Dan Lau wrote:
With all this talk about zoom lenses and travel, I have a
question about "what lens to carry" again. I have a
limited collection of lenses, and I want to travel light.
I have the following lenses: 28/2.8, 50/1.8, 135/3.5,
28-48/4, 35-70/3.5-4.5 and 75-150/4. Now my questions:
1) For general travel photography (i.e., a lot of outdoor
sightseeing and walking around), if I am already
bringing my 35-70/3.5-4.5, is there any reason to bring the 50/1.8
as well?
2) As an additional lens, would you recommend bringing the
28/2.8 (or is it too close to the 35) or should I bring
the 28-48/4 zoom to cover the whole range (or is there
too much overlap with the 35-70)?
3) The only other lens choice I have is either the 135/3.5
or the 75-150/4. Should I just bring the two zooms or
will I be disappointed with the slow speed?
I generally use ASA 200 print film, but I can switch to 400
film if you think it will match the slow lenses better.
======================================================================
Dan,
I'll bet you hate people who answer: "Well, it depends . . ." However,
in this case, it does! Where are you going? What will the light be like
at different times of the day? What sort of subjects will there be -
crowds on the beach, boats, surfers, mountain scenery, forests, lakes,
historical sites, native villages, wild animals, interiors - and what
are your own preferred subjects? Also, what quality of pictures do you
need? Do you like to get enlargements of great dimensions or are you
only after holiday snaps?
There may be occasions when you will need a wide lens, to accommodate
architecture, historical sites, etc. in places where you simply can't
retreat far enough to fit it all in with a standard lens. Likewise,
there may be times when you'll need a long lens, to exclude an unwanted
foreground, such as a row of people's heads sitting in front of you at
an open-air theatre performance. There will probably be occasions when
you don't have time and/or it is very inconvenient to switch lenses -
zoom time! On the other hand, there may be backlit scenes or scenes
containing a bright light, such as sunrise/sunset over water, where you
need to use a prime lens with no filter to minimise internal
reflections and prevent flare. These is also the consideration of load
- some people hate carrying lots of gear.
So . . . from your own collection of lenses, which to choose? My own
personal choice would be to take three lenses, namely, the:
28/2.8 (very compact and optically superb lens, sufficiently wider than
35mm to make a difference);
35-70/3.5-4.5 (also compact, reputedly great optic, covering a very
useful range and ideal for walking about taking pictures as the
opportunity arises);
75-150/4 (you'll probably need the reach of a telephoto sometimes and
this is a well respected, quality zoom that takes over from the 35-70
in focal length range and is not significantly slower than the
135/3.5).
As to your specific questions:
1) No, I don't think you need take the 50/1.8 unless you expect to be
taking backlit (e.g. sunset) or low light pictures that the 28mm can't
cope with; on the other hand it's very small and not much extra
carriage so I guess it wouldn't hurt to take it along too.
2) Yes, I would certainly take the 28/2.8, for reasons above, but not
the 28-48/4 zoom, which IMHO doesn't offer you anything extra for its
bulk, given your other lenses.
3) As I said above, if you take the 75-150/4; you shouldn't be
disappointed with the slow speed since there's hardly any difference
between that and the 135/3.5.
Speed of film needed depends on a number of things too, including:
* the quality of pictures you expect: although fast films are better
than they used to be, you still have to decide if the coarser grain of
ASA400 will matter to you, especially if you want to enlarge to any
great extent;
* the brightness of the sun: using a fast film in bright light, such as
in southern Europe in summer, can limit you to using narrow lens
aperture settings so you're unable to control depth of field, unless
you use neutral density filters;
* the time of day and location where you are likely to be taking
pictures: low light and slow lenses suggest faster film except, maybe,
with a tripod or flash.
I'm inclined to go for the slowest film I think I can get away with but
have some fast stuff on hand just in case. Now, if only you had more
than one body, you could load up with different speeds of film and take
along whichever suited best for each occasion!
Regards,
=====
Ray
"The trouble with resisting temptation is
you never know when you'll get another chance!"
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