Sailing with DSLR

[ember1205]

I"m a Canon girl and always take my 70D with me on our cruises. I have the 5D Mark iii but that thing is just too darn heavy to carry when I'm on vacation (use it mostly for my business.) The 70D also has a pop up flash so I don't have to carry my speedlite with me. I've traveled with extra lenses before and they generally sit in my bag. I prefer a good zoom lens that will cover most of what I'm wanting to shoot. I'm really just trying to capture family memories and my 70D with a zoom is definitely sufficient!

You will definitely want to get off the ship at Grand Cayman. It's a beautiful island - one of my favorite places in the world.

Thanks for the thoughts... even if you're a "Canon girl"...

I understand what you're saying about the lenses. For me, I love shooting with the longer zoom unless the subject is within about 35-40' And, though I also have the pop up flash, it's pretty anemic and doesn't cover much in terms of distance. So, I have no problem taking the pair of lenses and grabbing a quality bounce head flash as well... Better to have and not need as they say.

I will most likely get off of the boat at ALL ports of call, even if only to explore the area around the boat itself.

Anyone have any suggestions for a very compact and sturdy tripod? The Gorillapod's look great, but everyone complains about them breaking and only being useful to wrap the legs around stuff (won't stand up on their own). I really am looking for something that will hold the camera so I can back away and do a selfie with the remote release.

 

[LittleMissMagic]

Anyone have any suggestions for a very compact and sturdy tripod? The Gorillapod's look great, but everyone complains about them breaking and only being useful to wrap the legs around stuff (won't stand up on their own). I really am looking for something that will hold the camera so I can back away and do a selfie with the remote release.

For the past year I've been using the Velbon Luxi L III. You can get it off eBay. Before that I had the MeFoto Backpacker, but one of the collapsible legs became unpegged and it just tore apart over time. I think the Luxi L is much sturdier, especially better legs.

 

[ember1205]

For the past year I've been using the Velbon Luxi L III. You can get it off eBay. Before that I had the MeFoto Backpacker, but one of the collapsible legs became unpegged and it just tore apart over time. I think the Luxi L is much sturdier, especially better legs.

Thanks.

I don’t know that it’s really what I'm looking for, though. I have a ‘good enough’ tripod that I could just take and not drop another $150. I guess I was hoping for something MUCH smaller just to hold the camera as opposed to also being a full-on tripod with all the height and everything as well. In other words, something that would sit on a table or whatever but allow me a little bit of adjustability to set the angle instead of shimming stuff under the lens. Lol

 

[Tigggrluvr]

A friend of mine just bought a platypod that sounds like what you’re looking for.

 

[ember1205]

A friend of mine just bought a platypod that sounds like what you’re looking for.

Thanks. I did a little research and this looks like a very interesting option. I just have to figure out if I could reasonably try to use one of the smaller ones and I need to figure out if the screws will be allowed through TSA since they have sharp points.

 

[Kate_45]

How about a beanbag if you're just wanting to be able to adjust angles?

 

[ember1205]

That's a pretty good idea, too.

For now, I'm thinking no tripod. If I really want the pic, I'll take a selfie with the phone or I'll ask someone to take it with D750. Unless it's pretty dead people-wise and there's a place to set it down and use the remote release. The bean bag might be just the item I would go for as it would be pretty inexpensive, easy to use, and would get the job done.