Which lens combo to take?...

[GSiGuy]

Going to Kunming, Lijiang, Shangri La for 10 days with the fiancee, and still undecided which lens combo i should bring of these 2:-

Combo A :- DA 12-24, Sigma 24-70, DAL 55-300 + 1 fast prime (most probably FA 31) - Main Advantage: Versatility ; Main Disadvantage: Weight (but not too bad)

Combo B:- DA 12-24, FA 31, FA 43 & FA 77 + maybe F 70-210. Main Advantage: Better IQ & Lighter ; Main Disadvantge: More lens changes.

All will fit into a Domke F-2 (which i find quite useful for holding lenses whilst changing them on your feet).

In addition, i will be carrying a Super Program with an A 24-50 lens (and the usual stuff like tripod, flash, etc).

Any suggestions?

 

[pinholecam]

My suggestion, bring less.
You won't use all the lenses that you bring enough if you bring too many.

So option #2.
DA12-24 - Landscapes; streets; wide scenes; those "fiancee" was there photos
FA31 - Fast lens; General walkabout; do it all lens (portraits; environmental portraits; streets; etc) - basically it can do a bit of everything
FA77 - Portait lens; candid portraits; short tele purposes (eg. scene compression )

MHO.


Edit :
If you look up my Yogyakarta travel thread as an example, it gives a general idea what was used.
Most of the time, it was 10-20 and FA35. The M85/2 only got use on very few occasions
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/land-city-scapes-travel/1090902-[pinholecam]-ticket-yogyakarta.html

 

[otc]

My take,

Da 12-24 for landscapes
Sigma 24-70mm for walkabout.
Fa 43 for portraiture of fiancee and not too tight

Travel light as its lots of places to walk and carry

otc

 

[detritus]

i just spent a week in london with the 18-55WR and DA40XS ;p

used the 18-55 most of the time and it made me wish that i hadn't sold my 16-50 :cry: it was a good travelling lens.

my pref is max 2 lenses and just make do with what u have... it doesn't help to bring too many lenses because there's usually no time to change lenses. i hate having to keep track of rear caps, lens caps and all kinds of stuff while i'm on the road.

 

[otc]

i just spent a week in london with the 18-55WR and DA40XS ;p

used the 18-55 most of the time and it made me wish that i hadn't sold my 16-50 :cry: it was a good travelling lens.

my pref is max 2 lenses and just make do with what u have... it doesn't help to bring too many lenses because there's usually no time to change lenses. i hate having to keep track of rear caps, lens caps and all kinds of stuff while i'm on the road.

When I travell yearly, I have a constant 17-50 zoom f2.8 sigma and that always glued to my camera body. I usually carry additoinal macro lens, usually vivitar 105 along in case some unusual critters appears overseas,. Yes, travel light is very very important


otc

 

[GSiGuy]

Hmmmm... ok, thank you for all the suggestions and tips, guys. Yes, i definitely i shld travel lighter and i will shed some weight. As it goes, i am stil weighing towards Combo B, less at least 1 prime.

 

[SyncGuy]

DA 12-24 and Siggy 24-70. That's all...

 

[fengwei]

12-24 + 31 + 55-300, that's all you need for those beautiful places. You don't want to take pure bokeh shots there, better have those beautiful background clean and clear even when you are taking photos of your beautiful fiancee.

Have fun and enjoy the trip. Wish I could go too.

 

[GSiGuy]

12-24 + 31 + 55-300, that's all you need for those beautiful places. You don't want to take pure bokeh shots there, better have those beautiful background clean and clear even when you are taking photos of your beautiful fiancee.

Have fun and enjoy the trip. Wish I could go too.

Thanks for the tip, Master Feng Wei! I am likely to go with that!

Yes, it would be good to have you on the trip too so all can take pictures together!!

 

[fengwei]

Thanks for the tip, Master Feng Wei! I am likely to go with that!

Yes, it would be good to have you on the trip too so all can take pictures together!!

Actually I'm thinking of organising a photo trip there sometime next year, mostly in March to April 2013. Wonder if we'd get enough interest to make it .

 

[GSiGuy]

Actually I'm thinking of organising a photo trip there sometime next year, mostly in March to April 2013. Wonder if we'd get enough interest to make it .

Not a bad idea. Seems very picturesque.

 

[machiavellian]

I'd just bring the 31.

 

[ndhonghai]

My combination is:
DA 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 WR (all purpose)
DFA 50mm f2.8 macro (especially for portrait or macro)

 

[SyncGuy]

My reply:

Bring whatever lens, preferably zoom, and with a mindset to standby more money for re-visits... LoL!

 

[Wei Jen]

If it's for a trip with the fiancee, I think the 12-24 is the only lens you'll need because you'll be shooting a lot of "Snap me with this thing" photos, and more often than not, the landmark is really large. In my vacations, I found that I'm facing mostly very large open space or very tight indoors. So to me, the wide angle is the most ideal for vacations.

 

[GSiGuy]

I eventually followed FW's suggestion and brought the 12-24, 31 & 55-300. I also brought along a 100 macro. Turned out to be well used and not a bad combo. The 12-24 was of course used most often.

I will share my pictures and thoughts shortly about this lens combo on my trip.

 

[GSiGuy]

Managed to review most of the pics and get some PP'd so i can give my review of the lens combo for my trip.

As i've mentioned before, the 12-24 stayed on the camera most of the time and the first thing i would say is that the ability to go wider than 16mm (DA*) or 17mm (17-50 2,8s) or 18mm (which is the most common for superzooms) adds much drama to landscape photos, especially if you include alot of sky...

 

[GSiGuy]

The 2nd thing about the 12-24 is that (compared to a prime) you can use the more telephoto end to frame your pictures better too. There is no denying the flexibility of a UWA zoom.

The rooftops of Lijiang Old Town @ 21mm

The new Visitors Centre before you reach the Tiger leaping Gorge @ 24mm

Shangri La Old Town @ 18mm

Banyan Tree Lijiang @ 21mm

ShanZongLing Monastery (also named in Tibetan as stated in pic) @ 24mm

 

[GSiGuy]

But what gives it walkabout ability status is that it can do...

Its tele enough to do some portrait work without much distortion

"I was there" environmental portraits

Some street photography (although i don't know why i got so much distortion on the top left of the last pic).

I'll talk about the DAL 55-300mm next...

 

[GSiGuy]

Btw this is what all the equipment looks like in my Domke F-2...

Extra batteries, SD cards, caps, 3-in-1 blower/cleaner and Vari ND filter goes into the front pockets. Gorillapod goes in one side pocket and the other is free for my other stuff, like a water bottle. The back pocket is great to stuff travel documents and passport.