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Travelers are faced with the difficult choice of what photographic equipment to bring with them on their upcoming trips. The choice is made even tougher by the recent proliferation of digital cameras and accessories. Greg Kinch, a New York-based photographer who specializes in “real life / real light” photography and has traveled extensively throughout Asia, Europe, North and South America documenting lives and lifestyles, recommends packing a compact, lightweight digital camera.

“When you go on vacation you’ve got to remember it’s a vacation,” says Kinch. “People bring heavy equipment, including extra lenses, and they can’t carry it all around with them. So they leave it at the hotel and end up missing all their photo opportunities.”

A camera like the new Olympus D-40 Zoom is small and light, yet has the power ― 4.0 megapixel that allows for optimum image enlargement, optical and digital zoom, QuickTime movie mode ― to capture strikingly realistic images.


“The best thing about digital is the instant feedback: you can see the images as you take them,” says Kinch. “That means you can erase the images you don’t need and go home only with the ones you want. No waiting for film to be developed to find out if a shot was underexposed.”

The ability to experiment without wasting film is one of the key advantages of digital, allowing photographers to try things like shooting with an extremely slow shutter speed in low light or to blur a moving subject.

A compact, fit-in-your-pocket, camera will allow you to take pictures unobtrusively and not look like the typical tourist.

There are other advantages to taking a digital camera with you: it won’t be affected by the airport X-Ray machine the way film can. You can also e-mail pictures to other travelers or locals you meet and want to keep in touch with, as well as to friends and relatives, which saves postcard-writing time.

You can even copy yourself on the e-mail as a form of insurance in case you happen to misplace the camera. This way you’ll still have the images when you get home.

“The two most important things to consider when shooting digitally are storage and power,” says Kinch. While the number of images that fit on a memory card varies, shooting in best-quality modes like TIFF or SHQ significantly reduces the number of images that will fit. The photographer recommends investing in a set of rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries with a quick charger, and in SmartMedia cards or a storage device like the Digital Wallet. “Carrying an extra set of batteries and an extra card in your pocket is critical,” he says. “Remember, you can conserve power by turning off the LCD display and using the viewfinder.”

Batteries tend to shut down in extreme temperatures, so it is important to avoid getting them very cold or very hot. Humidity, which can produce condensation on the lens, is another problem. “If you’re going from an air-conditioned hotel room into the humid tropical air, put your camera in a Ziploc bag and let it come up to air temperature,” advises the photographer. “This way the condensation will be on the bag, not on the lens.”

Check out the D-40, plus a growing line of great new digital cameras at www.olympusamerica.com

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