trip to Japan

I will travel to Japan in March and April 2011. I will visit Tokyo, Kyoto, Nikko, Nara, Hiroshima and so on. I have a Nikon D3s and the following lenses: 12-24mm, 24-70mm 70-200mm, 85mm. I wonder what lenses would be most appropriate for such a trip.

Thanks
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Andre Ouellet

just take all 4

Andre LeDoc said:

I wonder what lenses would be most appropriate for such a trip.

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they're all appropriate, or none — depending on what and how you shoot. it sounds like you have the full collector's set. will you have access to a mule ?

Andre LeDoc said:

I have a Nikon D3s and the following lenses: 12-24mm, 24-70mm 70-200mm, 85mm.

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that's a lot of glass to carry. perhaps you need to prioritize — landscapes? sports? people? what about a tripod? i'd also suggest a backup camera in case something goes wrong, is lost, or stolen.

there is no right or wrong answer — but depending on your priorities, your skill, and your resources, you would stand to benefit by deciding how practical a piece of gear is for the specialty theme you hope to photograph most.

--
the born 2 haul glass
design guy

I would take the zooms. But for sure the 70-200 and the 24-70.

Tokyo, Kyoto, Nikko, Nara, and Hiroshima are all visually such fascinating places that you could take a single prime lens and STILL have far more photo opportunities than you could possibly shoot in a whole lifetime!

I live up north, but when I went down to Tokyo last year, I took my 35mm and 85mm primes and a Tokina 19-35, and I was very happy with my selection of images when I got back. I kind of wish I had taken a fast 50mm prime as well and left the 85mm in my hotel room at night, as 50mm requires less shutter speed for static subjects than an 85mm.

You will likely be walking til your feet are blistered, riding public transportation packed tight as a sardine tin, and threading your way through masses of people bumping you with their elbows, so I would wear good walking shoes and try and keep the photo gear as light and compact as possible. I would not carry a tripod (I did that at a tourist spot up here a couple of weeks ago, and it was a disaster).

Basically, just take what lenses you normally enjoy using the most and don't mind carrying all day long.

Check the internet for festivals--there are always some going on--and make sure you attend at least a couple while you are here, as they are the best photo ops of all!

Julie

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Take what ever lens you use for street photography ..;-)
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Jon in Thailand

http://www.flickr.com/photos/af2899/
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Is this your first trip to Japan? Be prepared to fall in love with country, people, culture and food. Great photo ops everywhere. 24-70 and 70-200 will cover 80-90% of what you need add a light weigher fast prime and that's a full kit.

Enjoy!



http://www.flickr.com/photos/22388579@N08/

I am going to Japan (Tokyo, Nagova, Kyoto) in late June. I have D700, Tokina 16-28 F2.8, Nikon 28-70 F2.8, Nikon 85 F1.4, Nikon 105 F2 DC, Sigma 150 Micro, Nikon 70-200 VR 1, etc.

I am planning to bring the

1) Tokina 16-28, Nikon 28-70, and Nikon 105 F2

or

2) Tokina 16-28, Nikon 85 F1.4, Sigma 150 F2.8 and buy a Nikon 50 F1.4 / 1.8 in Hong Kong.

I am leaning toward 1 which will cover most I need for Temple, Shrine, Street, and People portrait and landscape.

You will be back home from Japan before I leave here in Canada. Please tell me what you did and what lens you think are the best for Japan.

Keith

Bring the 70-200 and do the sunrise climb on Mt. Fuji. And bring a barf bag.

From what I understand, the saying in Japan is that "You are a fool if you have never climbed it. And you are a fool if you have climbed it twice."

Of course, I love peak-bagging so much that I'd probably be a 3-time fool if I had the money...

VarmintCong said:

Bring the 70-200 and do the sunrise climb on Mt. Fuji. And bring a barf bag.

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LX93 said:

From what I understand, the saying in Japan is that "You are a fool if you have never climbed it. And you are a fool if you have climbed it twice."

Of course, I love peak-bagging so much that I'd probably be a 3-time fool if I had the money...

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They do say that yes. I'm very glad I climbed it, mainly so I can talk about how miserable it is. Did it in 4 1/2 hours too which is pretty good. Many of my group took 8-12 hours. Fastest did it in 4.

In my experience few younger Japanese (under 40) have climbed it.

Wow, so it's not just we Americans who are becoming fat and lazy...

VarmintCong wrote:
In my experience few younger Japanese (under 40) have climbed it.

LX93 said:

Wow, so it's not just we Americans who are becoming fat and lazy...
VarmintCong wrote:
In my experience few younger Japanese (under 40) have climbed it.

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That's because there's not much point in climbing it, I gather. It isn't exactly to experience "nature," since it's basically a road full of people all the way up the mountain.

Most people climb it just to say they have done so. Not exactly the right motivation, IMHO.

--
Kyoto, Japan
http://www.kotodama.net

I would take all of the lenses. The hotels in Japan are incredibly safe, so you could pick and choose which to walk around with and leave the rest in your room. I have been living in Tokyo for over 8 years and have basically never heard or seen any theft beyond a stolen bicycle. I've done trips like this in the past and used to regret leaving lenses behind, so I just take them all and make sure they're well padded in my carry bag. Besides that, the extra weight of the lenses makes for good exercise!

Post some photos when you get back from the trip, would enjoy seeing them.

Cheers!

I'm also planning a trip over to Japan (but in October) and looking at getting one of the 24-70 mm, 16-35 mm or 14-24 mm lenses. I have a D300s and was wondering whether 24 mm is wide enough on the DX sensor or have people had a better experience with a wider angle lens? I'm leaning towards the 24-70 mm because I would like to replace an 18-105 mm kit lens from the D90 and would like to kill 2 birds with one stone. However, I would be kicking myself if I went and didn't have the wider super wide angle when I need it.

Also, away from the technical reviews, has anyone had a good experience with the 20 mm f2.8 AF-D lens? I do prefer to shoot with primes and would probably pick it up later on if I got the 24-70.

I've got a 20mm F2.8 AFD, picked it up in Tokyo for about $250USD. It's a great lens, but I'm using it on a D700 which is full frame. You might want to consider just saving some of your cash, then making a trip to Map Camera in Shinjuku or Fujiya Camera in Nakano. Both are excellent second-hand camera shops with a good selection of lenses. I got a 135mm F2.8 ais for about $60USD at Map Camera in mint condition. Also, there are tons of used camera shops in Ginza, one in particular is called Sukiya Camera (Nikon House) which only sells second hand Nikon lenses.

I don't know the plus or minus points of the specific lenses, but I would bring the equivalent of 24-70 FL and 85 FL so allowing for the crop the 24-70mm on the D3s should be enough. Travel light and enjoy the time. You might consider one prime for portraits but that would be it.

I have been here for some years and I mostly shoot 28, 50, and 85 on full frame. You might end up doing a lot of walking including up and down the steps at the train stations... light is definately better.

Casey

It would depend on your shooting style. I did a similar trip as described by the OP last November, taking a D300 with a 12-24 zoom and 25/35/50/85mm primes with me. For actual walk-around, I often only had one or two lenses in the bag, usually the 12-24 and a prime.

When looking at my keepers, about 50% were taken with the 25mm prime. All the others were evenly distributed between the 12-24, 50, and 85mm. Had not much use for the 35mm.

If this is your first trip to Japan, then you definitely should put your priorities on seeing, experiencing and enjoying people and country. There will always be sufficient photo opportunities to fill your CF cards even if you don't look for them.
Enjoy!
Holger.

LX93 said:

Wow, so it's not just we Americans who are becoming fat and lazy...

VarmintCong wrote:
In my experience few younger Japanese (under 40) have climbed it.

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I don't know if that's the reason, but I worked for 6 months in Yamanashi, you had a spectacular view of Mt. Fuji from the company parking lot - just incredible. Most of the Japanese who work there had never climbed it. Not into traditions I guess.

Zachawry said:

That's because there's not much point in climbing it, I gather. It isn't exactly to experience "nature," since it's basically a road full of people all the way up the mountain.

Most people climb it just to say they have done so. Not exactly the right motivation, IMHO.

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I did not know this before I climbed it. We started at 10 pm to catch sunrise from the summit, arrived at 2:30 am, it was freezing cold (in August), never saw the sun, just clouds - there wasn't even a view, just the solid line of people zig-zagging all the way down the mountain.

I have the 24-120 f4 on my D300s and haven't missed the 18-23mm range. It seems to be the perfect range for me when it comes to general purpose. I do have a 12-24 when I need to go wide.