Lens advice for Pearl Harbor tour

[Rob-downunder]

Hi all

I am currently in Hawaii on vacation and will be doing the Pearl Harbor tour in a couple of days. You can take a dslr but no bags, so I am restricted to a single lens. I am not sure which to take my 24-104 L or 16-35 F4 IS. Can anyone who has been give me their suggestions as to which would be most suitable. Please don't suggest other options as these are the lenses I have with me whilst travelling and I won't be purchasing any additional equipment.

Thanks in advance.

Rob

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Is it a water tour? If so, probably more important is a polarizing filter. I'd take the 24-105L but that's because I seldom am successful at wide shots. If you will be getting up close to some large objects, then the wider lens is better.

 

[studeb]

I'd say take them both. If you or a friend have a purse put the second in it. They do say no bags but i remember them being leniant when we were there last summer with a 50 on a film body.and a 24-70 on a crop.
You could pick up a used film body for $10 to mount and carry the second lens on, that should work too.

 

[Ryananthony]

I'd say take them both. If you or a friend have a purse put the second in it. They do say no bags but i remember them being leniant when we were there last summer with a 50 on a film body.and a 24-70 on a crop.
You could pick up a used film body for $10 to mount and carry the second lens on, that should work too.

Thinking outside the box.

 

[kaswindell]

I'd say take them both. If you or a friend have a purse put the second in it. They do say no bags but i remember them being leniant when we were there last summer with a 50 on a film body.and a 24-70 on a crop.
You could pick up a used film body for $10 to mount and carry the second lens on, that should work too.

Thinking outside the box.

+1 - great idea Don!

 

[Rob-downunder]

Thanks for the replies so far. Whilst I like the idea of a second body, that won't be happening as I won't have time to source one and the wife wouldn't want to carry it. I want to know what the majority of photo ops on the day will require. Should I go the standard zoom, or won't that be wide enough, or do I go with the UWA and maybe risk being too far away. For anyone who has been what did you use? I will be taking a polariser with either lens. My tour will include the Arizona memorial, the Missouri battleship, a submarine and the aviation museum.

 

[lux]

Circular polarize is important. I have 2 photos of USS Arizona that are identical except for turning the polarizer. With one you see the oil on top,of the water and the second you see the ship under the water. Very dramatic difference...both great.

 

[Pookie]

I've done this tour many times and have taken many images with the 17-40, 16-35 f/4, 50L and 24-70 II. I have one of those really douchey vests for fly fishing just for these times. I can carry 2-3 extra lenses in the pockets and have never been stopped at any venue. I just used this trick for the USS Hornet tour where you're only allowed one bag 12in 12in x 8 inch. I carried a 70-200 on camera, 50L, 16-35 f/4 and 15mm rect fisheye... never carried a bag at all.

 

[slclick]

I'd say take them both. If you or a friend have a purse put the second in it. They do say no bags but i remember them being leniant when we were there last summer with a 50 on a film body.and a 24-70 on a crop.
You could pick up a used film body for $10 to mount and carry the second lens on, that should work too.

Thinking outside the box.

+1 - great idea Don!

Oh, I'll be using this one for sure. (Busted EOS film body with spare BR strap)

 

[Daan Stam]

I'd say take them both. If you or a friend have a purse put the second in it. They do say no bags but i remember them being leniant when we were there last summer with a 50 on a film body.and a 24-70 on a crop.
You could pick up a used film body for $10 to mount and carry the second lens on, that should work too.

Thinking outside the box.

haha that is a really good tip i might just use that sometime

 

[Luckshot]

I don’t think anyone has mentioned cargo shorts pockets.

 

[Coz]

If you have frame DSLR of the two lenses you mentioned I would take the 16-35. Once you are on the Arizona Memorial everything is close and you'll want to take pics of the memorial wall with names in one frame. I agree that a polarizer will help if you wish to take pictures of the hull underwater.

If you will also be going on the USS Missouri, then the wide angle is even more critical as the vastness of the ships exterior demands a wide angle, while the tight quarters below deck also demand a wide angle.

Furthermore, if you will be visiting the Pacific Air Museum (also on Ford Island), the wide angle will also serve you well.

If you take a car to the visitors center, you can take pictures of the Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri with your 24-105 and leave it in the car when you are ready to take a launch to the Arizona.

Enjoy your trip. The visit to the USS Arizona is a very moving experience. And if you go to the Missouri or the Air Museum, taking the shuttle onto Ford Island is also special as you imagine how it must have been 75 years ago...

 

[bholliman]

If you have frame DSLR of the two lenses you mentioned I would take the 16-35. Once you are on the Arizona Memorial everything is close and you'll want to take pics of the memorial wall with names in one frame. I agree that a polarizer will help if you wish to take pictures of the hull underwater.

If you will also be going on the USS Missouri, then the wide angle is even more critical as the vastness of the ships exterior demands a wide angle, while the tight quarters below deck also demand a wide angle.

Furthermore, if you will be visiting the Pacific Air Museum (also on Ford Island), the wide angle will also serve you well.

If you take a car to the visitors center, you can take pictures of the Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri with your 24-105 and leave it in the car when you are ready to take a launch to the Arizona.

Enjoy your trip. The visit to the USS Arizona is a very moving experience. And if you go to the Missouri or the Air Museum, taking the shuttle onto Ford Island is also special as you imagine how it must have been 75 years ago...

We will be taking these tours in June, thanks for the advice!

 

[Rob-downunder]

Thanks Coz for the info. I'll definitely take the 16-35 as you advise. Everyone else who replied was focused on how to take multiple lenses rather than just answering the question asked. I am off on the tour at 6 am tomorrow- needless to say I am looking forward to the 11 hour day more than my wife - but I did spend today shopping with her !!!

 

[j-nord]

I don’t think anyone has mentioned cargo shorts pockets.

I was scrollin through the comments to see if this was mentioned. Its easy and an obvious solution.

 

[Coz]

Did your tour of Pearl and photo opportunities work out well?

 

[Rob-downunder]

I did the Pearl Harbor day and had a great time. The 16-35 was the perfect lens for the day, there was only 1 shot I would have liked a longer focal length for, but that was no issue and certainly not worth dragging an extra lens around all day. For anyone doing the tour in future, you can't take handbags, backpacks, camera bags etc in, but by the time you take camera, wallet, sunglasses, hat, reading glasses, polarising filter, spare battery etc etc your pockets are stuffed full and uncomfortable. I took an empty plastic bag like you get from a store, and folded that flat and took it in my pocket as well. Once through the entrance, take the bag out, empty your pockets into it and away you go.

We did the bowfin submarine, Arizona memorial, Missouri battleship and pacific air museum. Of these the first 3 were great, but I didn't enjoy the air museum, which was a surprise as I like planes and aviation stuff. The tour guide for that section was terrible, it was like he was trying to put on a corny one man show rather than just delivering the necessary information in a professional manner whilst injecting a bit of personality.

So if I was going again I'd do the first 3 and skip the air museum. Definitely take the UWA lens 16-35 on full frame or 10-22 / 10-18 on crop.

Thanks to all those who contributed.

Rob

 

[Coz]

I'm glad it worked out fairly well for you. Too bad you had a bad tour guide at the air museum. I was lucky and had a great one the first time, but another time I just went in and wandered around by myself.

If you were with a tour group I guess you didn't have any control over the guide and had limited time to see it on your own. They do have a nice collection of aircraft. And the setting is special.

 

[bholliman]

This morning, my son (age 17) and I completed the Arizona Memorial, Missouri and Pacific Air Museum tours. I took my 5DsR with EF 16-35 f/4 IS and CPL mounted and captured lots of great shots. I was surprised how well the IS on this lens performed at slow shutter speeds hand held. I took quite a few interior shots on the Missouri and air museum at 1/10 of a second, down to 1/2 second and almost all looked sharp at maximum zoom on the LCD. It will be some time before I have time to process any pictures, so hopefully they look nearly as good on the computer screen.

My original plan had been to have my son carry my EOS M with the adapter and 24-70 f/4 IS mounted and a body cap in a pocket. That way, I could swap lenses later. Unfortunately in the rush to get out the door early, we forgot the M adapter, so had no way to mount the 24-70 when we got there, so my son ended up just using the M with the 22 f/2 lens and I got by with one EF lens.

If I had to do it again, I think I would take the 24-70 instead of the 16-35 however. 16-23mm was handy for some shots in tight quarters inside the Missouri and the inside exhibits at the air museum. But, there were more times I wished I had more than 35mm on the long end. The preference for the std. zoom over the UWA zoom probably reflects the way I shoot, I tend to prefer longer lenses generally anyway and am not good at framing effective UWA shots. The UWA could certainly be the right choice for another photographer. There was another Canon shooter on our bus to the Missouri and he was using a 5D2 and 24-105 f/4. He said there were only a few shots where he needed a wider lens and took multiple shots for a pano in those cases.

Anyway, I found this thread to be helpful in my gear selection and general information for the Pearl Harbor tour. I highly recommend the Arizona Memorial and Missouri tour to anybody who visits Honolulu. The tours were one of the highlights of our visit here.