Advice on lens for holiday

hk3948

hk3948

hk3948

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25 Oct 2004
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510
Hey people. Heading to sri lanka in september. Likely to be a mix of beaches, wildlife and temples. I have a 6d. Looking to get a telephoto for the trip. Looking at the following l series lenses. What are peoples thoughts?

28-300mm
70-300mm
100-400mm

And oddly the 70-200mm purely based on IQ

Will probably initially hire before taking the plunge. What are peoples thoughts or recommendations for best for this trip with regards to focal range but also importantly IQ?

Thanks guys
look forward to your advice
 
Well as you may already be aware, zooms which have a very wide zoom band are typically not as optically comparable to that of primes or zooms with a smaller focal length range. The fact that you are talking about a 70-200... presumably the Canon L series, suggest you want good quality glass.

I'd personally say that for travel, those lenses are all quite long, except perhaps the 28-300 which while it gives your the versatility, isn't the best.

For travel, I think you will be far better suited to a standard zoom, a telephoto might be beneficial if you are intending to take lots of wildlife photos, but they aren't really what you want on your camera as a walk about lens.
 
What do you have already?

Canon/Nikon?

Assuming you have kit lens or similar?

Sounds like a wide-angle would be good for you... 14-24 2.8 is Nikon... whatever Canon equiv may be...
 
So at the moment have a 6d with 17-40 and 24-105. Clearly im not covered for the longer end. Sri lanka is in part famous for its national parks that contain plenty of wildlife lile elephants, leopards and bird life. Im really keen to get some beautiful wildlife shots which I think im gping to struggle to do with my current 24-105.
Im aware of the drawbacks of having large focal ranges, plus those lenses dont have a fixed aperture. Was just wondering what people's experiences of them were and generally what they might recommend for the kind of shots I'm after. Think I have the rest of the holiday covered
 
I would get a Canon 300 F4 IS. It has the range and stability for your wildlife and is also light (compared to long zooms) for travel. The price is pretty reasonable too, around £900.
 
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hk3948 said:
Hey people. Heading to sri lanka in september. Likely to be a mix of beaches, wildlife and temples. I have a 6d. Looking to get a telephoto for the trip. Looking at the following l series lenses. What are peoples thoughts?

28-300mm
70-300mm
100-400mm

And oddly the 70-200mm purely based on IQ

Will probably initially hire before taking the plunge. What are peoples thoughts or recommendations for best for this trip with regards to focal range but also importantly IQ?

Thanks guys
look forward to your advice
Click to expand...


What other lenses would you take?
I assume if you buy a telephoto then you have some other wide and normal length lenses to bring as well?


The 28-300 I would skip, it is very heavy (built like a tank) and optically not that great. If you want to get to 300mm then the 70-300 would be better.


whether you want the 70-200, 70-300 or the 10-400 depends entirely on how much reach you need. For birds you will want at least the 400m, the 70-300 is a great all rounder, the 70-200 is better optically and the aperture allows it to be a great portrait lens (the f/2.8 version).
 
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I would think about the bottom end of the zoom range as well.

If your taking pictures of general touristy stuff and of people in front of buildings, you will want to go down to around 20mm or so. I think the main thing in this situation is to work out what sort of "stuff" you are going to take photos of.
 
hk3948 said:
So at the moment have a 6d with 17-40 and 24-105. Clearly im not covered for the longer end. Sri lanka is in part famous for its national parks that contain plenty of wildlife lile elephants, leopards and bird life. Im really keen to get some beautiful wildlife shots which I think im gping to struggle to do with my current 24-105.
Im aware of the drawbacks of having large focal ranges, plus those lenses dont have a fixed aperture. Was just wondering what people's experiences of them were and generally what they might recommend for the kind of shots I'm after. Think I have the rest of the holiday covered
Click to expand...

Just seen this.

For birds you will want a 100-400mm at the least, and even then will be cropping. For the larger animals the 70-300mm would do (but no point duplicating)

The 17-40mm + 100-400mm will make a handy combo. Add a 50mm prime for any portraits. Personally, IMO the 24-105 wouldn't really be used much because you would either be constantly at the 24-40mm end or at 105mm wanting more. But that is the way I shoot.
 
If I'm traveling with restricted lenses (weight or can't be ****) I always err on the wide side.

You can always crop in, it's impossible to crop out ;)

(17-40mm + 100-400mm is a good suggestion)
 
Cheers for all your suggestions guys. Thinking maybe the 17-40 plus 70-300 for a couple of reasons. Firstly, from reading around it seems the 70-300 is better optically than the 100-400 with better IS which you'd need with that variable aperture. Its also significantly lighter and smaller and wouldn't leave as much of a chasm in the focal range as id have if i only had the 17-40 and 100-400.
It also still offers 3 times the zoom range that my 24-105 does so should be plenty although might lack a little for those tight birdy shots.
 
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