En Route to Trincomalee, Sri Lanka. Arrive on 23-Mar.

So, it’s finally time to describe the picture-taking equipment I brought with me.

Mobile Phone

I’ve already talked about my cell phone, a 2015 Motorola Nexus 6 with a 13-megapixel rear facing camera. I’ve used this camera far more than I thought I would, but it is easier to carry and I don’t like hiking with a camera hanging around my neck.

On the other hand, it was so hot in Cambodia that the phone kept rebooting if I pushed it too hard – running too many apps while taking pictures. A big hint of a coming reset was artifacts running across the screen. I’ll probably buy a new mid-level phone when I get home.

But for just posting pictures across the internet, the Nexus has performed well.

Camera

My last major picture-taking vacation was a two-week safari in Kenya – in 2006. With 13 years of memory size and speed technology changes, I knew I needed to upgrade at least my DSLR main body.

I decided on the Canon EOS 80D, which is a major upgrade from my 2006 Canon Rebel XT. It was not on my care-about list, but the 80D can take video as well. If I was serious about video (and I am not), there are microphone attachments you can add to the camera to improve the sound quality.

The 80D is a little more camera than I know how to use, so I typically only use “scene” modes: Landscape, Portrait and Sport. I felt a little embarrassed about that until cruise speaker Steve McCurry, professional photographer, said he only sets ISO and lets the camera determine everything else. I can live with that.

Lenses

I mostly use the Canon EF 24-70mm zoom lens, F/4L with image stabilization. I have a UV filter on the front to protect the glass. This is my base lens, meaning that I need a reason to change it.

When I need to reach out, I have the Canon EF 70-300mm F/4-5.6L with image stabilization.

This lens is really for the safari I have scheduled in South Africa in April. I mount a polarization filter on the front.

In Kenya I had a 1.4x extender for use when the animals were really out there. I was disappointed to learn that my 2006 extender did not work with my new lenses. In typical fashion I did not find this out until too late, so I sailed without. I found a third-party (Kenko) 2x extender in Hong Kong, but the camera auto-focus does not work with it attached. So, I will only use it when I have to.

An additional issue is when changing lenses in the field you have to be careful about dust entering the camera. On safari I covered myself with a towel when I needed to change lenses.

Memory

I have four 128 GB cards, which is far too much. In 2006 I frequently filled my memory cards (4GB?) in a single day, so transferred them to an external hard drive – I did not have a lap top so I have no idea if the image were any good. I had to wait until returning home two weeks later to see if any of the pictures came out.

But now with 128 GB I did not half fill a card in two months. I take raw images, full-size JPEG and the occasional video. The 2TB external hard drive I brought with me in addition to my lap top is very overkill.

Software

For basic image editing there is paint.net, a free program that I use mostly from cropping. With my blog I think 600px wide image look best.

I signed up for a year of Adobe “Creative Cloud” services before the cruise, so if I need more image editing power I use Lightroom, which is very good at cleaning up photographs.

Backpack

I bought a big camera backpack in Tokyo. It lets me keep all the camera gear in the top of the pack and leave the bottom for rain gear or stuff I buy while being a tourist. It’s a bit cumbersome, but I prefer it to carrying a camera around my neck. The pack has zipper access from four directions, so you don’t have to dig thru other things to find what you want.

When flying I use the backpack as my carry-on bag, so I also pack my laptop then. I’m not going to check my computer or camera gear as airline luggage. The bag gets a little heavy with the lap top, power brick and mouse.