Lens for travelling?

Kol

Kol

Kol

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Alright chaps - just looking for a few suggestions really. Kit list is currently 40D, 24-70 2.8L, 70-200 2.8L.

I'm over in the states for a month as of next week and when I get back I will have finished my notice with my employer which means I'm a free man. A man of leisure. I cannot wait. So after then I will be going travelling which means I need a couple of suitable lenses.

The idea is to shift the 70-200, I haven't used it even once since buying it so feel now is an idea to swap it for something else. I love my 24-70 - brilliant lens and will be keeping that until the day (I'm sure we all hope) Canon make an IS version.

So, I am looking for suggestion on a lens to accompany my 27-40 on my travels. I've been thinking I need something a little wider, I want to stick to L glass also. It would generally be landscapes and probably when in touristy areas general wide shots so I was thinking about the 14mm 2.8L ? I'm also trying to talk myself out of upgrading my 40D. It seems fine, I don't think I have any real need, but the 5Dii is tempting but suppose that could eat a lot of my travelling budget.

Any ideas?
 
Depending on what your budget would be I would put the 16 - 35 into the mix and also if its just purely for landscapes you want possibly a tilt shift.































Oh and I want your 70 - 200 f2.8 but have no money as I'm off to vegas in three weeks :D
 
Camelpaw said:
I know it's not L glass, but what about a Canon 10-22mm to give you ultra-wide capabilities?
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It's not a bad shout. I haven't considered it really. I'll have a read up on the quality of the lens - only wide angle I've played with is the Sigma one and whilst it was great to have such a wide angle I found it a little soft.

Derek W said:
Depending on what your budget would be I would put the 16 - 35 into the mix and also if its just purely for landscapes you want possibly a tilt shift.

snip

Oh and I want your 70 - 200 f2.8 but have no money as I'm off to vegas in three weeks :D
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I have considered the 16-35 but would see it as a bit too much overlap, but then again I could just take the 16-35 and leave my 24-70 at home. That way I only have one lens and it's wide enough and on a crop body the 35 end would be fine also. Good suggestion Derek.

Maybe after Vegas you can consider my 70-200 if I keep it ;)
 
I'd just upgrade the body - a full frame will negate the need for expensive ultra-wide L glass while improving low light performance. I'd personally prefer a 24-105/24-120 on full frame as a travelling combo but the 24-70 will do fine...

Any L glass you're talking about is £1000+, add the profit from selling your old body and the 5DII is almost cost neutral - you'll never have a better excuse than that!
 
I'd perhaps suggest shifting the 70-200 f/2.8 and replacing it with a 70-200 f/4 IS depending on where you're going (animals/landscapes around?).

I'd also suggest replacing the 24-70, I know you love it but it's massive and takes up a lot of space and weight. Perhaps get either a small prime (28 f/1.8 or 35 f/2) or a 17-5x of some kind. Of those you really have 3, the Tamron, very small and light but very flimsy, the Sigma, similar size but probably slightly heavier and better built and the Canon which is a lot bigger and heavier.

As for wide I'd stick with either a Canon 10-22 or a Tokina 12-24. Both similar in size and range as well as quality. If you decided to go for a 17-5x f/2.8 however I'd go for a Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 instead so you don't have any overlap.

So something like:

11-16 f/2.8
17-55 f/2.8
70-200 f/4

Covers all ranges and still pretty light. You could always add a 1.4TC if you wanted extra reach as well. :)


Or you could just go crazy and get a m4/3 camera. Something like the Panasonic GF1 with 14-45 and 45-200 lenses. Problem with that is 14 isn't very wide on that camera (28mm equivilent) and the 45-200 isn't brilliant IQ wise.

Really depends what sort of travelling you want to do and where/what you want to shoot. If you want to do some backpacking/light weight travelling for a few months then the GF1 or cut down 40D kit would be very good, few weeks here and there then maybe a full 40D kit would be fine.:)

At the moment I have a Tokina 12-24, Canon 35 f/2, 70-200 f/4 and a 400D and it's nice and small, meaning I can take it (or a combination of lenses) anywhere I want without much issue yet still get pin sharp shots in a variety of environments and not feel like I'm missing anything. As an example I took this kit and a small tripod walking in America for a month just a few weeks ago. I changed almost my kit around just before I went for the size reason. Although I loved the versatility of my 24-70 (sigma) and 300 f/4L they were just too big and bulky for travelling. I definately don't regret replacing them (although I may purchase a 300 f/4 again in the future).
 
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bigredshark said:
Any L glass you're talking about is £1000+, add the profit from selling your old body and the 5DII is almost cost neutral - you'll never have a better excuse than that!
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That is very good man-maths. I approve :D

Another vote for the 5D MKii. 24mm of a FF body is about right for landscapes IMO
 
footman said:
Except that the 24-105 is said to be not so good wide open on a FF body. Which is why it looks so good on my 1.3X crop :D
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I couldn't say for sure but my friend was shooting with a 5DI and 24-105 (actually a possibly screwed 24-105 as she's given it a really nasty knock) and the results are impressive (that is to say, better than mine - grrr). It seems pretty sharp right across the range to me...
 
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