Peru gear advice

jonneymendoza · 12 Jan 2016 at 16:51

Hi all.

i am all set in going to Peru in 5months time however i cant decide what gear to bring specifically for the amazon rainforest.

Here are the current gear i have to toy with:

Cameras:

Sony a7r2

Sony a7s

Canon 5d3

Lenses:

Canon 16-35 f2.8 mk2

Canon 24-70 f2.8 mk2

Canon 70-200f2.8 mk2

Canon 85mm f1.2

Sigma 35 f1.4 ART Canon mount

Sony zeis 55mm f1.8

14mm Samyang f2.8

Places i will visit:

Lima

Cuzco

Machu picchu

Sacred valley

Manu Amazon rainforest

Duration:

3 weeks.

Before i decided on the amazon rainforest i was tossing and turning on just bring one of my wide angle primes and a 55, or just the 24-70 canon lens(i have metabones adapter for my sony's but now i am debating bring my 70-200f2.8 lens for the forest!

I want to travel as light as i can for obvious reasons so the 5d3 is most definitely staying home but the lenses is what is giving me a headache as of course i dont wanna bring everything with me lol.

Thoughts?

Spleen Sauce · 12 Jan 2016 at 16:59

My suggestions is to take your most robust kit, weather sealed if at all possible. I don't really speak Canon, but the 5D3 is going to give you considerably better battery life than the A7 series I'd have thought, though you may be happy travelling with a lot of batteries.

My choice would probably be the A7R2, get a battery grip and go with the Canon 24-70 via Metabones. Take the Samyang too if you have room.

jonneymendoza · 12 Jan 2016 at 17:37

Thats a good point. i was thinkiing of that.

Although the a7r2 is no slough to be fair but as you say the battery life is not on par with the canon.

id lose IQ if i was to go with the canon and added bulk/weight

traveyb · 12 Jan 2016 at 20:32

Just keep extra batteries in your pocket, really isn't that big a deal. Not worth the loss in IQ and the extra weight tbh.

Amp34 · 12 Jan 2016 at 20:52

If you weren't going to the forest and you had more lenses I would say go for one of the sonys. You don't though so I'd take the 5D3 as well. Weather sealing is a must as well.

You will want a long lens, could always buy a 70-300 to tide you over if you want light weight but a bit of range, however it's slow for forest work, you'll really want a 2.8 lens ideally.

So from the kit you have is say the 5D and first three lenses, however i could probably think of better lenses for a trip like this.

D.P. · 12 Jan 2016 at 21:36

Rainforests are really, really dark, like unbelievably dark. I was in Costa Rica last March and f/4.0 at ISO 6400 was often giving shutter speeds of 1/50th a second, occasionally 1/200th when I was lucky. Saying that, despite being filled to the brim with animals most of them are really small and up in the canopy, you tend not to see too much.

It is also very wet so you want soemthign weather sealed and rugged.

englishpremier · 12 Jan 2016 at 22:13

I recently spent a fair amount of time in Peru. I don't have any advice on kit though.

The time you're going should be fairly dry. The worst of the rain will be over and it should be cooling down. Which can be cold since much of the country is at altitude.

I used an A7 and and mostly the 35mm 2.8 and the 10-18 f4. In Cusco you'll want something in the 35-55 range, and perhaps wider at Machu Picchu. In the rain Forrest you'll mostly want some kind of long zoom.

Do make sure you take time to get used to the altitude. I arrived from Bolivia, but still wasn't at full fitness running around Cusco and MP.

If you've got time in Cusco, check out the Salinas de Maras, it's on the way to MP by road.

Razor-BladE · 12 Jan 2016 at 22:35

I really enjoyed using my wide angle when I went to Peru so I'd definitely be taking that. General 24-70 is a good shout as well.
Can't comment on taking a long lens as I didn't go into the rainforest.

Edit: Just checked my LR and the 10-22mm was all I took for South America! Guess I wanted to travel light!

jonneymendoza · 13 Jan 2016 at 09:45

quality!

munge · 16 Jan 2016 at 23:12

I'll second DP, I shot lemurs in rainforest in Madagascar with the Canon 75-300 lens (and admittedly a 40D) and really struggled to get a usable shutter speed without going crazy higher with ISO settings.

I then went to Borneo with the 5Diii and the 2.8 70-200 and the difference was incredible. They're a great combination but they are quite heavy.

jonneymendoza · 17 Jan 2016 at 00:17

munge said:
I'll second DP, I shot lemurs in rainforest in Madagascar with the Canon 75-300 lens (and admittedly a 40D) and really struggled to get a usable shutter speed without going crazy higher with ISO settings.

I then went to Borneo with the 5Diii and the 2.8 70-200 and the difference was incredible. They're a great combination but they are quite heavy.

wow nice i am leaning towards bringing the 70-200!

CGrieves · 18 Jan 2016 at 13:02

jonneymendoza said:
wow nice i am leaning towards bringing the 70-200!

I own one and I'd think twice about lugging it around my house, let alone a rainforest... especially now I'm used to mirrorless.

From your list I'd be bringing the A7s, the 14mm for wide/landscape, the Sigma 35mm for general as it's fast and weather sealed (I believe the Zeiss isn't) and something long and fast.

Given the Sony has great high ISO, could you get away with a long prime, perhaps even F4 to keep the weight down?

jonneymendoza · 18 Jan 2016 at 13:08

CGrieves said:
I own one and I'd think twice about lugging it around my house, let alone a rainforest... especially now I'm used to mirrorless.

From your list I'd be bringing the A7s, the 14mm for wide/landscape, the Sigma 35mm for general as it's fast and weather sealed (I believe the Zeiss isn't) and something long and fast.

Given the Sony has great high ISO, could you get away with a long prime, perhaps even F4 to keep the weight down?

What about a Batis 85mm? out of stock i know but if i pre order now i should get one within the next month or so.

Also, what about bring both a7s and a7r2? overkill?

CGrieves · 18 Jan 2016 at 15:08

jonneymendoza said:
What about a Batis 85mm? out of stock i know but if i pre order now i should get one within the next month or so.

Epic lens, but would it be long enough?

Also, what about bring both a7s and a7r2? overkill?

I was thinking that after posting- S for the Rainforest and R2 for Machu Pichu landscapes would be ideal....

Do you have a home base to leave gear at, or are you lugging the lot?

jonneymendoza · 20 Jan 2016 at 14:54

i will be lugging it around.

now i am swinging towards bringing my 5d3 and a7r2.

why?

the 5d3 will be tougher and work better with canon glass for obvious reasons plus besides resolution and DR, the 5d3 is still a great camera.

if i do bring a 5d3 i would use it with a 24-70 and bring my a7r2 permatletly attached to my super wide 14mm samyang. So if i need super wide shots or more DR i will use the a7r2.

i had a similar setup when i went new york. i brought a a7s and a 5d3 with me

munge · 20 Jan 2016 at 22:54

I dont do super wide pics, does the extra 2mm make all that difference?

Could you not rent/borrow something wider for the 5D so you're only taking the one body, or similarly, rent/borrow a 24-70 equivalent for the Sony so you're only taking the Sony body?

CGrieves · 21 Jan 2016 at 11:44

munge said:
I dont do super wide pics, does the extra 2mm make all that difference?

Could you not rent/borrow something wider for the 5D so you're only taking the one body, or similarly, rent/borrow a 24-70 equivalent for the Sony so you're only taking the Sony body?

Yeah a few millimeters mean a lot at the wide end.

I guess the Sony+Samyang won't add massively more bulk than taking an EF-mount UWA lens, and it avoids lens swapping.

Looking forward to seeing pics... I liked your other travels.

jonneymendoza · 21 Jan 2016 at 16:01

CGrieves said:
Yeah a few millimeters mean a lot at the wide end.

I guess the Sony+Samyang won't add massively more bulk than taking an EF-mount UWA lens, and it avoids lens swapping.

Looking forward to seeing pics... I liked your other travels.

Cheers i will had lots of pics here dont worry!

jonneymendoza · 26 Apr 2016 at 07:55

englishpremier said:
I recently spent a fair amount of time in Peru. I don't have any advice on kit though.

The time you're going should be fairly dry. The worst of the rain will be over and it should be cooling down. Which can be cold since much of the country is at altitude.

I used an A7 and and mostly the 35mm 2.8 and the 10-18 f4. In Cusco you'll want something in the 35-55 range, and perhaps wider at Machu Picchu. In the rain Forrest you'll mostly want some kind of long zoom.

Do make sure you take time to get used to the altitude. I arrived from Bolivia, but still wasn't at full fitness running around Cusco and MP.

If you've got time in Cusco, check out the Salinas de Maras, it's on the way to MP by road.

thanks for the response.

I have a few questions to ask About MP.

Did you do a inca trail or did you wonder into MP yourself?

I would like to take this one day hike on my own https://www.audleytravel.com/peru/things-to-do/km104-day-hike-to-machu-picchu but it does seem i have to buy a licence from inca trail in order to do it?