>Let's suppose you were preparing for an anthropological field trip to >Greece. Besides observations and interviews you'd also like to do some >photo-documentation (people, houses, interiors, decorations, landscapes) >but travel really light at the same time. You're taking an LX and a tripod. >The question is what lenses would you take. 1) a "classic" set of old >primes (24/2.8; 50/ 1.4 M; 85/2.0 M and maybe 135/3.5 M) or 2) the one zoom >you own (35-105/3.5 A) or 3) some other combination from the previous? >Flash or winder? > >Peter Smekal >Uppsala, Sweden >[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Peter, I have done all my anthropolical field trips in andean highlands and wanted of course a light kit. I had 2 bodies (Spotmatics, then MXs) because I was interested in black & white AND chromes, depending on the light. I kept a third body in town. Today, I would probably take only one body to save on weight as my knees are beginning to ask me favors. But I would still keep a spare body around. In Greece, you can always find a spare body in a big town (?), so I guess a spare body is to be considered only for the field stay if it's a remote place. I had 28mm, 50mm/55mm and 100mm macro. 28+normal combo would be used more than 80% of the time. The 100 macro almost only for macro shots. I think I was more after the relationship between elements of the landscape (villages, fields etc.). Non macro tele photos with the 100mm were always kind of abstract. I was not using it for portraits as I tended to take people in groups and also without cutting a part of their body (the posture speaks so much). 35-105mm? Hmm... It is fun to have a body + a small prime in hand or around the neck. Discreet (important for you) and light. If money is not a problem I would say, MZ-5n + 24-90mm. So, yes, you have a nice kit (I would also bring a 24mm the next time, I don't care for the gap between 24 and 50) but I would go for a 100 macro instead of the 85 & 135 OR I would leave the 135 (you won't use it a lot and it is a bit of an invasive tool with people) and find posibly a good 2X (to get an occasionnal 170mm f4) and a Minolta 49mm achromatic close-up lens No 1 (15$ used on eBay about once a month) for occasionnal close-ups with the 85mm or the 50mm. No winder! Weight! Small 200T flash with off-shoe TTL cable (the one that fits the hot shoe is better as it can be used with other bodies). And a small table tripod, there is an extremely light one for mountaineers, I don't remember the name. Of course without a real tripod, you need to pack some 400asa film also. I hope this might help you make your decisions. Andre -- - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
