Travel: Hi All, Will be going to Morocco in Feb. Taking my Nikon D-610 with 16-35mm and 28-300mm Nikon lenses. Would taking a travel tripod be a good idea? comments on the lens...

DarylEPC

Hi All,
Will be going to Morocco in Feb. Taking my Nikon D-610 with 16-35mm and 28-300mm Nikon lenses. Would taking a travel tripod be a good idea? comments on the lens selection and any recommendations welcome.

Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

Lots of sand and bandits. Keep your equipment secure, or it won't matter what gear you've had.

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

In my opinion, the D610 and the two lens should be enough, I wouldn't even consider taking a tri-pod. Have a good trip.

KansasCam

Those two lenses should cover what ever you need. I would not take a tripod. To bulky and makes you to obvious. May also give you trouble at their customs. Some countries don't like to have professional photographers taking work from locals and consider tripods as professional equipment. When traveling in the Middle East (and some other places) I have carried a small vice-grips with a couple of 1/4 - 20 bolts welded to it, and a small tripod ball to mount to those bolts. I have never had a problem at customs with it, and have often found a place to clamp it to when I needed a tripod. Also I would carry your oldest, most worn, beat up camera bag. It looks less valuable to thieves and makes you look less professional.

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

DarylEPC wrote:

Hi All,
Will be going to Morocco in Feb. Taking my Nikon D-610 with 16-35mm and 28-300mm Nikon lenses. Would taking a travel tripod be a good idea? comments on the lens selection and any recommendations welcome.

How are you getting about,
ie: Travelling independently or doing an organised (bus?) tour?.

DarylEPC

Thanks for the feedback, my wife and myself will be on an organized tour - no free wheeling run a bouts, so from all I have researched and reviews they are very positive of Morocco. The reason I was thinking tripod was sunsets, especially on a Sahara desert side tour for experiencing a desert sunset.

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

DarylEPC wrote:

Thanks for the feedback, my wife and myself will be on an organized tour - no free wheeling run a bouts, so from all I have researched and reviews they are very positive of Morocco. The reason I was thinking tripod was sunsets, especially on a Sahara desert side tour for experiencing a desert sunset.

From experience doing bus tours, and from a previous post of mine;

"Basically the gear is the same as what you would use at home, unless you live in the country and have never shot in a city.
If you are doing a bus tour (we once did a London (UK) to Athens (Greece) in 19 days) it basically means just one camera, only, and no time to change lenses etc.
Learn travel brochure language - "see" means just that, the bus may not even stop. "Visit" means the bus may have stop for up to an hour, if you have to get lunch. "Tour" means you will have a guide and walk around with a group of 30-40 other people who wont wait for you."

Hope this helps.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

My usual (and probably worn out) response for travel gear questions is to suggest one of the small, high quality travel cameras.

1. Pictures can be more candid and less threatening to the locals. In other words, better pictures of the culture you are visiting.
2. They fit in secure pockets or belt pouches so there is less worry about security.
3. If it is stolen, you don't loose your "primary" gear.
4. They give you more freedom to tour, dine and sight see.
5. They are less likely to interfere with making friends in your tour group.
6. Small cameras are inherently more mobile.
7. Unless your goal is 30x40 prints, the results are outstanding.
8. Some of the small cameras are weather resistant.
9. Tripods, or tripod substitutes, can be tiny.

Oddly three of the best all have "100" in their model names: Sony RX100, Panasonic LX100 and Panasonic ZS100. Canon makes one too, but I forget the model.

LXK0930 Loc: Souh Jersey

I did the trip about 25 years ago. Unless they have paved the Sahara since then, I would forget about the tripod.

As far as lenses, the ones you mention should be fine. I would add a small pocket camera as a backup and for times that you do not want to carry an SLR. Lots of used good ones available cheap.

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

DarylEPC wrote:

Hi All,
Will be going to Morocco in Feb. Taking my Nikon D-610 with 16-35mm and 28-300mm Nikon lenses. Would taking a travel tripod be a good idea? comments on the lens selection and any recommendations welcome.

I asked the same question before my European trip last year. My 16-35mm was a great choice, worked very, very well. I chose my 28-200 over my 28-300 to save on size and weight. No regrets there, got the shots I wanted. Tripod? I was advised to not take one and that advise was spot-on. When I needed more "steadiness", I rested my camera on a wall or some other sold base and got crisp detail.

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

Skip the tripod, it if you must, take a look at the gorilla pod. Small, very lightweight, and flexible so it can be wrapped around something or a platypod. Unless your tour is for photographers, they won’t wait for you to change lenses. Your lens selection sounds perfect. Have fun!

DarylEPC

Helpful comments people - appreciated. The only reason I was contemplating the tripod, is I want to do HDR.

waegwan Loc: Mae Won Li

DarylEPC wrote:

Hi All,
Will be going to Morocco in Feb. Taking my Nikon D-610 with 16-35mm and 28-300mm Nikon lenses. Would taking a travel tripod be a good idea? comments on the lens selection and any recommendations welcome.

I have basically the same setup in Canon gear and I do carry a travel tripod. It is very compact similar to the Manfrotto befree. It fits inside my carry-on camera bag with the camera and two lens and a speed-light and a remote release and a sling strap and I still have room for a bottle of water and a sandwich. :-)
I don't use the tripod often but when I do I'm glad I have it.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

DarylEPC wrote:

Hi All,
Will be going to Morocco in Feb. Taking my Nikon D-610 with 16-35mm and 28-300mm Nikon lenses. Would taking a travel tripod be a good idea? comments on the lens selection and any recommendations welcome.

Are you shooting travel and street, or are you planning on spending a good bit of time on landscape? If you plan on doing landscape a very compact tripod might be a good idea. But for anything else you probably do not need it. By the way, yesterday there was a great deal on a very small travel tripod at B&H, but it is now over. It is still a nice unit though. Folded length is 11.4". You can put that in pretty much any bag. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1281651-REG/mefoto_rtairblu_roadtrip_air_travel_tripod.html.

I would also suggest theft proof straps and a camera bag that does not look like a camera bag.

Also remember to put a card in your camera, it seems to be an issue in Morrocco. See recent post. https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-573814-1.html

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

DarylEPC wrote:

Helpful comments people - appreciated. The only reason I was contemplating the tripod, is I want to do HDR.

While I have several tripods of varying weight/steadiness, I have yet to find one as steady as the top of a brick/stone wall.