What lenses would you bring for this travel-trip?

[fiend]

Sort of off topic a bit, but check early with the carriers, there may be a weight limit for carry on luggage.

I almost got into trouble with that last year- had a safari vest and off loaded the heavy stuff into my vest. On the plane, I re-packed it into the bag. I wasn't going to check any camera gear.

In fact we had a 24 lb limit, and after all my camera and laptop stuff, I had only enough left for toiletries and two days of clothes.

Also, be sure your bag will fit into the smallest overhead that you will be flying on.

When you get all this figured out, your choices may already be made for you.

sek

I don't find this off topic

What is the smallest overhead that you should consider? 45x30x20 ? or something like that.
Som companies have 55x35x25 or something like that.. but that's quite large

I might get a vest for carrying equipment in if they find my bag do be to large. That's a good idea!

 

[fiend]

I would recommend that fiend, the OP, buys a 24-105mm and goes with for most of his photos. Then uses the 16-35mm when he requires UWA photos. The 135mm L prime is not a bad addition, but it's not THAT much longer than the tele end of the 24-105mm L, of course the 135mm L prime is a few stops brighter - but having 3 lenses rather than 2 does mean less convenience.

Cheers,

Paul

Can you equip the 24-105 with the 1.4x extender?
The 135/2 will be a 186/4 with the extender so it gives me a little more reach

Hmm.. many options here.

 

[Cannon Man]

This is kind of off the topic because this is my travel photography kit that i will use for a 3 month trip to Japan shortly.

1DX
TS-E24mm 3.5L II, 85mm 1.2L II, 135mm 2.0L

Leica M (240)
Apo 50mm 2.0, apo 90mm 2.0

And i hope the new zeiss 55mm prime will be available before october.

My message is to invest to primes and have good insurance and carry up to 2 lenses at a time and leave the rest to the hotel.

Also i really really really recommend the TS-E24mm II !!!!!!!!!

 

[fiend]

This is kind of off the topic because this is my travel photography kit that i will use for a 3 month trip to Japan shortly.

1DX
TS-E24mm 3.5L II, 85mm 1.2L II, 135mm 2.0L

Leica M (240)
Apo 50mm 2.0, apo 90mm 2.0

And i hope the new zeiss 55mm prime will be available before october.

My message is to invest to primes and have good insurance and carry up to 2 lenses at a time and leave the rest to the hotel.

Also i really really really recommend the TS-E24mm II !!!!!!!!!

Interesting choice of lenses. You carry only 2 lenses? And leave the rest at the hotel? I would not like to leave expensive equipment back at the hotel :/
What kind of photos will you be shooting in Japan? Is it for your own purpose or for clients etc?

 

[Cannon Man]

This is kind of off the topic because this is my travel photography kit that i will use for a 3 month trip to Japan shortly.

1DX
TS-E24mm 3.5L II, 85mm 1.2L II, 135mm 2.0L

Leica M (240)
Apo 50mm 2.0, apo 90mm 2.0

And i hope the new zeiss 55mm prime will be available before october.

My message is to invest to primes and have good insurance and carry up to 2 lenses at a time and leave the rest to the hotel.

Also i really really really recommend the TS-E24mm II !!!!!!!!!

Interesting choice of lenses. You carry only 2 lenses? And leave the rest at the hotel? I would not like to leave expensive equipment back at the hotel :/
What kind of photos will you be shooting in Japan? Is it for your own purpose or for clients etc?

The 1DX is heavy enough on it's own so i won't be carrying more than 2 Canon lenses at a time. I have time to come back somewhere if i was missing a lens. But if i have my TS-E24, 85mm and my Leica M with a 50mm on me i can do pretty much anything.

Mostly for my own purpose. Kind of like you i'm building a portfolio. I will sell prints and my own books. Also i'm starting my own photo company in Tokyo in the next few years and moving there permanently so i want to start building contacts there. The photos are not the main purpose of my trip though.. But it is a fun thing to do at the same time i'm enjoying my vacation.

(edit)-I have no problem leaving my stuff at the hotel. Japan is a rare place, i could leave the door open and no one would take them.

 

[fiend]

The 1DX is heavy enough on it's own so i won't be carrying more than 2 Canon lenses at a time. I have time to come back somewhere if i was missing a lens. But if i have my TS-E24, 85mm and my Leica M with a 50mm on me i can do pretty much anything.

Mostly for my own purpose. Kind of like you i'm building a portfolio. I plan to sell prints and my own books. Also i'm starting my own photo company in Tokyo in the next few years and moving there permanently so i want to start building contacts there. The photos are not the main purpose of my trip though.. But it is a fun thing to do at the same time i'm enjoying my vacation.

Yes, that machine is awesome but heavy and bulky The 5d mkIII without the battery grip is quite small and a lightweight in comparison!

I will bring my sony rx 100 with me for the "casual shots" aswell. For me the photos are the main purpose of the trip and I will try to enjoy the trip while I'm shooting. I will not stress, but rather take 5 AWESOME shots, than running around with a 18-300 and shooting 5000 pictures just for the sake of taking pictures.

Japan would be awesome to shoot aswell

 

[Random Orbits]

I always bring my tripod for shots of landscape and architecture
I've used the old 24 TS-E and kind of liked it for shooting buildings in my own town when I tested it.
For landscape 17mm TS-E would be better aswell as for the indoor shooting.
But the 17TS-E is not as sharp as 24mm, especially not shifted (I've read..)

Today I'm used to make panos with my 70-200 handheld, but that's kind of hard to do with buildings that are quite near though
In Dubai I guess that there will be very large and nice buildings and sometimes not that much room or space.
Perhaps you can take several shots with the 24mm instead?
And if I visit a church or something I can use the 24mm for pano indoors aswell? Haven't tried it though so hard to say.

http://www.fredriklarsson.se/blogg/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/wpid4696-emma-julkonsert2012-12_3_4_5_6.jpg
This picture is taken with the old TS-24 (single shot. Its a local church here in Umeå, Sweden.

Renting the TS24 / TS17 would cost about $1000 for a month. If I buy it afterwards, the rent is free (I just pay for the lens as I've bought it right of the start).

Thanks for the input!

It's true that the 17mm isn't as sharp as the 24mm, but the 17 is the sharpest of Canon's UUWAs and it is more than adequate. Sharper than the 14mm and much sharper than the 16-35. You won't be disappointed. And for a rental fee of 1000, it makes sense to buy it outright. I've heard that the Ziess 15 might be a tad sharper, but I've never tried it, and at those focal lengths, I'd rather have the movements anyway.

If you're using the movements to fix the perspective you won't have much freedom to stitch, so a wider lens is more useful in this case. If you need to fix the perspective at 24mm, try using the extender. I've never shot with the extender but have verified that it fits. In the end, you'll likely end up with both ts-e 17 and 24. =)

 

[jhpeterson]

I don't know what your shooting style is like, but I would find most useful the 16-35 and the 70-200.
I carried these two lenses around (each on FF bodies) this past year on a three-week trip to the Middle East, and found that I used them for probably better than 90% of my photos.
You might also want to pack the 1.4 teleconverter for those times when you want some extra reach. My favorite lens is a 300, it's so incredibly sharp and I love the look it gives, but it only came out of the bag on rare occcasions, on average once, maybe twice a day.

Well, I'm a little of a planer and I often try to take less photos.. but have them to be a little "better" then just shooting a lot of pictures to try and find a "goodie" among them later on
When I see something I like or I get an idea, then I take my time and shoot it. If I find a nice place but the light is bad, I can come back in a couple of hourse just to shoot that picture later on.

I'm thinking of creating a "storyboard" on my shoot to tell a kind of story with well planned (and unplanned) shots aswell

I don't have a 300mm - lens and I don't think I would bring it unless I know that I will have to use it some shots that I've planned. 70-200/2.8 with 1.4 would have to do the trick then

I hope I answered your question.

I think you've explained yourself quite well.
From what you've said, the two lenses I mentioned appear to be excellent choices. Not having a 300, you would want to carry that 1.4 as well, for those times you'd want some extra reach. It still produces excellent image quality on the 70-200.
A number of people have suggested bringing along the 24-105, but, if it's at the expense of the 70-200, I'd talk you out of it. It's too much of an overlap with the 16-35 for the sacrifice of longer lengths, as well as the use of the 1.4. I took one with me on my trip, but used it even less than the 300. I didn't seem to miss the gap between 35 and 70, but perhaps that's because I seldom see things normally! Besides, you can always get those with your compact camera.

 

[fiend]

It's true that the 17mm isn't as sharp as the 24mm, but the 17 is the sharpest of Canon's UUWAs and it is more than adequate. Sharper than the 14mm and much sharper than the 16-35. You won't be disappointed. And for a rental fee of 1000, it makes sense to buy it outright. I've heard that the Ziess 15 might be a tad sharper, but I've never tried it, and at those focal lengths, I'd rather have the movements anyway.

If you're using the movements to fix the perspective you won't have much freedom to stitch, so a wider lens is more useful in this case. If you need to fix the perspective at 24mm, try using the extender. I've never shot with the extender but have verified that it fits. In the end, you'll likely end up with both ts-e 17 and 24. =)

Yes, the 17mm seems to very sharp and to be able to use it on a landscape might be very useful I think. And for interior. With the 1.4x I can achive the 24mm aswell, but maybe not as tack sharp as the 24 TSE itself. But sharpness isn't everything and on that level I can do some post-sharpening aswell I think.

The Ziess 15mm, that isn't a Tilt Shift though?

/Fredrik

 

[fiend]

I think you've explained yourself quite well.
From what you've said, the two lenses I mentioned appear to be excellent choices. Not having a 300, you would want to carry that 1.4 as well, for those times you'd want some extra reach. It still produces excellent image quality on the 70-200.
A number of people have suggested bringing along the 24-105, but, if it's at the expense of the 70-200, I'd talk you out of it. It's too much of an overlap with the 16-35 for the sacrifice of longer lengths, as well as the use of the 1.4. I took one with me on my trip, but used it even less than the 300. I didn't seem to miss the gap between 35 and 70, but perhaps that's because I seldom see things normally! Besides, you can always get those with your compact camera.

I've sold my 24-70/2.8 (first version) since I didn't use that focal lengths that often. When I shoot weddings I'm only using my 16-35 aswell as my 70-200. Then I have all the wide angle I need aswell as portrait and full body shots

I guess that when I will be shooting abroad, I will be using both wide angle in landscape, macro on flowers and small wildlife.. aswell as tele for portraits / panoramic shots etc.

The 24-105 is a nice lens,but it might be a better "go around-tourist"-lens and shooting lots of pictures

As you say, I can get "tourist"-shots in the 24-100 with my compact camera aswell.