Trek of Joy
New member
New member here - I'm a semi-pro shooter, currently traveling the world for a year. I spent all of March in Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. Depends on what your end goal is with the images, if you're just posting to web/facebook and such a phone is fine, if you want to print you'll have much more dynamic range with the larger sensor in the Canon. If you want to zoom, phone zooms are digital and the image degrades pretty quickly to unacceptable levels for me if you're displaying anything larger than Instagram - for me there's really only one focal length on a phone or two with the twin lens models - but YMMV. But in SE Asia you will be shooting in the sun a lot, the limited dynamic range of a phone's tiny sensor makes it tough to capture any high contrast scene with any degree of accuracy.
My most used lenses are the 10-24 for really wide stuff like temples, Angkor Wat and such, the standard 18-55 is good all around lens and I have the 55-200 for the extra reach. Most days I just carry the 10-24/18-55 on each body and I decide if I'm going to need the zoom on a day-to-day basis. I didn't use it much in any of those countries, 55mm was enough to zoom past obstacles or get close because there are few barriers at most sites and the wildlife isn't as abundant compared to some other places I've been. Myanmar is so undeveloped and there are tens of thousands of pagodas literally in every direction, so its pretty wide open. Just rent and e-scooter and explore.
My wife carries the iPhone7 while I'm carrying twin Fuji XT2's. FYI, in all three of the countries I never changed a lens once in the field. Its just so dusty, especially Myanmar. If you go to Bagan for the temples the haze is crazy, its all dust. Also if you're going to do sunrise/sunset in Bagan, get there at least two hours early to get the best spots. If you want to do sunrise at Angkor Wat, be there at 4:30 am and as soon as they open the gate at 5, run like a madman to the front of the lake, there will be a couple thousand people there by the time the sun comes up. Get the multi day pass and scout your location the day before, it makes life a little easier.
A few other quick tips, be sure to exchange your Myanmar cash before leaving the country, its hard to change outside. Also Cambodia uses US dollars for everything but change below $1. But stores/merchants will only accept crisp bills and none before the 2006 changes - so get shiny new bills from your bank or just use the ATM's there. If anyone tries to give you a wrinkled bill, ask for another as it'll be tough to shift. Though most Tuk-Tuk drivers don't seem to care. Also in both places, find a decent driver and get their number, if you're in Mandalay google Mr. Bobo - he's a wonderful person and very honest, he drove us for almost a week, had lots of great suggestions for sights and places to eat, and was always on-time. For Tuk-Tuk's in Cambodia, scrutinize the bike before committing to anyone, find the newer 150's and make sure its in great shape - it'll make getting around a lot easier.
Good luck
chris
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