So, Stan, are you traveling to see things, eat good food, and take pictures, or are you traveling for lens-swapping exercise?
Call me a lazy slacker, but I would take the two zooms and the super-wide. Those are such good lenses that you would have to pixel-peep with a microscope to detect the superiority of primes. I would also leave the spare body in my luggage. Rick http://photo.net/photos/RickW --- On Sat, 3/21/09, Stan Halpin <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Stan Halpin <[email protected]> > Subject: Lens travel kit dilemma > To: "Pentax-Discuss Mail List" <[email protected]> > Date: Saturday, March 21, 2009, 1:23 AM > Re-visiting a topic that has been discussed off and on > before on the list... > > In 3 weeks or so I will be going to Rome with my wife for a > short week. (5.5 days on the ground.) I am trying to decide > what camera gear to take with me. > > Some considerations: > a. Most of what I take should fit within a smallish LowePro > day pack (sorry, I don't know the exact designation) > which has a separate top compartment with slot for my laptop > plus room for a bit more. With careful packing, using both > the bottom and the day-pack section I can fit in 4+ lenses, > and one camera body, and one camera body with vertical grip. > This is my carry-on. Which also needs to contain my iPod, a > book, and large bundles of cash. Let me know if you have any > large bundles of cash lying around. > > b. My usual procedure is to carry two bodies with me. One > in my hand with a primary lens, a second with shoulder strap > with secondary lens. Because my alternate lenses are in the > backpack, I usually only change lenses with a major change > in venue. Last weekend, for example, my brother was visiting > and we toured a 19th Century woolen mill. I had the 16-50 on > my primary camera, my brother's 12-24/4 on my secondary > camera. > > c. I prefer auto focus. I prefer faster lenses. I often > focus manually, but there are times I just let the camera do > its thing. I can't see well enough to focus manually in > dim light, but often the cameras cannot either. > > d. I like to take detail shots (e.g., the pediments on > columns or the friezes on buildings.) But I also want the > broader context shots. > > e. I may wear a photo vest, the pockets are large enough to > accommodate some of the smaller lenses, but once I dismount > a larger lens, I need a place to put it besides the vest > pockets. > > f. We'll be going to at least a few venues where > photography is not allowed and backpacks etc will need to be > checked. It seems more secure to check one bundle (i.e., day > pack) rather than a handful of camera bodies and lenses. So > what I carry on a given day needs to all fit within the pack > even though most of the time the two bodies plus two lenses > would be out of the pack. > > What I have to choose from: > > 14/2.8 > 21/3.2 > 43/1.9 > A50/1.2 > A50/1.4 > 77/1.8 > > 100/2.8 Macro > K135/2.5 or M135/3.5 > > 16-50/2.8 > 50-135/2.8 > > Some longer lenses that I am not considering for this trip. > > Options I have thought of: > > 1. 16-50/2.8 + 50-135/2.8 > a. good coverage of pretty wide to fairly long with good > quality. > b. but neither fits well in the day pack for travel or > when checking them at the museum entry. > c. and if I mount these two for an outing, I am pretty > much stuck with them unless I return to the hotel room and > swap them out for primes. > 2. 21mm + A50/1.4 (or 43/1.9) (or 50/1.2) with the 14mm and > 77mm or 100mm or 135/2.5 in my pocket if I need a wider or > longer lens > a. I lose the ability to frame shots that I have with the > zooms > b. both 50's and the 135 are manual focus. > c. less weight, bulk, but the 135mm is a substantial chunk > 3. One body with just the A50/1.2 or A50/1.4 > a. I lose the wide angle capability > b. manual focus > c. simplicity! > 4. Buy a 12-24/4, use this plus either 16-50 or 50-135 > depending on venue. Or use it as a substitute for the 14mm > in option 2. > a. the 12-24 is another heavy bulky lens > b. but it wouldn't be that different from carrying the > 14mm, and gives me a broader range. > 5. Buy a 55/1.4 to slot into option 2 or 3 in lieu of the > 43 or 50mm alternatives. > > Options 1 or 2 seem to make the most sense but I am having > trouble deciding. My usual practice is to resolve such > dilemmas by taking along too many lenses. Which weigh me > down without often being used. Options 4 and 5 would be > consistent with my life membership in LBA. Options 2, 3, and > 5 give me the capability of walking the streets at night > with one body and a smallish reasonably fast lens. > > I am leaning at this moment to Option 5 with 14, 21, 55, > 77, and 135. > > Your opinions? On the listed options or other variants? > > stan > > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link > directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
