In a sense, the kind of imagery that I’m expecting to take for our upcoming 10 Days in Maldives is pretty narrow in range: semi-wide angle shots in good day light, portraiture of the kids while they play on the beaches, and as much underwater photography as the equipment can safely manage. Quite unlike our last couple of trips, where our family vacations would routinely have to mix up very wide scenery, portraiture, night or low light pictures, with animals or wildlife thrown in for good measure.
On the other hand, that a lot of time will be spent over, within or near the sea means I’d have to also be a little more careful about the equipment’s ability to withstand water and sand! The more portable items – like my Note 9 – should survive reasonably well since it’s already rated IP68 for water resistance, and I’m putting it into a waterproof case for added protection. But the Sony A73 and Canon G7X II are a different matter altogether. Both of the A73 lenses that’s coming along are weather sealed, but I’m not eager to put that to the test! Which means I’ll have to go out of my way to make sure they don’t dropped onto surfaces which would cause permanent damage.
In any case, the bunch of toys that are coming for this trip include:
Sony A73 with the always versatile and trustworthy Sony FE 24-105mm f4 for general photography. There’s an ongoing debate on the Sony A73 Facebook groups over the merits and superiority of the Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 vs Sony FE 24-105mm f4. But for me, the extra range on the long end during travel for the latter beats the superiority light-gathering capabilities of a f2.8 aperture.
Tamron 70-200mm f2.8.+ Sigma MC-11. P doesn’t really mind getting photographed when he’s at play, but H has of late been getting increasingly self-conscious! The long end will make possible shots of the two of them from sufficient stand-off distances. The FE 16-36mm f4.0 is staying home this time though: I doubt if there’ll be enough interesting scenery – wide vistas of the places we’re staying notwithstanding – to warrant having to bring that lens along. Depending on the amount of free space I’m left with after I start cramming all these equipment into my Thule backpack, I might bring along a prime – most likely the Sony FE 85mm f1.8 prime.
Canon G7X II. For casual and family wefie shots or when I need to be a bit more discrete in taking a photo.
GoPro 7 Black. The first of three new toys that’s coming on its first trip. This will be for underwater video-footage. It’d better be good – what with a feature list that’s as extensive as it can get at this point of advancement in consumer technology: highly stabilized 4K video footage, and capable of submersion to 10m depths.
Olympus TG-5. The second new toy: primarily for stills underwater and as a backup device for underwater videos. Capable also of 4K stabilized video, though from the first test shots I’ve done, the video isn’t as pristine nor sharp as the GoPro’s.
Insta360 One X. The third toy, and for 360 photos and videos. I doubt we’ll be coming to the Maldives any time soon again after this trip – what with the bunch of places we’ve lined up for the next few years, including returning visits to Japan, Sydney, a cruise, an African Safari, and – at least when Trump is no longer president haha – a visit to the US to visit our Ang Mo bud from the end of 2020. So, this trip will be my one opportunity to get fun shots in that I won’t be able to do again for several years.
Recent comments