WildPlace said:
The thought of the extra weight and encumberance was bothering me, but seeing your great shots finalised my descision to just take my small compact (Panasonic Lumix) which i can carry easily in my pocket.
Hi WildPlace - it's a really hard decision, because if you're anything like me prior to the walk, I became obsessed about every gram I was carrying.
I have a full Leica M system, (not at all appropriate for the Camino!), and a full Nikon system, including as a backup camera the little D3200, which is Nikon's entry level DSLR. It's got a great 24MP sensor, and while it's limited in its functionality, it's light and small.
I actually regret now not taking it. The reason I didn't was because of weight. But as well, I didn't have an appropriate DX lens. My Nikon system is skewed to FX lenses, which would have been too heavy.
If I'd taken the D3200, the lens I would have wanted, limiting to only one lens, would have been the 16-85mm DX zoom. It's sharp, and has good RFT figures. But I wasn't going to go out and buy that lens just for the Camino! (I wouldn't consider the longer range zooms, like the 18-200mm, because of the lesser optics.)
Why did I regret not taking a DSLR?
* Shutter lag - I got frustrated with the shutter lag of the Fuji.
* Optical viewfinder - the Fuji does have a basic optical viewfinder but it's not very good, has no focus information in it, and I found myself using the back screen, which I didn't like, particularly in full sun.
* High ISO - the DSLR would have enabled me to shoot up to 3200 ISO.
* The larger sensor and resultant Depth of Field. I got bugger all DOF from the Fuji sensor.
* RAW capacity - whilst the Fuji x10 can shoot RAW, the Fuji RAW software is crap, plus it would have chewed up backup storage on my iPad.
* Battery life - the Fuji only allowed me about 250 shots per battery.
All that said, I was able to crank out some ok shots with the Fuji, but I now miss not having RAW files to tinker with in post.
So if I was to do the Camino again tomorrow, (which is not possible because my knee is shot!), I'd cop the extra weight and take the D3200 - assuming I had that 16-85mm in my kit - and I'd make weight sacrifices elsewhere.
The thing I learnt on the Camino is that you take what's personally important to you, regardless of weight. For instance, I walked for a while with a bloke who'd bought an espresso machine, coffee beans and a grinder! And he didn't regret it one bit, because he loved his coffee!
I love my photography - and taking photos during my walk enabled me to fully "see" the Camino. So it was important to me. Hence I'd trade off weight for the joy of using a better camera.
Ultimately though, another consideration is: What's your end use for your shots. My end use is largely online use, and so a smaller sensor is fine. I saw people lugging around D800s, and other full frame cameras, and wondered why? Were they going to be using the files to print out to 16x24? Or were they shooting for Nat Geo? I didn't think so. So why take a large sensor camera?
Long winded response, but hope it helps with your decision!
Bill