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<h2>Equipment - Camera</h2>

<h6>Camera Gear</h6>

<ul>
    <li>Canon 20D dSLR</li>
    <li>Canon 300D dSLR</li>
    <li>Canon EF-S 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM lens</li>
    <li>Canon EF 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 DO IS USM lens</li>
    <li>Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM lens (Africa only)</li>
    <li>Canon 380EX flash</li>
    <li>Canon SD300 compact</li>
</ul> 


<p>I have been shooting with Canon gear for many years and for this trip I decided quite some time ago to go digital. I started out with the Canon 10D at the beginning of 2004 and have since upgraded to the Canon 20D. I have been exceedingly happy with the 20D! For Africa I also have the 300D as a backup body. Even more important than having it as a backup body though, is not having to switch lenses. I have the 17-85mm on the 300D and the 100-400mm on the 20D. Dust and CMOS sensors are not really friends and switching lenses often starts to become a real problem. I have not been too impressed with the 300D, but then again I am using the 20D as a benchmark. The 300D is much slower (turn on time, focusing, fps, writing to flash) and lacks a number of the user controls and features that I regularly use on the 20D. Having said that, it does make for a decent second camera. Ideally I would like to replace the 300D with another 20D or even with the new 5D.</p>

<p>The lens selection was difficult. I would love to be shooting with only L-series glass, but for travel purposes the extra size and weight as well as their conspicuous colour was not suitable for all of our travels. I have therefor selected the new EFS 17-85mm lens and the new 70-300mm DO lens. This lens combination gives me the best range, weight and size combination. For the Africa portion of the trip, as we have a vehicle, the 100-400mm lens is definitely a better choice and has temporarily been added to the kit. Having said that, I have taken some terrific shots with the 70-300mm DO lens and have generally been very happy with its performance. The extra 100mm on the L-series lens does not buy you significantly more reach.</p>

<p>I have given a lot of consideration to take video as well, but have opted not to take a digital video camera on this trip. It is quite possible that I might change my mind somewhere along the way. However, I am taking a small point and shoot Canon. The SD300, a 4MP camera that slips into a pocket with ease and can be used for those candid moments or in situations where you really do not want to haul out the DSLR. The picture quality is surprisingly good for the camera size. The other key benefit of this little camera is that it takes decent VGA (640x480) video clips. Not a replacement for a video camera, but you can definitely capture short clips. The camera allows you to record until the memory card is full. At 640x480 and 30fps on a 1GB card you can record about eight minutes of video.</p>

<div align=center>
<a href="#" onclick="return popup_image('/gfx/equipment/camera/canon_eos_20d_angle_17-85.jpg', 523, 469)"><img src="/gfx/equipment/camera/canon_eos_20d_angle_17-85-thumb.jpg" alt="Canon 20D"></a>

<a href="#" onclick="return popup_image('/gfx/equipment/cameracanon_eos_300d.jpg', 510, 510)"><img src="/gfx/equipment/camera/canon_eos_300d-thumb.jpg" alt="Canon 300D"></a>

<a href="#" onclick="return popup_image('/gfx/equipment/camera/canon_sd300.jpg', 505, 369)"><img src="/gfx/equipment/camera/canon_sd300-thumb.jpg" alt="Canon SD300"></a>

<a href="#" onclick="return popup_image('/gfx/equipment/camera/canon_efs17-85.jpg', 520, 382)"><img src="/gfx/equipment/camera/canon_efs17-85-thumb.jpg" alt="Canon 17-85mm"></a>

<a href="#" onclick="return popup_image('/gfx/equipment/camera/canon_ef70-300mm.jpg', 500, 380)"><img src="/gfx/equipment/camera/canon_ef70-300mm-thumb.jpg" alt="Canon 70-300mm"></a>

<a href="#" onclick="return popup_image('/gfx/equipment/camera/canon_ef100-400mm.jpg', 510, 274)"><img src="/gfx/equipment/camera/canon_ef100-400mm-thumb.jpg" alt="Canon 100-400mm"></a>

<a href="#" onclick="return popup_image('/gfx/equipment/camera/canon_380ex.jpg', 266, 270)"><img src="/gfx/equipment/camera/canon_380ex-thumb.jpg" alt="Canon 380EX"></a>

<a href="#" onclick="return popup_image('/gfx/equipment/camera/manfrotto-190clb.jpg', 246, 390)"><img src="/gfx/equipment/camera/manfrotto-190clb-thumb.jpg" alt="Manfrotto 190CLB"></a>

<a href="#" onclick="return popup_image('/gfx/equipment/camera/manfrotto-308RC.jpg', 252, 248)"><img src="/gfx/equipment/camera/manfrotto-308RC-thumb.jpg" alt="Manfrotto 308RC"></a>
</div>


<br>
<br>
<h6>Camera Accessories</h6>

<ul>
    <li>Camera Bag - Lowepro Nova 2 (for the 300D w/lens but can contain my entire backpack travelling equipment)</li>
    <li>Camera Bag - Case Logic (for 20D w/lens, flash and SD300)
    <li>Tripod - Manfrotto 190CLB with ProBall 308RC (Africa only)</li>
    <li>Travel Tripod - Slik Compact (rest of trip)</li>
    <li>Filters - Hoya HMC 67mm UV & Sunpak 58mm UV</li>
    <li>Filters - Hoya 67mm circular polarizer</li>
    <li>Compact Flash - SanDisk 1.0GB Extreme, SanDisk 1.0GB ultra II, Shika 512MB</li>
    <li>Secure Digital Flash - SanDisk 1.0GB, Lexar 256MB</li>
    <li>Card Reader - Lexar Media USB 2.0 multi-card reader</li>
    <li>Batteries - Canon BP-511A (x5), Canon NB-4L (x1)
    <li>Chargers - Canon chargers for Canon 20D and Canon SD300</li>
</ul> 

<br>
<p><IMG SRC="/gfx/misc/100.gif" WIDTH=14 HEIGHT=14 ALIGN=bottom alt="arrow"> For an updated camera equipment list, please go to my <a href="http://www.golivelife.com/photography/">photography page</a>.