Travelling lenses advise

[Andrew Ng]

Maybe this would help... My Travel Set up 4~10 days

With Family
D80 + Grip
D300
18~200
12~24
10~17
500mm R.Mirror
50mm + Ex.Tube
SB800 + Cord
1.8m Tripod
Water + Umbrella
CPL, ND, GD Filters
Remote Cord
LOADS of Batteries

On Photographic Trip
D80 + Grip
D300
17~35 f/2.8
12~24
28~105
80~200
10~17
1.4x TC
500mm R.Mirror
50mm + Ex.Tube
SB800 + Cord
1.8m Tripod
Water + Umbrella
CPL, ND, GD Filters
Remote Cord

You have a fantastic camera, if possible, Add/ bring 14~24, 24~70, 70~200 + Tripod

... bottom line is ... How serious is photography to you and what is the purpose of the trip. Don't come back and say ****! I wished I had my 70~200! :-}

Cheers!

 

[NineEleven]

The 50 1.4 would be nice for shallow DOF & sharp pics. You'll need wide angle for architecture & landscape that Europe offers.

I would recommend the 18-35 F3.5/4.5 which is cheap & light. Great for interiors as well. Or the 17-35 F2.8 for better results but adds weight & size.

Bring along the older 28-105 or 24-120 for good range & light weight as well.

I would leave the heavy & bulky 70-200 F2.8 @ home unless you want some serious pics

You can take pictures in almost all museums & churches but without flash please. Discreet would be best when a sermon is going on.

To be frank, I wouldn't want to worry too much about changing lenses in the street & carrying heavy staffs around. You're supposed to enjoy the trip. A famous photographer once said, "the more you carry, the less you shoot" If he has only a lens to use, it would be a fast 50mm.

Or maybe just the 24-70 would be good enough.

 

[wildsoyabean]

wha ....u guys are serious...bring so much stuff...
i think im walk too much for all these le...shag if carry 70-200 + d700 + tripod some more = die.

super travel light = 18-55 vr -1kg?
semi light = 18-55 + 50mm - 1.2kg?
abit more = 18-270 + 50mm (85% i used this) 1.5-2kg?
going crazy = 12-24 + 18-270 + 50 + flash + tripod + all the filters (weigh at least 5-6kg.) + water + food = 7kg
more than army sbo + rifle. can chiong soc le.

 

[DaRkRaVeRz]

Wau!!!Wth my D90,18-200mm,17-55mm,sb800 n CF tripod,for travellin,gt no fight leh,wth those arsenal mention above!!!!Bt fully satisfied wth all pics result..even at nite safari...In my opinion....Bro,enjoy d holiday rather than tinking bout wat to bring...family enjoyment first...

 

[entitybeing]

hey, get the 14-24 instead. would help you cover wide. then 70-200vr to cover zoom. settle the mid range by dunking in your 50 1.4 instead of the 24-70. 24-70 way bigger. adjust your shots by walking whilst you get to shoot ultra lowlight too. yep
cheers!

 

[robotech]

hey, get the 14-24 instead. would help you cover wide. then 70-200vr to cover zoom. settle the mid range by dunking in your 50 1.4 instead of the 24-70. 24-70 way bigger. adjust your shots by walking whilst you get to shoot ultra lowlight too. yep
cheers!

Thats a good idea!

 

[calvin]

hey, get the 14-24 instead. would help you cover wide. then 70-200vr to cover zoom. settle the mid range by dunking in your 50 1.4 instead of the 24-70. 24-70 way bigger. adjust your shots by walking whilst you get to shoot ultra lowlight too. yep
cheers!

Hmm.. this is a very good idea.. I think now I can consider purchasing 14-24 or 24-70 which is abt the same price.. :think:

 

[chngpe01]

For me, if with family - a point and shoot digicam

 

[Xiao_shin]

If going with family, D700 + 24-120VR should be good enough.

If photographic trip, get the 24-70 and bring 70-200VR.

 

[akdwivedi]

If going with family, D700 + 24-120VR should be good enough.

If photographic trip, get the 24-70 and bring 70-200VR.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[b18]

Agree. For a family trip, you are not creating strobist or ultra sharp photos rite ?
Just go with the basic.

On my honeymoon early this year, I only carry D700 , 17-35 and my old 28-105 + SB-800
[as I don't have SB-600 anymore and the SB-900 is much bigger ] on the compact Billingham 206 bag.

We both enjoyed our trip .

If I were to carry my 24-70, 70-200 and 35/1.4 , I think I won't enjoy it at all !

With D700, ISO 6400 is not a problem and ISO 25600 is very artistic

 

[Andrew Ng]

No Wonder my Wife Stop going Trips with me. :bsmilie::bsmilie::bsmilie:

Enjoy the Trip. :bsmilie:

Cheers!

 

[mcn]

No Wonder my Wife Stop going Trips with me. :bsmilie::bsmilie::bsmilie:

then you can room in with another guy, wow

 

[Dinosour]

I'm having the similar question as TS.
Well, my combination will be...
- D700
- 14-24mm for wide angle shots (considering to replace with 20mm prime but unfortunately no budget)
- 28-105mm (just got from CSer at B&S)
- 50mm 1.8
- LX3 (as back up).

I'm going to keep my 24-70 & 70-200 & SB800 at home.

 

[sequitur]

hmmm

i'm in quite the same dilemma, but i've since decided on

a 5d (don't kill me - but it's the only canon thing )

and nikons
a fe2
24mm
35mm
50mm
and 105mm


if i have it my way, the 50mm should be on my 5d most of the time and the 35mm on my fe2 most of the time.

the 24mm will be the substitute lens for the 5d, and the 105mm would be the substitute for the fe2... although i'm quite sure it will find mounting time on the 5d should i need to shoot tele landscapes.

total weight goes till about 2.7kg which i will be carrying around in a normal deuter daypack (though most of the time the cameras will be carried)

discrete enough? maybe not... oops.

 

[KNIGHT ONG]

Rest and Relax trip - PNS will do.

Photo trip - Full gears includes laptop.

 

[thingie]

i travel mostly with a 17-35, 50 1.4 and 70-200. and maybe either a fisheye or 35mm. That and my tripod.

Esp for europe, you'd love the UWA. There's so much you can do with it (architecturally) and catching stuff and shooting details with the 70-200 would be good too. The 50's for low light or portraiture (though i tend to use the UWA for that as well heh)

 

[Randius]

I will suggest 24-70 (or 24-120) alone. D700's high ISO performance is good enough for the 24-70 to gain similar shutter speed as the 50/1.4D, just that DOF cannot be as shallow. 24mm on FX is also pretty wide for most landscape/urbanscape shots. If you are going with your family, take as little gear as possible; else, take the 70-200 as well. A good backpack will ease the weight issue.

 

[zj2000]

I went to Italy middle last year with a 8mm FE, 10-22 and a sigma 18-125. I used the UWA 80% of the time and the sigma maybe 15% of the time and the FE 5% of the time. I'm not really a UWA freak mind you, I seldom shoot UWA in singapore or during my trips to Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Just that in Italy, all the buildings and churches are so grand and the streets so narrow that you seldom have enough space to backup. Sometimes even 10mm is not wide enough and I'll use the FE and figure out how to de fisheye them when i get back. You'll need a good software to correct the prespective distortions too.

 

[sf_kang]

Hi Calvin, you did not mention which part of Europe (northern Europe, south, eastern), and did not mention what you are likely to shoot (mountain scenery in Switzerland, or cityscapes, museums (like in Paris, Barcelona, Rome).

Safety first: in some European cities, please exercise caution and be very alert. Carrying expensive equipment is OK provided you are careful and are travelling with companions and can keep a lookout for each other. I once had my camera bag snatched off in Milan, Italy. Some friends too have lost their photo equipment to snatch thieves. Now with the safety note out of the way, the lens choice very much depends on what you're likely to shoot.

The 24-70/2.8 will likely be most useful for most shots. I won't bother to bring the 50/1.4 since you can always dial up the ISO and the D700 handles high ISO well (I shoot with a D3). The 70-200/2.8 will let you get details when you are too far from subjects, e.g. like shooting performances from further back in a crowd. If you expect to shoot wide sceneries, or shooting within tight quarters, then the 20/2.8 prime is handy (I carry the 14-24/2.8 but this is a heavy lens). This combi is good when you want max versatility and have to shoot 'on the run'.

On trips when I can shoot at a more leisurely pace, I bring only 3 prime lenses (the CarlZeiss ZF25/2.8, ZF50/2.0, ZF100/2.0). I also always bring a Canon Powershot G10 as and backup and for those times when I don't wish to bring out a 'big' camera especially to places I consider 'unsafe'.

Hope this helps.
Fred