I will agree with Sam that the ‘geeky’ discussions are more interesting to me than “should I take a sport jacket”, “what kind of shoes should I wear” etc. These do have a place for the novice Tauck travelers, but I won’t have anything to contribute to those discussions. Discussions about travel photography, connecting to river boat Wi-Fi, cell phone coverage overseas, forum software bugs and tricks etc. are more of interest to me. I do read all the posts however, unless I get too far behind.
Using my iPhone Pro and ditching the DSLR for the Morocco trip was liberating! I carried a small power bank that I never needed to use.
I will only carry the bulky DSLR camera for safari type tours. The iPhone photos were just fine...again, I'm not planning to enter any photos in a contest
We are going to Morocco soon. I’m guessing there will be blowing sand in some places so not a good place for a big camera. I had one ruined by sand even though it was in a plastic bag, sand got into the mechanism and the lens would not close.
My photos certainly aren't in the quality category that some aim for (and that I admire) but I do need them to be of good quality. Beyond just enjoying them for the memories we usually do photo Christmas cards and I need the quality to be good enough to reprint well. We have Samsung phones and my husband is much more knowledgeable in using it's features.
I do print my photos, I know - I'm an albatross - but it gives me joy to put together an album and I do heavy editing in my pictures, very rarely of me because I really don't like my picture taken, I have a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and it takes great pictures and has the availability of removing unwanted people or items form the picture.
We are leaving for the Tauck Mountain Gorilla Safari: Kenya, Tanzania & Rwanda on July 9th. I have a new iPhone 16 Pro Max that I was planning to use to take the majority of my photos. Frankly, I have been taking all my travel photos with my iPhone for the past 10 years or so, and they come out just fine. However, because the safari may involve more long distance photography of animals, I am wrestling with whether I should also take my 12 year old Canon Rebel SL1 with a 70-300mm image stabilized telephoto zoom lens. The SL1 has an 18mp sensor. I did a test photo with the iPhone using the 25x digital zoom, and compared it with a photo taken with the DSLR. It was hard to see a big difference. The problem with having two cameras is I will waste more time juggling between the two cameras, and I may end up missing out on just the pure pleasure of seeing what is happening around me. And the extra weight of the DSLR and telephoto lens is a potential problem. I turn 80 years old on this trip, and it is not as much fun lugging around a lot of extra weight. I will probably try to use the 48mp setting on my iPhone. I have 1TB of memory on my iPhone, with 943 GB available. I assume that will be more than enough for shooting at the higher 48mp setting. Should I leave the DSLR at home and avoid the hassle of lugging it and a telephoto lens? I usually put together a video with iMovie for the family with the photos and video I shoot on our travels. All the discussions on this thread seem to confirm for me that my iPhone 16 Pro Max will probably do a great job. Any thoughts? We love travel. I have been retired now for 25 years, and we have visited all seven continents and about 100 countries. Hope to continue to travel so long as we remain in good health.
I can’t help with your question but just wanted to wholeheartedly agree with your comment about missing out on what might be going on around you. My first husband was an avid amateur photographer who, after many years, finally realized he was missing out on life by constantly peering through a camera lens.
For my purposes, my iPhone works just fine. I seldomly take pictures, however. I will be upgrading this month to the basic 16, and that is probably more than I really need.
Have a wonderful journey and please report back afterwards.
We took the gorilla trip back in 2019. I have no idea what my iPhone number was then, possibly an iPhone 7. When it came to the gorilla trek, we both took cameras and iPhones and switched between both. You can’t tell the difference when you look at the photos. The iPhone photos are so much easier to instantly share too. The gorillas are so near that you certainly don’t need a big camera. When you’ve had baby gorillas wrestle and rolling over your feet, they are too near, no one told them to keep the distance we are supposed to keep😂
We always put our iPhones on lanyards, We think they are essential when on safari for a jostling vehicle or taking pictures leaning out of a vehicle or over a ledge or through bars. I have a clear picture of my husband with the type of lanyard we use now, it’s adjustable in length and comes in many colors, I’ll post it at the end. Everyone on our tour wanted to know where we got them from. No one on the tour had a big camera, This is becoming an increasing situation, no big cameras by almost everyone on tours.
On the reamainder of the K and T, the only time we feel a large camera is good, is when you spot leopards which more often than not are up a tree. Most always other animals can be right next to your vehicle, and certainly leopards too, near enough to reach out and touch in our experience.Our safari last year,, I only took my phone, my husband took a big camera. maybe next trip, just phones. We don’t take
our big cameras on any other trip now and it feels liberating.
Thanks for reply about using your iPhone for safari photos. I'm way ahead of you on using a lanyard for my iPhone when traveling. I've been using a case with a lanyard for many years now. When I first started using a lanyard, it was hard to find a case for the iPhone X I was then using that accommodated a lanyard, but now you can find many options on Amazon for newer iPhones. I just recently purchased a new case for the iPhone 16 Pro Max I currently own. Here is a photo of me with my new case.
I have both a wrist lanyard that’s always on my phone, traded with a neck lanyard for travel. Rather like a seatbelt, I feel so much more comfortable with it !
Comments
I will agree with Sam that the ‘geeky’ discussions are more interesting to me than “should I take a sport jacket”, “what kind of shoes should I wear” etc. These do have a place for the novice Tauck travelers, but I won’t have anything to contribute to those discussions. Discussions about travel photography, connecting to river boat Wi-Fi, cell phone coverage overseas, forum software bugs and tricks etc. are more of interest to me. I do read all the posts however, unless I get too far behind.
Using my iPhone Pro and ditching the DSLR for the Morocco trip was liberating! I carried a small power bank that I never needed to use.
I will only carry the bulky DSLR camera for safari type tours. The iPhone photos were just fine...again, I'm not planning to enter any photos in a contest
We are going to Morocco soon. I’m guessing there will be blowing sand in some places so not a good place for a big camera. I had one ruined by sand even though it was in a plastic bag, sand got into the mechanism and the lens would not close.
British I didn't encounter any sand issues...perhaps it wasn't blowing during our time of travel (late November)
My photos certainly aren't in the quality category that some aim for (and that I admire) but I do need them to be of good quality. Beyond just enjoying them for the memories we usually do photo Christmas cards and I need the quality to be good enough to reprint well. We have Samsung phones and my husband is much more knowledgeable in using it's features.
I do print my photos, I know - I'm an albatross - but it gives me joy to put together an album and I do heavy editing in my pictures, very rarely of me because I really don't like my picture taken, I have a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and it takes great pictures and has the availability of removing unwanted people or items form the picture.
We are leaving for the Tauck Mountain Gorilla Safari: Kenya, Tanzania & Rwanda on July 9th. I have a new iPhone 16 Pro Max that I was planning to use to take the majority of my photos. Frankly, I have been taking all my travel photos with my iPhone for the past 10 years or so, and they come out just fine. However, because the safari may involve more long distance photography of animals, I am wrestling with whether I should also take my 12 year old Canon Rebel SL1 with a 70-300mm image stabilized telephoto zoom lens. The SL1 has an 18mp sensor. I did a test photo with the iPhone using the 25x digital zoom, and compared it with a photo taken with the DSLR. It was hard to see a big difference. The problem with having two cameras is I will waste more time juggling between the two cameras, and I may end up missing out on just the pure pleasure of seeing what is happening around me. And the extra weight of the DSLR and telephoto lens is a potential problem. I turn 80 years old on this trip, and it is not as much fun lugging around a lot of extra weight. I will probably try to use the 48mp setting on my iPhone. I have 1TB of memory on my iPhone, with 943 GB available. I assume that will be more than enough for shooting at the higher 48mp setting. Should I leave the DSLR at home and avoid the hassle of lugging it and a telephoto lens? I usually put together a video with iMovie for the family with the photos and video I shoot on our travels. All the discussions on this thread seem to confirm for me that my iPhone 16 Pro Max will probably do a great job. Any thoughts? We love travel. I have been retired now for 25 years, and we have visited all seven continents and about 100 countries. Hope to continue to travel so long as we remain in good health.
I can’t help with your question but just wanted to wholeheartedly agree with your comment about missing out on what might be going on around you. My first husband was an avid amateur photographer who, after many years, finally realized he was missing out on life by constantly peering through a camera lens.
For my purposes, my iPhone works just fine. I seldomly take pictures, however. I will be upgrading this month to the basic 16, and that is probably more than I really need.
Have a wonderful journey and please report back afterwards.
@jonmacks - based on what you've said, I would say go with the iPhone only.
We took the gorilla trip back in 2019. I have no idea what my iPhone number was then, possibly an iPhone 7. When it came to the gorilla trek, we both took cameras and iPhones and switched between both. You can’t tell the difference when you look at the photos. The iPhone photos are so much easier to instantly share too. The gorillas are so near that you certainly don’t need a big camera. When you’ve had baby gorillas wrestle and rolling over your feet, they are too near, no one told them to keep the distance we are supposed to keep😂
We always put our iPhones on lanyards, We think they are essential when on safari for a jostling vehicle or taking pictures leaning out of a vehicle or over a ledge or through bars. I have a clear picture of my husband with the type of lanyard we use now, it’s adjustable in length and comes in many colors, I’ll post it at the end. Everyone on our tour wanted to know where we got them from. No one on the tour had a big camera, This is becoming an increasing situation, no big cameras by almost everyone on tours.
On the reamainder of the K and T, the only time we feel a large camera is good, is when you spot leopards which more often than not are up a tree. Most always other animals can be right next to your vehicle, and certainly leopards too, near enough to reach out and touch in our experience.Our safari last year,, I only took my phone, my husband took a big camera. maybe next trip, just phones. We don’t take
our big cameras on any other trip now and it feels liberating.
Thanks for reply about using your iPhone for safari photos. I'm way ahead of you on using a lanyard for my iPhone when traveling. I've been using a case with a lanyard for many years now. When I first started using a lanyard, it was hard to find a case for the iPhone X I was then using that accommodated a lanyard, but now you can find many options on Amazon for newer iPhones. I just recently purchased a new case for the iPhone 16 Pro Max I currently own. Here is a photo of me with my new case.
I have both a wrist lanyard that’s always on my phone, traded with a neck lanyard for travel. Rather like a seatbelt, I feel so much more comfortable with it !
John, hilarious, it looks like the exact same one as ours. Much better than the earlier lanyard designs.