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Travel Tips: Why you should leave your DSLR at home on your next beach vacation

Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii

Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii

this is another instalment of our “What to Pack”… series, where i share some of our packing essentials, as well as a few not-so-common items. Hope you find it useful as you plan your travels with your children!

Camera Travel Tips: Why you Should Leave your DSLR at Home on your next Beach Vacation

 

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I am going to start this post by saying that “No” I don’t always follow my own advice (but have often wished I had). BUT just let me explain why; I am also a photographer. Bokeh, depth of field, ISO  this is my language. So sometimes the Canon, the camera bag (you will often see me toting my Jo Toes Bag and the lenses come along.

But here is why you should leave yours at home, on your next beach vacation.
  1. SAND sand and cameras do not mix, almost as bad as water and cameras (but not quite). You DO NOT want to get sand in any of the small parts of your camera, especially in the camera sensor or where it can scratch your lenses. And we all know that despite our best efforts, sand gets EVERYWHERE.
  2. WATER we all know that electronics and water do not mix. While your beach vacation is likely sunny, the bucket of water your son decides to splash you with, or your daughter putting her wet bathing suit and towel in the same bag as your camera is not going to do your camera any good.
  3. IT’S EXPENSIVE DSLR’s are pricey. Even the entry level ones require us to part with our precious money to obtain them. Go splash in the water with your kids rather than worry about someone stealing your bag with your camera in it.
  4. SMARTPHONES HAVE FABULOUS CAMERAS THESE DAYS ”“ on our last family vacation to Hawaii we both brought our iphones, we captured hundreds of memories and they were right in our pockets all the time. Yes smart phones are pricey too, but they are much easier to conceal. I read a few suggestions online about emptying out an old deodorant stick. I think i’ll try this on our next trip.
  5. HEAVY and BULKY – Although entry-level DSLR camera’s are getting quite compact, when you add a few lenses you now have a full camera bag! When you add everything you need to take to the beach, you end up with a LOT of stuff to carry!

 

Do you travel with your DSLR camera on a family holiday? Let me know in the comments!

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Camera Travel Tips: Why you should leave your DSLR at home on your next beach vacation

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Joyce

Thursday 12th of May 2016

I use a diaper to conceal smartphones and/or wallets. Nobody wants to touch a diaper. :D I have been embracing not bringing my DSLR as I found a phone (nexus 6P) that I am satisfied with. :)

Marco

Sunday 23rd of August 2015

I totally agree with you. I have found that most of the times that I bring my DSLR, it's often very clunky and just gets in the way. For that reason, it normally winds up being left in the room safe. My cell phone does just fine in most cases.

Sophie

Monday 6th of July 2015

I totally agree with this post. I also find that when I take mine to the beach I never use it! And someone needs to stay with the bag because i'm too scared it will get stolen. Definitely leave the DSLR behind!

Francesca @onegrloneworld

Monday 6th of July 2015

I am currently facing this dilemma now - to bring or not to bring (the DSLR) that is the question! I'm probably not bringing it to the beach, so I bought a waterproof case for my phone! Problem solved (I hope!)

Inma

Sunday 5th of July 2015

Heavily disagreeing with this :) DLSRs come with us everywhere! Good article though!