> I tell them to take the money they'd spend for a new camera and buy a > plane ticket to Tibet instead. Sell everything but whatever camera > they have now and one lens, then spend two months taking 10,000 photos > with it. When they get home, they'll either know exactly what camera > they should buy or they'll realize they don't need a new camera at > all. > > Few take me up on my advice. ;-)
Hmm. When I first decided to go to Ethiopia I had an MX and maybe 2 lenses. I decided I needed a back-up body so I bought a Super-A. Then I decided I needed some back-up lenses, which meant having to have several primes to cover the range of my lenses. All this kit needed a secure case which would go on top of a bus, so I had to have a Pelican case. Of course it would be ludicrous not to take a tripod too, so I had to buy one of those. My original idea had been to go scuba-diving when I was there, but I was lucky enough to learn before I bought all the underwater equipment that Ethiopia has no coast. The experiences of that first trip convinced me for the second one that I needed more robust equipment, and the main and back-up cameras should be the same. So I had to buy 2 LXs. Obviously that meant I needed several focusing screens and prism heads, just in case, as well as better quality lenses than I had before - such as the A* 85mm and 135mm. And because I might see some wildlife I needed a 400mm lens and teleconverter. Somewhere in between time I joined the PDML, which did nothing to restrain me. B -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.

