Sightseeing in Italy - what's the best lens or two for a 600D?

Hi guys,

2 of us are traveling to Italy for a few weeks and I'd like to take my T3i for regular touristy photos and some video. Can you recommend a good lens or two?

I was thinking something like the 50mm f1.4 (love the manual focus for video) and something wide-angle like the Tokina 11-16 f2.8. What do you think? It seems like no matter what, when I'm traveling, I always want a wider lens...

I think your lens choice is nearly perfect with uwa and low light option.

I just was in Rome last month (business) and only took my Fuji which is 35mm fixed and I often was slightly unhappy not to have uwa on me, you don't have much space in front of the colosseum or at many other venues where also 1000 other people are trying to get a shot, its nice to be able to get the nearest to the object and just snap away.

If you have room to spare a further tele may be ok, but I think with your setup you wil be in the sweet spot for most shots, maybe just for night shots in wide angle you may opt for a monopod or a small bean bag, unless you are the type who carries tripods on holidays.

The best lens will be one wide enough to get the whole stricken vessel in view, and long enough to see the Captain jumping into the life boat...

In all seriousness, the Tokina should be wide enough but I tend to prefer something a little wider in the 24-30mm range too.

The 35f/2 would be a good option with the 50.

Have a nice trip!

Yes, tokina 11-16/2.8 and 50mm/1.4 seems like a good plan.

You don't have much choice on crop cameras, there are no wide primes to travel lighter.
--
Click Click ....

I have a 5d m2 and my fav lens in ROme and other cities in the mediteranean, inside and out, was the 16-35mm L f2.8. Expensive lens but I could not have done without it.

See

https://picasaweb.google.com/systemswamper/October172011?authkey=Gv1sRgCPm6hd26woHnigE#

for some examples......

When I visited Italy during a cruise 2 years ago, I only had my G10. That did a great job ( http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/thumbpage.aspx?e=7918269 ), but next time, I'll have my 50D or 7D and my 10-20, my 24-105L, maybe even my 70-200L.

Regards!
Don

Love your pictures.

I'd like to make a couple of suggestions and comments. First of all, I use the 17-55 on a 7D most of the time (80%) & the Canon 10-22 is good for cityscapes and I'd definately take a wide angle.

If you're not a pixel peeper you may want to consider a Canon, Sigma or Tamron 18-200/250/270 with image stabilization as a walkaround to go along with the wide angle. Several years ago (2006) we went on a cruise to Greece and Turkey and all I had was a Canon Rebel XT and a non stabilized 18-200 and all I shot was jpeg's. (I didn't know about RAW at the time.) The photos from that trip are very acceptable.

My thoughts are with a fixed focal length you are going to do a lot of foot zooming.

I don't think you can make many photos on the inside of the churches and museums in Italy but I'm not sure.

Have fun.

Kent

I spent two weeks in Italy this past summer. Shooting with a 7D, I took along a 10-22mm, 17-55mm 2.8, 85mm 1.8, and a 24-105mm lens.

Shot over 5000 pictures with most of these taken with the 17-55mm and 24-105mm lenses. The 17-55 worked fairly well indoors in low light and the 24-105mm had decent reach for outdoor scenes. The 85 1.8 I used for evening street scenes, but it was a bit long. The 10-22mm did get used, but not nearly as much as I expected.

If indoor church pictures are important to you, you may want to consider a 50 1.4 or similar as the lighting is very low. I had no problems shooting in most of the churches we visited.

When I was in Italy, I used the 18-55IS most of the time. You will benefit from IS inside in places like the Vatican museum or other museums. I never wanted longer, but did want wider at times. An 18-55 isn't quite wide enough at times for the Coliseum or the Diocletian Baths. It just made it for the Coliseum, but not the Pantheon. I would take my 12-24F4 Tokina on my next European trip.

Frankly, two lenses like these would do all I would want on a trip to places like Rome, Florence or Venice.
I had a 50mm prime with me, and it sat in the bag.

I also recommend taking a good quality pocket camera for times when you may not want to carry an SLR. When we went out to dinner at night, I had a PowerShot in my pocket. I didn't want to drag an SLR on the walk to restaurants in Trastevere (across the river in Rome) for dinner.

Honkon said:

Hi guys,

2 of us are traveling to Italy for a few weeks and I'd like to take my T3i for regular touristy photos and some video. Can you recommend a good lens or two?

I was thinking something like the 50mm f1.4 (love the manual focus for video) and something wide-angle like the Tokina 11-16 f2.8. What do you think? It seems like no matter what, when I'm traveling, I always want a wider lens...

Click to expand...

I'm a big fan of ultrawide, and in some places like Venice it may in any case be the most practical option. However I would strongly advise against an ultrawide as your only general-purpose lens, especially one like the Tokina which is only 16 mm at the long end. After a while it becomes difficult to take a shot which doesn't just look like the last few hundred.

did a long cruise and was in Rome in late November.. toured the city... stops at the usual...Trevi Fountain.. Coliseum.. Vatican City... had my 60d with an older 18-55 .. left the 18-200 back on the ship because of the weight and didn't need the zoom....

actually needed the wider angle that I now have ..a Canon 15-85... that I wish I had that day... friend had offered to loan me his Canon 10-22 before I left home but I said no thanx.. I shoulda took him up on it... I just feel that wider is better especially inside places like museums and churches... narrow streets
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Ray

my Canon 60d sure beats using that ol' Petri 7s

I blew it on lenses when I went to Rome and Turin two years ago. Next time I will take a 17-55 as my GP lens on the 7D. Fairly wide to short telephoto, and the 2.8 would be very helpful for the spectacular indoor shots.

1. 2 lens would be an UW zoom; either the 10-24 (which I have), or better -- if finances allow -- the Tokina 11-16 for the extra 1 - 2 stops indoors.

1. 3 lens would be a 70-200 f4, although most of what I was shooting last time would be covered by the first two lenses. As much as I love this lens, I suspect it would stay back in the room most of the time. (Great for detail shots though.)

--
WLW

Back in the old days I´ve used to do a lot of shooting in Italy:

http://www.pbase.com/haak

To sum it up:

2 lenses won´t do the job.

You´ll need super wide as well as long lenses, that´s the problem.

I´ve used (on a full frame)

4/300 IS with both converters
70-200
24mm TS-E

And yes, I DID miss a 17mm TS-E (wasn´t sold yet at that time).

For a Rebel, you should take with you at least

70-300 IS (better yet the 70-200 L with converters or 4/300 with converters)
10-22mm (very good lens)
35 or 50 mm (just in case and for low light)
24-105 L wouldn´t hurt either (or the 17-85).
-----------------------------------------------------------

Waldemar

My wife and I are going to Italy and Sicily in May and I can't wait. I am taking my 60D, 15-85mm, 50mm f1.4 and my 200mm f2.8L. I just took a Henry's Canon DSLR201 camera course and I'm pumped. I also have a Kenko 1.4X Pro 300 DGX tele-converter that I can use with my 200mm. I think I will pick up a Manfrotto (679B) monopod and head.

Thanks for reminding me to take my pocket Canon S95 IS.

I did the Rome/Florence/Venice trip in 2009 with the family. I had my 50D along with the 17-55 and 10-22. The 17-55 got more than 80% of the shots I wanted. There were a very few times when I wanted for longer, but not many.

The perfect combo may be the 10-22 and the 24-105. You'll have to do a fair bit of switching given that there's no overlap between the lenses, but I would say that range between the two lenses (10-105) will cover almost ever situation.

Remember, unlike say Paris, many of the museums in Italy prohibit photography. The Vatican Museum is one significant exception to that rule (at least it was when I was there), but it applies to most of the other popular museums. Check in advance.

Most of the churches we visited were fine with photography.

Enjoy.
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RAM

I was in Rome and Sorrento last year. My 10-22mm got a lot of use. My 17-55, less so. But, I remember thinking that I could have gotten by with the 17-55, if I didn't have the wide angle. It depends on what kind of shots you want to take.

If you take the 50mm and a wide angle, you will be happy.

I also took an 85mm prime, that I hardly used.

I took a 10-22mm, 30mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.8 and 100-400L with me to rome and later to hilltop villages around Sienna.

The 10-22mm saw by far the most use. The 30mm was great inside churches, though the 10-22 can be put on the floor for stability. Marble floors are very reflective and make for some unique angles. I used the 85mm inside st peters church for some ceiling detail shots.

I used the 100-400L for some wildlife, landscapes and candids. After a while the 100-400L is a nice and welcome change from the wider angles.

100-400L













10-22











sigma 30mm f/1.4





85mm

Honkon said:

Hi guys,

2 of us are traveling to Italy for a few weeks and I'd like to take my T3i for regular touristy photos and some video. Can you recommend a good lens or two?

I was thinking something like the 50mm f1.4 (love the manual focus for video) and something wide-angle like the Tokina 11-16 f2.8. What do you think? It seems like no matter what, when I'm traveling, I always want a wider lens...

Click to expand...

--
Kind regards
Imqqmi



http://www.pbase.com/imqqmi

The DSLR jargon cheatsheet:
http://www.jmbfoto.nl/dslrcheatsheet.pdf

Sunset blending tutorial:
http://www.jmbfoto.nl/tutorial/blendingTutorial01a.pdf

Wilba's Frequently Asked (beginners) Questions and answers
http://snipurl.com/RebelFAQ

Jules Winnfield said:

I was in Rome and Sorrento last year. My 10-22mm got a lot of use. My 17-55, less so. But, I remember thinking that I could have gotten by with the 17-55, if I didn't have the wide angle. It depends on what kind of shots you want to take.

If you take the 50mm and a wide angle, you will be happy.

I also took an 85mm prime, that I hardly used.

Click to expand...

I'm currently more of a budget guy, having just graduated from college not too long ago, so I haven't started investing too heavily in lenses yet, as photography is a new hobby of mine.

I'm working with 50mm 1.4, 18-55 IS kit lens, and 70-300 IS on my 1.6x XSi/450d. I don't know how much more I can afford right now, but I'm making the Venice-> Florence/Pisa-> Rome trip in April.

The one place I feel I'm lacking is the wide end of the spectrum. (clearly) For one, I'm debating if I should even bring my 70-300--It's a heavy lens to be carrying around, and I don't see myself taking too many shots that utilize that range.

At this point, I'm debating if I should rent a lens for the 2 week trip, or just stick with what I have and hope I don't need wider. The 10-22 seems to be pretty expensive (for my current budget) but it also seems like a very well recommended lens, and fits the exact range I'm lacking right now.

I'm wondering if a) people see the utility for the 70-300 on a trip like this,

and b) if the 10-22 is worth shelling out for at the current Amazon price, or if I should rent it to see how much use I get out of it on a two week trip before committing to it.

Some great discussion here as well as good photo samples. It's getting me more worked up about going on my trip in just 2 months!

Edit: A third question! Is it worthwhile to bring both the standard 18-55 IS kit lens AND the 50mm 1.4? Obviously the quality is superior on the 1.4, but I need some kind of walkaround lens, and being stuck at 50 (x1.6) doesn't seem like the best idea for a trip like this. Sorry for the huge post--I'm just excited and don't want to blow it--I won't be going back for quite a long time, after this.

TuxBobble said:

I'm working with 50mm 1.4, 18-55 IS kit lens, and 70-300 IS on my 1.6x XSi/450d. I don't know how much more I can afford right now, but I'm making the Venice-> Florence/Pisa-> Rome trip in April.

Click to expand...

I took a 10-22, Sigma 18-50/2.8 (that's the old non-IS lens) and 70-200/4L to Venice. My most used lens by far was the 10-22, often at the wide end. The tele zoom was the least used but I was very glad to have it for various reasons such as interesting architectural details - I would take one again. I didn't take a prime and didn't miss it, but I do wish I'd taken a travel tripod for night shots.

If anything, there is a danger of over-using the ultrawide, there are so many opportunities to use it.