home brewer Loc: Fort Wayne, Indiana

I am rethinking taking my D850 and 3 lenses or the D500 and 18 to 300 to Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia for a 4 week vacation. The weight and bringing attention to me due to the expensive cameras and the suggestion my wife made about traveling light is making think about getting a different camera.

Is there a camera with built in lens that you would recommend?
Thanks

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

A photographer brings their camera ...

If you can't travel with just 1 body and 1 lens, two lenses max, with the strap always wrapped securely around your wrist, look at any of the pocket-sized models. They have the same cropped sensors as the DSLRs, capture in RAW, and capture wonderful images. I have my Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II set to capture both JPEG and RAW so I can share images 'from the road' via the JPEGs and my phone, if desired. All the RAW files edit as normal in LR when I get home. The G9X is the size of a deck of cards. Sony and Nikon have similar models. All the brands have several mix-n-match versions of lens focal length and moveable view screen, at different price points, so there should be one that fits exactly the mix you want.

Warhorse Loc: SE Michigan

I have been considering the purchase of a Sony RX100 VII for the same reasons.

yorkiebyte Loc: Scottsdale, AZ/Bandon by the Sea, OR

How's 'bout a nice D3400 Nikon Body with that 18-300 you have. A Light and Very capable Nikon body!! Inexpensive!

...Of course, that "Coolness" factor of having the D500 would go away.... So most UHHers will poopoo that....

jtm1943

The Sony RX100 VII is probably a good choice. Seems lots of folks leave the good, heavy stuff behind when they travel and search for something "just as good" but small and pocketable when they travel. By some account the Sony is that camera. The big DSLRs are dying out for travel.

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

A Canon G1x iii or G5x ii are both available refurbished from Canon direct for less than $800 right now. Either would be a good fit. Any of the Sony RX100s from iii to vii are also excellent.

krl48 Loc: NY, PA now SC

Didn't you buy that D850 for the excellent IQ, and all its other great features?

Don't you want to capture the marvelous things you're going to see with the best camera and lens combo you own?

Pair your best zoom and fastest prime with the D850 and capture images that will, years later, take you right back to the places and people you experienced on this vacation.

My 2 cents...

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

I would suggest either of 2 types, a bridge camera or a pocketable. There are many brands and models to choose from. If you are going to need built-in flash, I recommend the bridge camera as it has a stronger flash. I love my Canon SX50 HS, but it has been superseded twice now.
I also have a Panasonic Lumix DCZS80 for a pocketable and am very happy with it. I have since noticed the Sony DSC-HX99 is smaller, making it more portable. All these have 1/2.3" sensors which allows for wide range zooms, but not strong low light sensitivity.

The next up in image quality is the 1" models. They also come in the same form factors, bridge style and pocketable. I have a Lumix DMC-ZS100 which is a pocketable. I'm very happy with it, but I wish it had more of a tele end. The DC-ZS200 came out after with more zoom range. The Sony RX100 VII is the king of this type but commands a princely price. For the larger 1" type, Sony has the RX10 IV, Panasonic has Lumix DMC-FZ2500 and lesser DMC-FZ1000.

All these models have viewfinders. The only pocketable 1" Canon with one built in is the G5 X Mark II which has less zoom range but much larger aperture.

These are just a few of the wide variety available.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Sony RX10M4 may provide what you want. It is still an expensive camera, but it lacks the "bling" look of a big Nikon. I bought mine for a trip to Ireland in 2018 and really enjoyed using it. Later the following year I injured my left wrist, and using a D810 and a Sigma 150-600 Sport was completely out of the question. Luckily the Sony filled in the gaps. It's not great in low light, I have learned to live with zoom by wire, but aside from those minor nit picks, I have been very satisfied and do not regret getting it. It does the job nicely.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

If you want to stick with Nikon, you might want to consider the Nikon z50 with the new Nikkor z 18-140 DX lens. While it's not pocketable, it is a small lightweight combination that will give you excellent results. This new z lens has gotten good reviews.

If you want something even smaller and lighter, and are more interested in wide angle than telephoto, than the Z50 with the very small and lightweight Nikkor z 16-50 mm f/3.5-6.3 kit lens may meet your needs. While technically this combination is also not a pocketable camera, the z50 with a 16-50mm mounted is small and will fit easily in a moderately large pocket. Although the z50 does not have IBIS, both the lenses I mentioned have VR.

Given your current cameras, you might find the experience and results shooting with the z50 much more similar then with some of the other suggestions being made.

home brewer Loc: Fort Wayne, Indiana

To expand: I am too wordy as usual.
First of all both my wife and I overthink things because we have had bags go missing, flights canceled and we now worry about spill over from Ukraine.

We have been traveling overseas to Europe once or twice a year since 2010. Our 6 week fall trip to Greece and other places fell apart with 2 flight cancelations that could not be fixed. The Chicago to Munich flight was canceled 3 hours before it left Chicago and an hour before we were to leave Fort Wayne.

But this year the flight choices are reduced and layover time is about an hour in Chicago. If all goes as planned that should be enough. But delay getting our checked carry on can ruin it all before we leave the states.

I think the D850 is great. The trip we are taking to Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia will have city, waterfalls, landscape; thus cover all the focal lengths from wide angle to at least 200mm. I have that covered in 3 fast lenses that with the tripod, flash extra batteries and cards, water bottle, hat and umbrella and camera bag weighs 20 pounds when hiking. The bag is 15" x 10" x 9 1/2" and should fit under the seat; and the water bottle and umbrella add height when hiking.

The tripod fits in my carryon along with a laptop, a change of clothes and with meds. When hiking I can attach the tripod to the camera bag. The carry on should fit in the overhead or under the seat if I trust the camera bag to the overhead.

The first leg of the flight is a 13 row puddle jumper with 2 seats on either side of the aisle. Under seat storage is tight and overhead limited. No way I am letting the camera equipment out of my sight and I am not too found of having the small carry on checked at the gate since the connecting time is short. The next flight is a 787-8, then a airbus A320 from munch to Dubrovnik which is fairly large and should not be a issue with carry on. Flight from DBV to FRA is a Airbus A319, FRA to ORD is a 787-9 that should have no issue with carry on. The flight from Chicago to ho is another puddle jumper and as long as I get to keep the camera there is no issue.

Thus the question becomes: do I trust that all will work out or do I take the d500 and the 18-300 or do I buy the Sony or do I just give up and use my iPhone. I know only I can answer the question; but, I value your input.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

You have received some pretty good suggestions. But there is another line of thinking that you might consider.

From where you stand with your two cameras, you are going to be giving up quite a bit if you change to something else. Why not keep your cameras, maybe giving up a little bit, by changing something else?

How about carrying your D500 with one lens...a 24-120mm f/4? That's what I've come to do at least 70% of the time. I like the results. If you don't think that's enough at the wide end, take that same lens on your D850. You can crop on the long end, if necessary, and have the same results up to, say 200mm. Or you could take an 18-200 DX zoom. With some care, it's better than I like to admit, just not very fast.

You could probably think of some other combinations that would work. And if you could take a second lens, you could have lots of flexibility. I have an 18-35mm AF-Dlens that I retired from full frame service because the corners were so awful. It now travels with my DX equipment, usually teamed with the 24-120.

Hip Coyote

It appears that you have two concerns. Security and weight.

Re security. Sadly the US crime is skyrocketing. Mid to large cities have a dramatic increase in violent crime. Having been to Croatia I believe you will be safer there than in the us. I do not know about the other countries. I am betting that you will be in a group setting which even further enhances your security. Finally everyone will know you are a tourist. Pretty difficult to hide. Want to worry? Worry while you are here.

(I see you are in Indiana. I was there on a trip. Wife and I did a bike ride on a trail along side repurposed train tracks. Literally happened upon immediate aftermath of a shooting involving a drug deal. This was in rural area! I’m retired law enforcement so not freaked out by all this but it was sobering to think we missed being in the middle of this by maybe 30 seconds. Believe me when I say that Croatia is probably safer.)



Second. Size. I almost never find a need for a long range zoom lens unless it is animal related such as Africa. A walk around lens and a wide lens would be enough. These cities and country sides need wide lenses. Beautiful.

So either take the big beast with you or get the Sony and be happy. For the wide angle stuff consider learning to stitch shots.

Finally, and this will cause some people to question my sanity, but my iPhone 13 is a fantastic 2nd camera. I often do pano shots with that and forget the stitching part. Couple that with a post processing program like Snapseed and you have a very robust system.

Enjoy

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

Though the 850 is one of the best cameras in the world, it is big and really heavy. Unless you regularly crop your photos massively you don't really need those 45mgs. So, if your looking to downsize and put together a kit you can hold closer, starting with the D500 and the 18-300 seems like a good way to go. 18mm on a DX may not be wide enough for some shots so I would include a wide angle. You're probably giving up some of the speed you might have gotten with the primes, but when you downsize something has to go. I travel over seas about every other year and long ago gave up the tripod. It is a total pain on those smaller planes and had become my least used accessory. There are other smaller and lighter options to hold your camera still.
I have a 12-24DX lens but it too is heavy and not used much. Here is an idea that might sound off the wall but haas worked well for me on three trips to Europe. Instead of my 12-24 I carry my 8mm fisheye. It's really small and light. Of course it has fisheye distortion but you can minimize this by being careful and most PP programs (I use LR) are great at correcting that distortion so you end up with a super wide shot that looks fine. Included is a few corrected fisheye shots and one not corrected fisheye.
...Cam

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home brewer Loc: Fort Wayne, Indiana

Hip coyote
Thanks for serving in law enforcement.
also for your insight