South India - last minute packing tips needed!!!

I'm packing for my trip to Kerala, India. We are visiting Cochin, Munnar and the backwater to finish in Goa.

Plane leaves in 10 hours and I'm debating if I should bring my EFs 60/2.8 or not. I will take:
350D
17-40 4L
70-300 IS
2 x Sandisk 2GB Ultra II + III
1 Gb Sandisk standard
Ixus 400 as backup

My idea is to take some portraits of colorful Indian people with the 60/2.8, I love this lens as it is soo sharp. But maybe the 17-40 is enough and maybe it will be too dusty to change lenses? Or is the 17-40 too slow? Please help as I wan't to keep my packing as light as possible.
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The Camera makes me see things I’d otherwise miss.

Kerala is a very beautiful place and munnar is really great.

Make sure you have any electrical equipments that work in 220 to 240v
Keep a spike busters before the equipment you use.

Kerala is very humid and it can rain any time. So make sure you have a waterproof bag and waterproof camera cover. Munnar can be sunny and then next moment it can be misty.

You can look out for the rare mountain goat.

Be careful of your luggage.

The people are very literate and well educated and so you can easily converse in english there.

There are a lot of places to go. For wildlife Thekkady is good.

In Kochi go to the bridge that looks into the ocean. Its called marine drive. You can get some awesome shots of the sunset

Also try shots of the chinese fishing nets at sunset.

Goa is great for beaches.

Kerala is not very dusty. You can change lenses there. So you can carry the lens. Hey its one trip get everything you can. Unless you are planning to hike a lot.

And this time of the year its might rain once in a while and so the dust will be less.

In order to take colorful pictures of people. Try to get to place where you can see a kathakali show. The dancers wear one of the most colorful dresses and makeups you will see.

Thanks Tremint.

We have 220V here in Sweden as well, and I have a converter. Been in India twice before, first time in Goa and second time in Varanasi, Agra and Rajasthan so I know what it can be like. Never been south of Goa.

Which lens do you think will be most useful for portraits? Guess the 70-300 will come handy on backwater trips and in Munnar - for tea plantage pics, to catch the workers far up on the hills.
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The Camera makes me see things I’d otherwise miss.

if it's a choice between a lens and anti-diarhhoea medication, go with the tablets...!

ajax said:

if it's a choice between a lens and anti-diarhhoea medication, go
with the tablets...!

Click to expand...

Not an option, those tablets are well packed. But should I take the 60/2.8 or not?
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The Camera makes me see things I’d otherwise miss.

I'd take the 60mm 2.8 lens.. Its the lightest one of the bunch...

Will you be hiking?

You never know when you'll need a 2.8 prime, and what about the various plant and insect species that you cannot photograph at home? You may want to get up close.

One thing I'd also consider taking (since no IS on your lenses) is a basic tiny tabletop tripod. Nothing expensive, but something that you can use to shoot self-timer shots or for low-light evening and morning landscapes.

And regarding rain/mist... in a pinch you can use a plastic shopping bag to keep water/moisture off of your gear. I keep one in my camera bag at all times becasue we are prone to rapidly approaching rain showers here in Florida as well.

Good luck and good shooting!

jt

Correction: I meant no IS on your wide angle lenses.... I see you have the 70-300IS.

Its been a long day...

jt

If you want a serious response from me, my answer would be absolutely do NOT take the 60 mm lens. Between the 17-40 and 70-200 you have that range covered.

You have answered it yourself by saying you want to travel light. I promise you if you take all three lenses one of them will sit there virtually unused and I believe the zooms will be FAR more useful. You will not bother to change lenses and switch to the prime and the zooms is slight and their versatitlity will far outweigh that.

That is what I would do anyway. Enjoy your trip.

that sentence should have read
.. and the quality superiority of the prime over the zooms is slight

ajax said:

You will not bother to change lenses and switch to the prime and
the zooms is slight and their versatitlity will far outweigh that.

Click to expand...

I've had a great trip to India, but the pictures of people can be very fleeting moments, no time for compostion, so I would think you may miss them with a prime. You may find you never take your 17-40 off the camera.
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TomP