Fiona on the train to Wengen photographed by Andrew Butler (Shot on D7000 with Nikkor 18-200 VR II on train).

So, one pressing travel problem, which camera to take. Generally the Leica would be my camera of choice but it’s not a tool for the inexperienced; pass someone an M9 and you will then have to teach them about various aspects of photography before they will be able to take an image.

The D7000 was originally bought as a stop-gap and was going to be pensioned off with the arrival of the D800E. However, it is a very useful tool. And, much as I like ‘old-school’ prime lenses the 18-200 is a surprisingly good lens. More than that it is a camera that you can allow others to use confident that they will be able to pull satisfying shots out fairly easily. That was probably the clincher, I wanted Fee and Karin to be able to use the camera too.

The 18-200 will cover most eventualities and, whilst it won’t allow the all out performance of something more esoteric it does a good job of most things. Taken into Lightroom the preset profile sorts out many of the shortcomings of lenses. Yes, yes, perfection out of the camera is of course the preferred option but sometimes the pragmatic choice wins the day.

(More shots using the D7000 – 18-200 combo here)