wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Rent the Olympus E-M5 mrII, 12-100mm f4 Pro IS lense, and the 72mm polarizer for it. No tripod needed for up to two second shots. It is a little shorter on the wide angle than you are use to (18-200 versus 24-200) but it will probably be enough. If you want to go whole hog, replace the E-M5 mrII with the E-M1 mrII. Then, if you are careful, you might be able to handhold to 4 or 5 seconds. It is sharp at wide open f4 down to f8 at all focal lengths. And except for some diffraction, it is relative sharp all the way to f22. The weight for the E-M5, 12-100mm, battery, and chips (two slots) is 2.28 pounds and with the E-M1 the weight shoots up to 2.57 pounds. Either set-up is capable of 0.6X (wide) to 0.42X (tele) magnification for close-ups. The lense is 3.05" X 4.59". The bodies are 4.9" X 3.4" X 1.8" for the E-M5 and 5.3" X 3.6" X 2.7" for the E-M1. With lense on, the distance is shorter than the 6.4" or 7.3" front to back. There is no need for rain protection; either can be used freely in the rain. You will need a small thin sponge and micro cloth to remove raindrops off the front element. Both should be able to WiFi to your tablet (JPEG, not sure what size - they look good) and can be sent from the tablet. These two bodies provide the most photographic control of any camera I know of. They also have a more complicated menu for that set-up. You should try the camera and lense setup at a camera store before you rent. There is a learning curve but it still can be switched to any of the modes for shooting. I run mine on Program mode with the two dials set for controling aperture and exposure compensation for a majority of photos. As a photographer that has to produce photos for his travel agent / agency owner wife, I can guarantee that either of these two systems will travel as personnel carry-on (not the bigger normal carry-on) and travels very well. I know that this was lenghty but I promise you the E-M5 and E-M1 are worth the consideration for your tour of Europe.

EDIT: Both systems can shoot RAW + JPEG. The E-M5 is 16mp and the E-M1 is 20mp. I also set my JPEGs for "VIVID" rendering. And buy big chips. Where you are going will make you feel like a hunger fox in a chicken house with big fat chickens.

Silkway2017

Last year me and my wife traveled to Italy (2 weeks trip).
I took my point and shoot Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS19 with me. Its small size and good quality pictures did the magic.
I would be more concerned with Italian railroads... We experienced strikes and had to look for some other ways to get from point A to point B.
Florence was flooded with tourists (July) most of them were from China, Russia and South America. Shoulder to shoulder traffic of people on the sidewalks.
Rome was amazingly dirty except for Vatican City. The most enjoyable stay was in the city of Arezzo (Tuscany): https://www.discovertuscany.com/arezzo/ and The Island of Elba: https://www.discovertuscany.com/elba/
We were advised to avoid Venice in all possible ways due to overcrowding, sanitary conditions and hostile local population toward tourists.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

RainierView Loc: Eatonville, WA

Thanks for your information. I will keep it in mind when looking for my next camera.

There are no longer any real camera shops in our area, and the ones I've called in Seattle area don't rent cameras.

Wish I could afford a better camera now, but with my semi-retirement income that's on the bottom of my list. Actually my wife's list (unless it dies, then on the top of the list). At 70, we don't charge anything. Only have charge cards for car rentals.

This trip to Italy is because we can't miss my wife's sons wedding. He is 46. It's a first marriage for both. They've been living together over 10 years. She is from Germany, her family is still there. We finally get to meet them. Anyway, it's taking everything we have to do what we have planned out. No sense in just going to the wedding.

I was thinking of leaving my camera behind and just use my 16MP cell, but decided to leave out a pair of jeans and a shirt or 2 making room for my camera as suggested from another reply. Any camera is better than no camera.

RainierView Loc: Eatonville, WA

Thanks for the pep talk. LOL. My wife's son planned their wedding in May to avoid the main tourist season stampede.

So far we have our Icelandair tickets to Zurich via Iceland for 3 days. I'll do more research on Venice. We may skip it.

Hope the RR strikes are over.

The 10 days in the villa for the wedding are in Località GiardinoLa Cima, Perugia 06069 Italy. From there we'll drive to Siena for trains to other areas.

How did you get to the Island of Elba? And how did you get around, and where did you stay?

RainierView Loc: Eatonville, WA

Wedding attire is casual, saving space and weight for all attending.

In spite of that, both our roller carry-ons will weigh a ton, packed to the max, and I'll be lifting them up and down train steps.

I also exercise, but nothing heavy like I used to. Glad to see you are still lifting weights at 80.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

Be careful; some of the airlines are weighing the carryons. My wife and I recently flew on Turkish Airlines and her carryon exceeded their permitted weight by 2 lbs, so they made her check it. I have been to Italy six times and even taken ten courses in Italian language. I've been to Venice three times. It is magical, but I've read that it has become a zoo--way overloaded with tourists from cruise ships. (No cruise ships when I was there.) Go to Venice but then get off the main square and just wander randomly through small streets and alleys. Allow yourself to get lost. You can use your cell phone's GPS to find your way. (Cell phones didn't exist when I was there.) Florence will also be a zoo. Unless you are intent on visiting its museums, you might skip it. If you want fewer tourists and gorgeous scenery, think about visiting Puglia and Calabria. Some of the hill towns in Tuscany and Umbria are worth visiting: Civita di Bagnoregio, Orvietto, Montepulciano. I like Italy and Italians, but the Southern Italians are much warmer than the Northern ones. So, unlike most Americans, I really enjoy Naples, but I would never drive in the city.

RolandDieter

And be careful when taking your luggage off the trains. People usually push the luggage ahead of them down the steps of the train, and sometimes someone on the platform offers to help. Once they get their hands on your luggage and are off and running. Best not to accept help ... even though most are not thieves, the few who are can totally ruin your trip.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

In the spirit of offering cautions, when you stop for gas, make sure the meter has been turned back to zero before the attendant starts pumping gas. I got cheated in Palermo by this trick.

cmoroney Loc: Pasadena, California

Another physics geek here! That pun is so bad it's pretty damn good.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Agree on getting lost in Venice. I inrtentionally did this and loved it. Wandered into a few dead ends.... my family was concerned but I had a blast. I didn’t use my GPS...I used a hotel map to finally find my way out. Really no reason to drive in any city in Italy. I’ve driven in the British Isles and in France. Both experiences were excellent.

RainierView Loc: Eatonville, WA

We are flying Icelandair, they only allow 1 carry on, and that means ONE! So, that'll be our backpacks. My wife will have to put her purse in her backpack, I'll have my camera in mine. Our carry-on size roller bags will be in their free 1 allowed check baggage.

We are staying 10 days at a 8 bedroom villa filled with family only in Località Giardino La Cima, Perugia, an hour south of Puglia, so we'll have to go there. Thanks. And I'm not driving in any large cities. That's why we are taking the train to Siena to rent a car instead of Florence. Siena will be bad enough.

RainierView Loc: Eatonville, WA

Wow! Thanks for the tip. I know not to ask a stranger to take our photo.

My brother on his Italy trip woke up to some guy standing over him. He asked to see his ticket. Wasn't in any uniform. He left and my brothers camera was gone. We are not taking any night trains.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

My wife and I have taken a night train from Bologna to Bari. We had our own compartment and it was fine.