Camera questions....trying to keep it down to 1-2....which ones?

[jdaa]

I have a very nice SLR camera with several lens. I have a nice digital camera with just a normal range lens. I also have a movie camera. I also have a tripod to use with the long range lens. I'm trying to keep the amount of cameras I take down to a minimum. Hubby would have a fit it I took both large camera bags. I was planning on just taking the digital camera. Will I be sorry?

[keithomas]

What type of prints do you expect to have done? Do you print your own at home, or use a developer? Also, depending on your print expectations, how many megapixels is your digital?

I too, have both a Nikon SLR and a Minolta digital. I carried the Nikon in '99 with the only lens I had at the time (a 28-200) and took some nice shots. I now have an additional lens (100-300), and this gear does weigh quite a bit. I have a nice PhotoRunner bag from Lowepro that is a waistpack for backpackers/joggers. My new Minolta digital is a 5 megapixel with a 28-200 lens. However, with 5mp I can crop the image and print 5x7's with an effective zoom of about 300-400 mm!!!!

I just recently tested a site called ofoto.com on printing 20" x 30" posters from my prints and they are FANTASTIC. Expensive at $20 a print, but how many posters are you gonna print??? LOL

I'm only taking my digital this June. My equipment list:

Minolta Dimage 7
3 sets of 1800mAh NiMH rechargeable batteries and charger
2 x 128MB Compact Flash cards
a Mindstor 5GB portable hard drive to download the cards to each night
A Lowepro Orion mini waistpack to hold all the camera gear
The Mindstor will fit in an old instamatic camera case and stay in the suitcase/room safe.