Would appreciate some advice

[jnengland]

I'm hoping for some good advice about a camera downgrade. I'm going to Mexico for 6 weeks soon. I am used to shooting with a Nikon D80. I love my camera and don't want to take it and all my gear with me to be lost or stolen. I will be doing a lot of heavy, physical activity and so need something that can tote along and also be hidden in a small bag and not be conspicuous in questionable areas.

So, I need something of quality that will allow me not to miss any of the country's beauty, while still being travel friendly and safe to pull out in a developing country. I also don't want it to so expensive that my heart will be broken if something happens to it.

Thanks so much in advance!

 

[Garbz]

Erm you're traveling into what you believe is a questionable country. Get travel insurance and take your D80. Best case scenario it gets stolen on your last day and you get a D90 as a replacement .

For the weight thing just take one kit lens, drop it in your backpack with your other non camera gear. I've been all over the world and in all sorts of questionable nooks and crannies of the worlds cities armed with a D200 and kit lens and no dedicated camera bag. The only time I ever thought I was about to get mugged is when some street "dude" with a mohawk who's 3 times my size comes up and says "Nice camera".

He then proceeded to talk to me for 20 min about his desire to get into photography and asking for tips and what I think of a D70 etc

You shouldn't be going to a country like Mexico without travel insurance anyway. Losing a camera is the least of your worries. Last time my parents traveled something as simple as eating food in a dirty city ended my mother in hospital with a 8000 Euro bill, which the travel insurance covered to the cent.

 

[jnengland]

That's a good thought, Garbz. I am a student and am required by my school to have an international student card that includes travel health insurance. I don't know if it covers property, but it would be nice if it did! I will have to look into that. I guess my camera bag makes me feel unwilling to travel with my camera as well. It's a cross body, big bulky bag that I won't want to carry. I know I will be carrying a backpack everywhere anyway, so I may as well either get a camera backpack or find a good place in my existing one to put it in. I know from previous extended experience in Mexico that she (or he) who travels without a bag stocked with toilet paper and bottled water is a fool. Haha.