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Everyone's in Nepal - Magnificent Mountains View, exciting
wildlife safari, thousands of year's temples, ethnic peoples
and unforgetable festivals all make winning subjects. But
beware of experiencing your trip through a lens. The camera
can provide great memories, but don't hesitate to put it away
when it's getting in the way of the real thing.
Equipment of Photography
The first rule of packing photo gear is to keep it to what
you can realistically carry. For many travellers, this will
mean sticking to a pocket-sized point-and-shoot model with
a built-in flash. These cameras are unobtrusive, lightweight
and easy to use, and the digital ones make it particularly
easy to send pictures home by Internet. The drawback is a
lack of versatility, since the lens only zooms so much, and
you can't usually override the automatic functions.
Bringing an SLR (single lens reflex) camera involves a tradeoff
between higher performance versus extra bulk and security
precautions. To get the most out of your SLR you'll want a
decent selection of accessories. Zoom lenses lighten your
load, minimize lens changes and give you a whole range of
focal distances to choose from. Two or three should do it:
something in the 35-80mm range, an 80-200mm, and a wide angle
(24mm or even 20mm). On longer lenses, the lower the f-stop
available, the more flexibility you'll have but the greater
the bulk (and price). It's also good to have polarizing or
split-density filters to cut down on glare, plus UV filters
to protect lenses. A flash is useful for filling in shadows,
and a tripod for long exposures. And if you're carrying all
that booty, you'll want to make sure it's protected in some
sort of bag - either over the shoulder, strapped to the chest
or around the waist - which you shouldn't let out of your
sight.
In some situations a cheap disposable camera (sold in tourist
areas) may be your best bet. On a raft trip, for example,
you can take pictures with a disposable without worrying about
ruining it in the water, whereas a regular camera will have
to be kept stowed away in a storage box most of the time while
on the river.
If you're thinking of buying a camera for your trip to Nepal,
you might consider waiting until you get there, since equipment
is quite reasonably priced in Kathmandu. Shops there also
sell most camera accessories - batteries, lens filters, tripods
- but it's probably best to bring these with you just in case
they don't have the exact thing you need. Remember that batteries
go flat more quickly in cold temperatures.
Most major brands of film (prints and slides) are easily obtainable
in Nepal's tourist areas, and prices are about the same as
or even cheaper than back home. Off the beaten track, though,
the selection is pretty thin. Have a selection of both fast
(ASA/ISO 200-400) and slow (100, 64 or even 25) film on hand
to deal with different conditions.
If you're bringing film into the country, pack it in a lead
bag (available in camera shops) or carry it as hand baggage
and have it hand-checked - new airport X-ray machines are
coming into service worldwide that are programmed to turn
up the power if they spot suspicious-looking items, and this
can fog film (high-speed film is more vulnerable).
Labs in the main cities and towns process most types of film;
they usually do an okay job with prints, but can't be trusted
with slides. Have important photos processed outside Nepal
if possible.
All the comments about bulk and security for still cameras
apply even more so to video cameras. Note that you have to
pay a steep extra fee to bring a video camera into certain
parks and signts. Nepal's electricity is 220V/50 cycles, which
means North Americans won't be able to recharge battery packs
without an adapter (available locally).
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