Thread: Help me choose my 'cruise' kit.

In just over 3 weeks time wife and I will embark on a 6 week ocean cruise. We have to fly from Perth to Sydney and the cruise is based around China, Korea and Japan with various other stops along the way to and from Sydney. Approximately 14 days of the 6 weeks will involve various day excursions with the rest of the time at sea. The day excursions will mostly be the 'tour bus' style with relatively limited photo ops. I'm mainly interested in landscape/architecture/local colour.

My gear consists of:
Pany GH2 with 7.5mm FE, 9-18mm UWA, 14-45mm, 14-140mm.
Fuji X-S1 with a 24-624mm zoom lens.
Fuji X100 with fixed 35mm lens.
Ricoh GRD III with fixed 28mm lens.
Canon G5 IR converted - will leave home.

I want to take 2 cameras - a zoom and a fixed lens - and all combinations have some appeal.

Your comments as well as a vote will help me as I keep changing my mind.

Bill I just voted for one manufacturer (Fuji).
Bridgecamera plus semi prof camera.

I recently went to Taiwan and Hong Kong on the same sort of deal.
I had the Olympus EPM1 and two lens. THere really wasnt much time for photography shots.
I found most of the time I was using my 14mm prime lens. Thats was the best in my situation.
I think the 14 to 140 mm lens would be very handy.

My vote goes with the Fujis as well. You have everything covered and don't need to carry around any extra lenses.

Hi Bill,
last year we did the "Dawn Princess" cruise around Australia. I used my G1 and 45-200 lens the most onboard. But on shore I used the GF-1 and 20mm lens the most. This combo was also perfect for candids on board. We are going to Spain in October, and I'm just like you and considering what gear to take and what gear to leave behind. I think the GF-1 and a 14mm prime would be a really good combo. I look forward to hearing more about your choice and also your trip.
Cheers
DUD

Fuji XS-1, you will want that zoom for when you get close to shore and for anything you want reach with. Whatever you feel comfortable with as a backup.

A cruise will likely (hopefully!) have a lot of bright sun in the sky and water and some tricky combinations of light and shade on deck. based on that I'd go for the X100 and the GH2 for their better dynamic range as well as what should be overall better IQ. I gather that there is not a large difference in the size of the XS-1 and the GH2/14-140mm anyway.

I'd take the GH2 + 14-140, and the X100. Best IQ, very good zoom range.

Hi Bill,
I'm contemplating purchasing a Panasonic DMC-LX7 for my cruise and tour of Spain. This camera has just been released and would suit carrying on shore trips and tours. It has a 24-90mm zoom (full frame comparison) and a maximum apeture of f1.4 at wide and 2.3 at tele. This type of f stop would suit low light shooting such inside buildings. It would be so light and handy. I'm thinking of selling my GF1 and 20mm f1.7 lens to fund this purchase. What have you decided?
Cheers
DUD

I vote for the Fujis as well. No messy extra lenses to cart around. I think your main camera would probably be the XS1 while on board the ship looking at the shoreline, followed by "street photography" on the decks with the X100. Carry lots of extra batteries and a stack of sd cards. The only concern I would have is about weather-sealing. Of which there is none on any of the cameras.