I think your being a little paranoid on the safety thing ... I've travelled all over the world for the past 25 years and have NEVER had an issue or anything stolen ... Knock on wood. I carry a full gear setup.
Take option 1 ... you'll want the wide for landscapes. Consider swapping the 35 for the 50 ... a 50 on a D90 makes a decent portrait lens due to the cropping factor.
Same here, also in South Africa I had a full pro SLR system with me (film times). Naturally I did not carry a camera bag, but an old daypack. For street photography: do not carry the camera hanging by your neck or on your side, have it in your hand with strap wrapped around your wrist. In shady situations have a backpack in the front, side, with waist strap around your waist, and have the camera inside the pack most of the time. If you need to change lenses do not do it in the middle of the street, but slip into a slip into s shop or something and do it there. The genereal idea is not to draw unnecessary attention to oneself, just snap the picture and put the camera away.
Well, bit difficult to take a camera in and out of a backpack if it is in the backside...
Best way to blend in might be to use a cellphone camera...
"In shady situations have a backpack in the front..."
The key word there is "In shady situations". I live in South Africa and I agree that crime is bad but one must know that the key to staying safe and keeping your valuables safe is to blend in. Look at the people around you and act accordingly. I laughed at a couple of paranoid tourists who were marching along with their backpacks in front of them at a tourist spot here that is considered relatively safe. They really did stand out and everyone around knew that they had valuable things in their bags.
Only put your bag in front of you when walking around in extremely crowded places or else you will attract attention and people will know that you have something valuable with you.
In crowded areas I would use my backup S95. Thanks for the replies, I am taking a camera insurance from state farm and am carrying 12-24mm50mm55-200. I might miss the 24-50mm range but I think that can be covered by S95.
By all means read the insurance policy so you'll know what documentation State Farm wants, when they want it and how they determine the value of your gear. Uh, might also be a good idea to know under what conditions having your gear stolen is covered.
Practice caution and carry your camera in a daypack that doesn’t scream “CAMERA STEAL ME!!!!!”, Stay out of dicey situations, like drunk by yourself in a back alley somewhere, stay around areas with people, normal warnings. Also, you are not the first nor the last to travel solo with camera gear many of us have done it for years, just don’t set yourself up as a victim. You are more likely to lose it to pros in a crowded cafe so keep it in contact with you I put mine between my feet (touching my feet) with a strap around the chair leg and don’t spend 5 minutes fussing about doing it. Also pay attention to the bag, not in a paranoid way hugging it to your chest all the time, enjoy your trip. Oh, and don’t have all your pictures on that 32 gig card that was such a good deal, if the camera goes so do the pictures, shoot 8 gig cards then stash them in your passport case.
Thanks for the words of advice. It turns out that State Farm will only insure lenses for which I have a receipt. A few of my lenses are bought off Craigslist. So doesn't work for me. What is the best way to insure the lenses in this case? Has anybody used World Nomads?
My house policy has a $10,000 travel rider for equipment, no receipt needed just a list of equipment and serial numbers. If I have a loss I need the police report to make a claim.
Take both! Your photos are your most precious memories of your trip.
Just be sure to backup your photos. I know too many people that had an 8GB SD card, and when the camera was lost or stolen, so were the memories.
I traveled Ecuador with the Nikon 18-200 lens a few years back. Awesome pix. First thing I did when I got home was sell it though. The thing was just soooooo heavy that I didn't take as many pix cuz I got sick of carrying it. I switched to a 50mm lens. Lately I'm wishing I just carried the 35mm as the 50mm is just a bit too tight. I've been stitching panoramics together though, so that works well. It's rare I want to get any closer so I don't feel the need for zoom anymore. So I'd try to travel with fewer lenses.
When paired with a smaller camera (I have the S90 and love it, but the photo quality is still waaay below my old D50) my worries about the wrong lens size disappear.
Enjoy!