Anyone going on the Italy at Leisure Tour November 3? WOuld love to connect and chat.

Also, if anyone has gone on that trip recently or is going before November 3, I'd love to hear their experiences.

I'm now counting the days and am ready to start packing (I know, I have plenty of time). .

Also, buying a digital camera for the occasion. Any recommendations? Suggestions as to batteries, chargers (with whatever converters, adapters I need so it can be used in Europe). .

I've gotten so many good suggestions and ideas from this Board. Much appreciated.

Susan

Susan, when buying a digital camera, focus less on the megapixel count and more on the quality of the optics, and other features such as size, weight etc. I own nice SLRs and small point and shoots (P&S), and IMHO the P&S cameras are the most practical cameras. You can and will carry them everywhere, and unlike the SLR's whose bags have to be opened and inspected at all security check points, you are almost never going to be stopped for inspection of your tiny P&S. I like Canon cameras, however Nikon and other well known brands makes great cameras. Regardless of which brand you buy, use the camera extensively before the trip. Also buy extra memory cards, and extra batteries. My camera originally came with a pathetic 16MB flash card. I have since purchased two 256 MB and four 512 MB flash cards. You may not need this much memory, but since the memory cards are relatively inexpensive, and I like to take photos, I bought a few. Also take all your photos at the maximum resolution and with the minimum compression. As long as you have enough memory cards you should be fine. Buy extra batteries. Once you buy your camera you can find out what battery it uses and buy extra batteries online. One charger (the one that comes with the camera) will do. Almost all chargers that I have heard of work on both 110 and 220volts (without needing to switch voltage settings). . All you have to buy extra is a plug adapter that will work in Italy. Radio Shack, Walmart, Target etc sell such adapters for under $10.

You may want to take some photos in low light - say at dusk, at night, inside a museum (the Vatican Museum for example) etc. Learn how to use the P setting on your camera to adjust the ISO (or ASA) level. This is the 'film speed' setting. Normally I leave the speed setting on 100 or 200 ASA for daytime photos, but change it to 400 or 800 when the light is low. The higher the number the more light sensitive the camera becomes. However this comes at a price. Higher speed settings also result in grainier photos. However when a flash cannot be used (for example in a museum) the only way to get a good shot is by setting a high speed and holding the camera very steady. If you are photographing monuments and buildings lit up at night, a small collaping tripod may come in handy - though I generally do not carry one unless I know that I am going to be taking photos at night - for example in Paris. Also learn how and when to use the various flash settings. For example, learn how to use the fill-in flash setting for when a person is in shade in the foreground and the background is brightly lit. As long as the camera is set correctly and you know the basics, you can take great photos. The great advantage of digital cameras is that you can see at once whether the photo came out well and you can retake the shot.

Oh, one last tip. If you plan on printing out your photos (as opposed to always watching the photos on the computer screen) when taking photos make sure that there is enough space between the edges of the framed image and the main subject of your photo. The reason being, the digital image will have to be cropped to make prints, and the last thing you want is for you to have photos of churches with the tip of the steeples chopped off!

Thanks for your digital camera tips. We got our first at Christmas time last year and it was May before I had the nerve to start using it (G). . A few hundred photos later, I really like it.

Question - you mentioned changing the ISO according to light conditions. If I set the camera to "no flash" would it adjust automatically or does it help to change the ISO setting too? I never would have thought about doing that.

Debbie

I tried your ISO tip today when taking a photo indoors at a distance from a speaker. It made quite a difference. Thank you for teaching me something new.

I knew that higher ISO film was better in low light but didn't realize that we could adjust the ISO of a digital camera. Cool.

Debbie

Debbie,

Keep in mind that you want to restrict having the high speed settings to only those shots taken in low light. High speed setting causes the photo to look grainy. So remember to change the setting to either 'Auto' or '100' or at most '200' as soon as you are done taking low light photos. Also to answer your previous question (which you may have figured the answer to yourself by now), the flash setting has NO effect on the speed setting. So when you are in the Vatican Museum where photography is permitted (but not the use of flashes), you have to turn off your flash, in the P mode set a high film speed, and hold the camera very steady when taking a photo. I usually take two or three shots of important low light subjects since it is very difficult to see in the small display whether there was any 'camera shake'. . The use of a tripod would be great, but unfortunately they are bulky and more importantly, the moment you take out a tripod, someone will magically appear and ask you to put it away. There seems to be a perception in museums and churches that tripods are used exclusively by commercial/ professional photographers. In any case you can improve the photo later by enhancing the contrast a little by using Photoshop or other similar software.