messenger bag, so that helps. On the rare occasion that I leave the room without my camera gear, the camera stays in a pacsafe. Other than that...just keep your wits about you...don´t look like a target. Also, NEVER let your bag out of your site and, preferably, grip. When I sit down, i usually wrap the camera bag strap around my leg, or set it on the table right in front of me if it seems like a safe place (just don´t so much as turn your head without putting a hand on the bag though). Oh yeah...get a rider on your home owners insurance and or make sure your travelers insurance covers the full value of your gear.

Unless you´re doing a lot of low light photography, you won´t need the tripod much. It´ll just be a big advertisement that you have expensive gear most of the time.

Check out the shots from my trip on my website and let me know what you think.

www.adamandshawn.com (http://www.adamandshawn.com)
www.flickr.com/adamandshawn (http://www.flickr.com/adamandshawn)

some great galleries there. thanks for sharing. :)