Decisions, Decisions

Hi Folks,

Here's something fun to think about.

We're about to go on our first "real" vacation in a while. We're going on a Mexican Riviera cruise that is roundtrip from San Francisco. We'll be away for 11 nights from 9/21 - 10/2. The reason I mention it here is because I am considering which cameras to bring along on the trip. I know for sure that I'll be bringing my most recent acquisition, the Canon A570IS to take typical vacation snapshots and to bring with me when I don't feel like exposing my "fancy" cameras in certain places at the ports of call. So now I'm wondering what other camera to bring.

Off the top of my head, here are some "kit" choices:

1) D100 w/Tamron 24-135mm, Sigma 15-30mm (full coverage digital slr)

2) D100 w/Tamron 24-135mm, Tokina 17mm (smaller kit, but almost same coverage digital as above)

3) Nikon F4, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm (full range, but bulky and heavy film kit)

4) Nikon F4, 24-135mm (larger range, but smaller package than #3)

5) Nikon F3HP, 24mm, 50mm, 85mm (manual focus, film slr kit, prime mf lenses, this used to be my main configuration for vacations pre-digital era)

6) Voigtlander Bessa R, 35mm and/or 50mm (rangefinder, more discrete and compact than the slrs)

7) Yashica T4 or Olympus XA2 or Nikon L35AF (minimalist film approach, ultra compact, all w/35mm lenses)

If I go the film route, what film should I use?

    1) Fuji color print, ISO400 (good all around)

    2) Ilford XP2 Super ISO400 (b&w may miss some tropical color opportunities, but have digital P&S for that)

    3) Kodak Tri-X, ISO400 (see #2, but b&w will give a different "look" to my film shots, more expensive to process Tri-X)

    4) Slide film of some sort, ISO100 (if I go with slide, I'll need to order asap, don't have any at home at moment)

    5) A variety of films listed above.

We've never been to these places (Mazatlan, Ixtapa, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas), have any of you been there before? How safe would it be to be shooting with "attention grabbing" gear, like the D100, F4, or F3HP? I imagine that if we go into an iffy area, we'll just use the Canon P&S if we'll be shooting at all.

Any thoughts on the kits listed above?

--Warren