THE OPTION TO POINT AND SHOOT

Well. in less than three weeks, I'll be on my way to northern Thailand where I'll be spending almost two weeks shooting in and around Chiang Mai, the seven hundred year old unofficial northern Thai capital. My Canon Rebel XSi 12 megapixel DSLR, two zoom lenses (giving me wide angle to telephoto capability), three battery packs and two chargers will all be traveling with me. That's right. You didn't think I'd be spending thousands of dollars and journeying halfway around the world with a cheap point and shoot, now did you? Well, as a matter of fact, that's exactly what I purchased a couple of days ago as a back up camera for the Thailand trip. The inexpensive (under $100.00) relatively unsophisticated credit card sized point & shoot Vivitar Vivicam 8225 will probably go everywhere my Rebel will go as well as more than a few places the bulky Rebel won't. And if the rebel should (Perish the thought!) suddenly stop working in the middle of the shoot like my last DSLR did, the little Vivicam just might save my bacon. True, I could purchase a baggage hogging Rebel XS as a back up (compatible with my zoom lenses). But one of my goals is to travel ultra light. Besides, I'm a tightwad. And, as I have already stated, the Vivicam can go places the Rebel is too big to crawl through. Fro instance, my travel mates and I are scheduled to spend one day taking Thai cooking classes. We, of course, plan to photo document the experience. So, have you ever tried to cook a gourmet meal while holding an SLR camera with heavy lens attached? Well, you get the picture. We'll be shooting a parade. For shooting long shots of the floats and parade participants, I'll most likely use the Rebel. For close up street portraits,I'll defer to the decidedly less obtrusive Vivicam. When I do so, will picture quality suffer? Probably not significantly. There are always trade offs. However, in the cases I am apt to choose the Vivicam, the trade offs will most likely be quite acceptable. Having the option of point and shoot will, I am certain, prove invaluable. And if the unthinkable happens, I'll have adequate back up. All in all, a win win situation. Larry Elkins elkinsphotos.com