Earlier in the month, I announced that I would be travelling and that I had taken the decision to leave my full frame camera at home, with the preference for a Nikon point and shoot. Having returned from my trip I wanted to share my results. The dilemma I had was not which camera was more suited for the location, but which would ensure that my family did not become slaves to my photo set up and that the holiday could run smoothly.
The trip itself passed with little incident and was everything that we had planned, with the exception of a cancelled flight and an extra 36 hours in Hawaii. Not a bad place to be stranded, I hear you say. That really is another story however. The point and shoot, acquitted itself with aplomb in the majority of areas. Notably, it was able to put itself into positions I would never take a 5D. Such as a rough sailing trip or a sea kayak. Being able to capture a whale breaching or a turtle surfacing alongside the kayak is something I would have had to consign to my memory without my preferred camera choice in tow. ”take two cameras I hear you say”. But that wasn’t the point. The purpose of this was to enjoy the holiday without it becoming a busman’s holiday. Sure, I missed some shots that I would have loved to have captured and with the light that I would have wanted, but the street set I was able to capture in Santa Monica was ideal for the Nikon. The shot I have chosen was taken out on the water from sea Kayak and is of a trimaran canoe off the coast of Kihei, Maui. I would never have been able to capture this shot with my 5D and therefore, this wins hands down for accessibility if nothing else.
So would I take it again for my next trip? Absolutely, however only as a back up to my 5D which will be hard at work within the Bryce and Zion National parks of Utah in June, allowing me to reach the flooded slot canyons of Lake Powell later in the trip. So my summary; yes it made me study my composition, the light and take fewer exposures of the same shot to obtain the look I craved, but for those important shots, there is no match for a DSLR and a prime lens. I’m not sure my family would agree however :)