Why all this "What to use in Europe?"

[7Cantona]

I'm just a bit puzzled with some of the questions about "what lens should I use in Europe" and was wondering if some could help me understand.

Why would it be different to USA, or for that matter different states in the US? Furthermore when asking "what lens should I use in Europe" it sounds to me like people believe Europe is all the same.

To me it's a question about what you want to take pictures of and not if it's in Europe, USA or Africa.
Am I missing the point?

 

[drthomas]

maybe they just want to boast that they are "going to Europe"

And, you also see posts from Europeans, saying 'going to New York' etc

 

[uphillslide]

Sounds like you are looking for an argument. I am sensitive to your question, yes people are ignorant about travel. But perhaps they are simply excited to be going on a holiday so the "Europe" part of their question is more exclamation than provocation. You're correct that there is a better way to phrase the question.

Try "What to use when traveling abroad, or on Holiday?"

Cheers

 

[salosd]

Why would it be different to USA

You might need to travel Europe cities like Rome or Paris for example to understand, narrow streets, lots of people, lot to shot at night and day or low lights. People need to know what to bring, also some tips.

--

 

[pertti]

Focal length is focal length no matter where you go on Earth. But underwater may be different

I wrote about my lens selection process for my trips and other shooting:

http://www.jussivakkala.com/blog/20071029

-
http://www.jussivakkala.com

 

[Paul De Bra]

I almost never felt I needed wider than 17mm when visiting places in the US. In Europe it's quite different. Lots of older cities have very narrow streets, cramped rooms where you have no ability to step back enough, and even on reasonably wide streets you may not be able to step back enough to capture large buildings at 17mm. So yes there is a difference.

I have really struggled in Vienna for instance, with 17mm as the widest. And some cities have much narrower streets (with somewhat smaller buildings too). So I don't feel as limited in the US when I leave my Tokina 12-24 at home than when I leave it at home in Europe.

I'm just a bit puzzled with some of the questions about "what lens
should I use in Europe" and was wondering if some could help me
understand.

Why would it be different to USA, or for that matter different states
in the US? Furthermore when asking "what lens should I use in Europe"
it sounds to me like people believe Europe is all the same.

To me it's a question about what you want to take pictures of and not
if it's in Europe, USA or Africa.
Am I missing the point?

--

Slowly learning to use the DRebel (only around 30.000 shots) and now also the Fuji E900.
Public pictures at http://debra.zenfolio.com/ .

 

[AmorousLight]

Because Europe lacks the expanse of the US in many cases. The smaller cities, villiages mean a differnt style of making pictures. Europe means much more cafe/pub life, street life, many many more monuments, museums, walking, lots of walking, less car travel...it is the walking that makes lots of the differences.

I assue you that shooting in Rome is very different then shooting in Bakersfield, California. Different style, different lenses, different types of subjects.

--
Banned For Life

 

[AmorousLight]

Focal length is dictated by space, subject, and time. In many ways, and for many reasons, shooting in America is different from shooting in Europe.

Focal length is focal length, but venue is not the same between two localities, two cultures.

--
Banned For Life

 

[tko]

Going to Rome is not the same as hiking in Switzerland. But most people are excited about their trip, and don't think about this, not because they honesty rhink city and country are the same, but because the trip is in their head and they fail to communicate, a failure a lot of us have.

It's had to visualize something you've never done before.

So, agreed, it would be better if someone would state, "I plan to go to Europe and I love to visit old churches, what experiences have people had?" but perhaps they don't know they love to visit old churches before their first trip LOL They may not have figured out that it's hard to carry a dSLR all day long, they may not have thought about where to store it/protect it, they may not have thought about file back up, all of which are kind of universal but still tied into their trip.

 

[steve1984]

I assue you that shooting in Rome is very different then shooting in
Bakersfield, California. Different style, different lenses

 

[steve1984]

Suely on 99.9% of vacations, most people would take something to cover wide-angle, something 'fast' for indoors, and a telephoto zoom of some description.

Please explain to me what type of popular lens visitors to Bakersfield, California have absolutely no use for???

I assue you that shooting in Rome is very different then shooting in
Bakersfield, California. Different style, different lenses

 

[ed rader]

i mean you take a wide angle and a walkaround on vacation and a long lens if you go to africa right ?

ed rader

--



'One often has mixed feelings about relatives, but few people could identify serious problems in their relationships with dogs.'

-- Anonymous

 

[steve1984]

...the grand canyon for example, or the top of the empire state, or san-fran bay area, or the canadian rockies, etc, etc? IMO, a wide-angle would be quite nice to have in those locations.

I'm just a bit puzzled with some of the questions about "what lens
should I use in Europe" and was wondering if some could help me
understand.

Why would it be different to USA, or for that matter different states
in the US? Furthermore when asking "what lens should I use in Europe"
it sounds to me like people believe Europe is all the same.

To me it's a question about what you want to take pictures of and not
if it's in Europe, USA or Africa.
Am I missing the point?

--
Slowly learning to use the DRebel (only around 30.000 shots) and now
also the Fuji E900.
Public pictures at http://debra.zenfolio.com/ .

 

[AmorousLight]

Bakersfield, CA does not have many dark cathedrals, museums, street life, cafe/pub activity. It has not monuments to mention either. Fast primes would not be required as much. Flash usage might be more required then if I went to Rome, Paris, Madrid, London. Sure there is lots of overlap, but having said that, it does not negate the fact that venue does and will dictate the lenses required and flash too. And lets add another distination to the mix: Kenya for example. It is rural, vast landscapes, perhaps less street life, little or no museums, lots of wildlife, so if I went there I would be more inclined to bring teles, and perhaps less inclined to require fast wide primes. Not saying I would not use such lenses there, rather that the venue really dictates which focal lengths and apertures would be required more often then another distination. In contrast to Kenya, I never required a tele while in Rome, Paris, Madrid, but perhaps if I went to the Black Forest in Germany I might.

--
Banned For Life

 

[AmorousLight]

If one was a PJ, documenting a place, one could perhaps use a 50mm for any and all distinations, so style, genre, and reason have a lot to do with it too. If I'm covering a news event in Bakersfield, CA, or Rome, or Kenya, I perhaps could use the same lens for all of that, again if I was shooting journalism, documentation, reportage.

--
Banned For Life

 

[ed rader]

the europeans have a reason to boast because of the way the government has destroyed our currency .

ed rader

--



'One often has mixed feelings about relatives, but few people could identify serious problems in their relationships with dogs.'

-- Anonymous

 

[harrygilbert]

You must realize that many parts of the world outside of the US use the metric system, therefore different lenses are required that take pictures in metric format. Use of US lenses causes distortions that cannout be removed except with special metric conversion plug-ins to Photoshop.

Likewise, camera technicians in Europe use metric screwdrivers and pliers when repairing cameras there.

(Sorry, I couldn't resist)

I'm just a bit puzzled with some of the questions about "what lens
should I use in Europe" and was wondering if some could help me
understand.

Why would it be different to USA, or for that matter different states
in the US? Furthermore when asking "what lens should I use in Europe"
it sounds to me like people believe Europe is all the same.

To me it's a question about what you want to take pictures of and not
if it's in Europe, USA or Africa.
Am I missing the point?

 

[///M]

Travelers are more likely to want to do some street photography then in the States, livelier cities, more night activity, narrower streets, therefore, yes, I would say a fast primes would allow more exploration if you push the margins of your equipments capabilities, many armatures on their first trips are not aware of these lenses, so it is useful to ask. A P&S is relatively a bad choice unless you are out mid day, and mostly shoot outdoors or are exclusively in the countryside, like Tuscany. This is due to those cameras high noise and slow lens, and shutter latency. Then again, I shot many churches in Europe at iso 100 and multi second exposures without a tripod, but thats another level of skill. You can not assume all posters have pro lenses and abilities to match.
--
thank Canon for L and BMW for M

 

[AmorousLight]

Our EOS cameras are put together with screws that are metric! Japanese equipment, man! ;-) But no, your humor was not lost to me ;-)

--
Banned For Life

 

[killersnowman]

... only a few lenses actually work in Europe

=)

--
Tyler Brigham
take a look at my gallerys:
http://tbrigham.zenfolio.com/
http://www.flickr.com/people/tbrigham