[sailnski]

A year from now, I'll be off to Peru to tour Cusco and Machu Pichu, so I have a year to buy a digital SLR and master its use. I'm an amateur photographer, and this will be my first digital SLR purchase, though I've a good bit of 35mm photography and have a modest digital point & shoot camera. Lima and the rest of Peruvian coast are some of the driest and dustiest places you could visit, while up in the Andes, I'll have to deal with fog banks, and of course, altitude sickness. I am trying to decide between the Pentax K10D (excellent seals, but heavy with mediocre JPEG image quality) and the Nikon D80, which is a bit lighter, has better image quality, but perhaps isn't as resistant to the extreme conditions I'll be facing. Which camera should I buy, and with which lens or lenses, keeping in mind that weight will be a factor. Should I go for an all-in-one lens, e.g. 18-200mm, so that I won't have to change lenses and risk getting dust/moisture in the camera, or do I really need to take a minimum of two lenses (e.g. 18-55mm & 55-200mm) to get high quality shots of what will be a once in a lifetiem trip? Tall order, I know, but from what I've read in other threads, you folks are up to the task. Thanks, in advance for your advice.

[Sonsey]

If you can push the boat out in regards to budget I would look at the Nikon D200 and the Nikon 18-200 DX VR lens.

The D200 produces excellent quality images and also has the advantage of some weather sealing to help with the conditions you say you'll be facing... the 18-200 DX VR lens has probably all the range you'd need so no lens changing, and is one of (if not) the sharpest in it's class so you've got great image quality there too, it also has the advantage of having VR (Vibration Reduction) which is very helpful when hand holding at the longer end of the zoom or in lower light conditions.

A great combo, if you can stretch to it.

Oh, and welcome to Pixalo!

[slocookn]

I have the very package that Sonsey is telling you about. I am a beginner as well and the package is wonderful. The flash is effective on this camera so no need to go and buy a flash right away.

All of the controls are laid out well. And of course the camera is taking better pictures than I am...... right now. Go for it. You will enjoy.

[sailnski]

Thanks for your advice. I'll admit that's a great package, but it would cost twice what I was hoping to spend, and the D200 body alone weighs 830g without the battery, as opposed to 585g for the D80. Not a huge difference, but 11,000 feet perhaps a noticeable one. What do you think of the Sigma Zoom Super Wide Angle 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS (Optical Stabilizer) Lens for Nikon Digital SLR? It's 2/3 the price of the Nikon lens you recommended.

[Sonsey]

Originally Posted by sailnski

What do you think of the Sigma Zoom Super Wide Angle 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS (Optical Stabilizer) Lens for Nikon Digital SLR? It's 2/3 the price of the Nikon lens you recommended.

It's definitely one to keep an eye on, problem is it hasn't been released yet, it should be out soon though

[stepheno]

This isn't a flippant remark...but what will it be like for charging batteries out there?

[xanda]

well i have a Nikon D80 with the 18-200mm VR Lens, a great combination which should cover any situation...i don't know about it's resistance to dust and other weather though.

[Markulous]

Well, can only talk about my trip to Everest Base Camp a couple of years back. Took two cameras (pre dSLR days, so my Fuji 602Z and Pentax film SLR) but then weight was never an issue, seeing as we had porters to carry our bags. Tho obviously carried all my tech stuff during the day!

Batteries weren't a problem as I took loads rechargeable NiMH AAs and a solar charger (all, including my GPSr, ran on AAs) and could recharge my picture bank (Archos) from them

Did get AMS (altitude sickness) and missed the final ascent and brought back a lovely microscopic parasite which made my couple of weeks after returning less than ideal (tho once I'd convinced the doctor of what I had the antibiotics soon killed it!)

Had an absolutely superb time and wouldn't have missed any of it! For anything! Been trekking NZ since, but not high altitude

It's a great opportunity to give up smoking seeing as you value every molecule of oxygen and resent the molecule of carbon monoxide that displaces it! But I still managed to smoke 40 in the 3 weeks (but down from 40/day). Have since given up (when it was all too easy to smoke once more! LOL!)

So, what would I do? Take all I might need and train hard before going, I definitely did enough as the trek itself (aside from the breathing) was a proverbial walk in the park!