Bringing a DSLR on Holiday
- Thread starter 2StepSteve
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Your ok as you have 3 cameras Raymond
This made me chuckle
I'm trying to decide now which lenses to take.
My 70-300L and the 24-105L will definitely have a place in the travel bag.
But which prime would you take out of Sigma 35mm, Canon 85mm or Canon 100L Macro?
Leaning towards the 35mm.
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I take all my cameras and my baby and 3 year old. Just make sure it's insured and get on with it. Last time i took my D610, 50mm f/1.8, 85mm f/1.8, F6 with 50mm f1.8 and Fuji GA645Zi and a billion rolls of film. Hardly ever used because i spent the whole holiday running after a toddler but that's another story..
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Hmm - A part of me thinks that the 70-300L would be very useful though, great focal range.
Caporegime
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But is it great focal range for your holiday.
If you are heading to New York then it would not be my choice. It depends where you are headed.
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I see what you mean.
I'm heading to a beach location in Majorca but do plan to go on excursions.
If I go to a sea life centre I think I will be crying for the 70-300L.. hmmm.
More recently, for me, a camera on holiday is for more creative stuff these days, things I think would be interesting to me from a photographic rather than a documentary point of view- a lot of things are better seen with the eyes and remembered, with the camera left in the bag. So I normally take a couple of primes for aperture.
For more documentary stuff (I call them "snaps", but not meant in a bad way) I'd take zooms for the wider choice of focal lengths.
What I'm saying is, try and envisage what sort of role you want the photographs to take, then base your gear choice around that.
If you're not sure, take less pants and socks and more lenses
I've taken a 70-300 on every single hpliday for the last 8 years or so, never regretted it once. But I like that kind of focal length. Obvious good for wildlife but also makes for a good portrait lens at the wide end, great for landscapes, the tele end is also good for close to macro capabilities, all round still life, and even architecture. Most of my architecture shots are actually taken at fair long focal lengths because to shoot wider I generally find you need a PC/TS lens to control perspective. You can also get fairly good Bokeh out of them due to the focal length.
So it all depends on what you like to shoot but I find the 70-300 so versatile, and they are pretty light as well.
Some people would like nothing more than a fast prime attached to their camera for the whole holiday. I see the appeal if you shoot certain things, but those things don't appeal to me on holiday. I tend to shove a 35mm in the pack because it is small but I rarely take it out but it is nice to get a small light package. These days I am tending to take my DSLR with the longest lens suitable for the job (either 300mm f/4 with 1.4xTC or a 70-200mm f/2.8 or 70-300mm), and my Olympus Epm-2 with kit lens for casual modest wide to normal focal length shots.
If you use the 70-300mm a lot at home then there is a good chance you will want that focal length on holiday. If you rarely touch the lens but think there might be 1 or 2 opportunities then you need to think how important they are. Personally, I regret taking a load of lenses I never uses but I regret even more missing an opportunity because I don't have the lens. This is veyr true of wildlife photography , you can load up on your heaviest gear with heavy tripods etc and go trekking for 8 hrs and not take a single photo. But you never know what you will find, Some of my best photos have come when I was very close to leaving all the gear in the car.
So it all depends on what you like to shoot but I find the 70-300 so versatile, and they are pretty light as well.
Some people would like nothing more than a fast prime attached to their camera for the whole holiday. I see the appeal if you shoot certain things, but those things don't appeal to me on holiday. I tend to shove a 35mm in the pack because it is small but I rarely take it out but it is nice to get a small light package. These days I am tending to take my DSLR with the longest lens suitable for the job (either 300mm f/4 with 1.4xTC or a 70-200mm f/2.8 or 70-300mm), and my Olympus Epm-2 with kit lens for casual modest wide to normal focal length shots.
If you use the 70-300mm a lot at home then there is a good chance you will want that focal length on holiday. If you rarely touch the lens but think there might be 1 or 2 opportunities then you need to think how important they are. Personally, I regret taking a load of lenses I never uses but I regret even more missing an opportunity because I don't have the lens. This is veyr true of wildlife photography , you can load up on your heaviest gear with heavy tripods etc and go trekking for 8 hrs and not take a single photo. But you never know what you will find, Some of my best photos have come when I was very close to leaving all the gear in the car.
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