Travel Cameras - Lessons Learned and Ideas for the Future

I'm always debating what the best travel camera is. Before we have kids, my wife and I want to see as much of the world as possible and I'm constantly trying to figure out what the right piece of gear is for traveling. On our first trip to Europe I brought my Nikon D40 which worked great. However, when you start making prints in the 11x14 range, this sensor leaves quite a bit to be desired with only 6 megapixels. On our next trip we went to Vietnam and I brought my Canon S90 and Nikon F100. The F100 got some light use, however I primarily shot the S90 due to the attention my F100 got from local merchants. I felt like I stuck at like a sore thumb at 240 lbs. wielding a fancy japanese camera. Due to the sunny weather and portability, I was able to shoot most of the trip with my S90 with much success. I was initially pleased with many of the photos we took. My background is digital manipulation and fine print making. Once enlarged beyond 8x10 I was VERY disappointed with the blocky and cartoony renderings I got.

Last Spring we went to Spain and France and I decided to step up my game and shoot a Fuji GA645 (with 60mm f/4 lens) which is damn near the best travel camera ever invented. I put 30 rolls of 120 through this little gem in 2 weeks time and was super pleased with the results. The prints look great and it was very versatile considering it has a pop up flash and you can comfortably push film to 1600 if necessary. I also brought the S90 to take photos of food and interiors at night (drunken photos).

Today, my wife and I are currently in the preliminary planning stage of a trip to Paris, Munich, Prague and Amsterdamn. I've been eyeing the 65 mm lens for my Mamiya 7 for quite some time and finally picked one up (using my losses from my D200 and profits from Nikon 35TI I sold). This lens is roughly a 32mm equivalent and should be the PERFECT travel lens. When I'm on the road I hate to change lenses (I rarely bring more than one on an overnight trip) and I'm thinking this will be the just about right focal length for everything I shoot and I don't plan to bring any other lenses (it is similar to the Fuji). Why the Mamiya over the Fuji you ask?? manual focus! I like to be in control of the hyperfocal distance when out shooting which is a laborious task with an auto focus camera.

Of course I am very excited and I can't wait to take my Mamiya (and wife ;-)) on a substantial vacation that we are all 3 deeply in need of! We are looking at dates in May right now and if all goes to plan a bag of 220 film will accompany us.