Good compact travel lens recommend?

Dave Seeley · Jul 13, 2003

I'm planning a vacation trip, and dread carrying my whole kit with me....though I love my lenses, the combined weight is a litteral drag....I'm thinking I'll take my 28-70L, and perhaps buy a compact telephoto....80-200 or more? Any recommendations for a compact that has decent sharpness and range?

Alternately, I could go radical and pick up a G3, and leave the whole slr kit at home....

Thanks

Dave

--
pro illustration with amateur photography
http://www.DaveSeeley.com/
current kit: 10d, 17-35L, 28-70L, 70-200L, ef50 macro, 550ex, st-e2

Max Savin · Jul 13, 2003

Dave Seeley said:
I'm planning a vacation trip, and dread carrying my whole kit with
me....though I love my lenses, the combined weight is a litteral
drag....I'm thinking I'll take my 28-70L, and perhaps buy a compact
telephoto....80-200 or more? Any recommendations for a compact that
has decent sharpness and range?

Alternately, I could go radical and pick up a G3, and leave the
whole slr kit at home....

Thanks

Dave

--
pro illustration with amateur photography
http://www.DaveSeeley.com/
current kit: 10d, 17-35L, 28-70L, 70-200L, ef50 macro, 550ex, st-e2

--

max...i know i am going to get chewed up for this but, when i travel and am just interested in snapshots, i take my nikon d100 and a tamron 28-300. xr. very light and flexible. just don't expect 1ds+300 2.8l is pictures.

Juli Valley · Jul 13, 2003

I would take the 28-135IS since it allows you to handhold at low speeds for interior shots. I've not bought the 80-200, but it's a good cheap lens that Adam T. recommends for its lightness for travel.

Toshi · Jul 13, 2003

... I just took a 28mm f/1.8 prime, and a 70-200 f/4L to cover the tele end. And it was sufficient.

Dave Seeley · Jul 13, 2003

Juli...who is adam T?
thanks

D

Juli Valley said:
I would take the 28-135IS since it allows you to handhold at low
speeds for interior shots. I've not bought the 80-200, but it's a
good cheap lens that Adam T. recommends for its lightness for
travel.

--
pro illustration with amateur photography
http://www.DaveSeeley.com/
current kit: 10d, 17-35L, 28-70L, 70-200L, ef50 macro, 550ex, st-e2

Juli Valley · Jul 13, 2003

Adam T. is one of our best gurus on lenses. He's been on a little vacation. LOL.

Juli Valley · Jul 13, 2003

A WA works well in cramped city streets.

Danny Cardenas · Jul 13, 2003

Unless you intend to focus on "photography" for some portion of this trip and have specific lens needs I'd go with the G3-

-dc

Dave Seeley said:
I'm planning a vacation trip, and dread carrying my whole kit with
me....though I love my lenses, the combined weight is a litteral
drag....I'm thinking I'll take my 28-70L, and perhaps buy a compact
telephoto....80-200 or more? Any recommendations for a compact that
has decent sharpness and range?

Alternately, I could go radical and pick up a G3, and leave the
whole slr kit at home....

Thanks

Dave

--
pro illustration with amateur photography
http://www.DaveSeeley.com/
current kit: 10d, 17-35L, 28-70L, 70-200L, ef50 macro, 550ex, st-e2

Dave Seeley · Jul 13, 2003

How bout the 75-300 IS?...is that a heavy one?
Thanks

D

Juli Valley said:
I would take the 28-135IS since it allows you to handhold at low
speeds for interior shots. I've not bought the 80-200, but it's a
good cheap lens that Adam T. recommends for its lightness for
travel.

--
pro illustration with amateur photography
http://www.DaveSeeley.com/
current kit: 10d, 17-35L, 28-70L, 70-200L, ef50 macro, 550ex, st-e2

Dave Seeley · Jul 13, 2003

Last time I traveled in Europe, I was on an fd system, and I carried a sigma 28-200 compact lens that was fair on image quality.....and it was never quite wide enough. God I wish I had had my 17-35 in those days..... My favorite lens later in life was my fd 20-35L.

D

Juli Valley said:
A WA works well in cramped city streets.

--
pro illustration with amateur photography
http://www.DaveSeeley.com/
current kit: 10d, 17-35L, 28-70L, 70-200L, ef50 macro, 550ex, st-e2

Juli Valley · Jul 13, 2003

It's not particularly heavy.

Lee Rothman · Jul 13, 2003

and I know it will be considered heresy to say this here, but as hard as it is to believe, I had a 70-300APO Macro Super Sigma lens. This lens is a newer design with Apochromatic lens elements and does a surprisingly amazing job across it's entire focal range. I sold it to a very good friend of mine who has gotten his share of wonderful pics with it. It is light, decently made with NO slop and has amazing contrast for it's crazy low price of less than $180.........here is an example from when I used it on a 4th of July shoot several years ago with a D30.

Lee Rothman · Jul 13, 2003

the picture doesn't come up but here is the link anyway

Dave Seeley · Jul 14, 2003

NO laughing matter!...sounds great....do you know how it compares to the (also cheap w/o IS) canon eos 75-300 in both image quality and ballast?

Thanks

D

Lee Rothman said:
and I know it will be considered heresy to say this here, but as
hard as it is to believe, I had a 70-300APO Macro Super Sigma lens.
This lens is a newer design with Apochromatic lens elements and
does a surprisingly amazing job across it's entire focal range. I
sold it to a very good friend of mine who has gotten his share of
wonderful pics with it. It is light, decently made with NO slop and
has amazing contrast for it's crazy low price of less than
$180.........here is an example from when I used it on a 4th of
July shoot several years ago with a D30.

--
pro illustration with amateur photography
http://www.DaveSeeley.com/
current kit: 10d, 17-35L, 28-70L, 70-200L, ef50 macro, 550ex, st-e2

Lee Rothman · Jul 14, 2003

that AT 300mm it will win in a side by side test.........I've done it and was very surprised. Of course it was on a tripod. With NO IS 300mm is a stretch to get sharp unless you're talkin' some higher shutter speeds. For it's price it's well worth a try at the very least. Hard to go wrong...it's one of Sigma's best kept secrets I think.........

Brian Kennedy · Jul 14, 2003

Dave Seeley said:
I'm planning a vacation trip, and dread carrying my whole kit with
me....though I love my lenses, the combined weight is a litteral
drag....I'm thinking I'll take my 28-70L, and perhaps buy a compact
telephoto....80-200 or more? Any recommendations for a compact that
has decent sharpness and range?
[-snip-]
current kit: 10d, 17-35L, 28-70L, 70-200L, ef50 macro, 550ex, st-e2

You should bring all of the above except the macro lens and ST-E2. In other words, bring the camera, the three L zooms, and the flash. Use the 70-200 for the tele range.

Everything will fit into a Mini-Trekker, and it's really not so bad to carry around. All of those lenses share filters, so you don't need to double up there. And all open up to f/2.8, which is nice to have when traveling.

Seriously, the 70-200 is a terrific travel lens. The 28-70 is my favorite travel lens, and the 17-35 is useful for street shooting. I strongly encourage you to take all three if you intend to do any serious or semi-serious photography during your trip. It's not that much harder to carry all three of those as it would be to carry just the 28-70 and a lightweight tele zoom.

--
Brian Kennedy
http://www.briankennedy.net/

Lee Rothman · Jul 14, 2003

why compromise. You'll only be sorry you didn't bring them all. Just start working out........you can handle it!

Mats Neander · Jul 14, 2003

Dave Seeley said:
I'm planning a vacation trip, and dread carrying my whole kit with
me....though I love my lenses, the combined weight is a litteral
drag....I'm thinking I'll take my 28-70L, and perhaps buy a compact
telephoto....80-200 or more? Any recommendations for a compact that
has decent sharpness and range?

Alternately, I could go radical and pick up a G3, and leave the
whole slr kit at home....

Thanks

Dave

--
pro illustration with amateur photography
http://www.DaveSeeley.com/
current kit: 10d, 17-35L, 28-70L, 70-200L, ef50 macro, 550ex, st-e2

--
Mats N

EOS600/SigmaEX17-35/EF28-85/EF70-200.4L/EOSIX/KonicaAutoreflexTCwHexanon40mmF1,8/CanonetQL17/RicohFF1s

The F:4 version of the 70-200L is the best there is if you like low weight AND superb performance!

I have it and it absolutely shines in every respect, except one.It does give some pincushion distorsion, so critical architercture shots might not be what it´s best suited for.Might be seen to a lesser degree on a "1,6 crop-factor-camera" like yours.
But color and sharpness is exceptional!

It is even better than the 10D can resolve; since the 10D is a Bayer sensored camera, at "only" 6 Mpix it do not take out everything the 70-200/4L put onto the sensor.
Nevertheless, a lens like that IS beautiful even on a 10D.

If you don´t need the extra F-stop, why not sell the (F:2,8?) you list as part of your kit..?

Mats Neander · Jul 14, 2003

Juli Valley said:
A WA works well in cramped city streets.

--
Mats N

Konica KD-500Z/EOS600/EF24-85/EF70-200.4L/EOSIX/KonicaAutoreflexTCwHexanon40mmF1,8/CanonetQL17/RicohFF1s

On a 10D a 28mm is for sure not a wide angle at all...

A 20mm would be the best "average WA" lens to put onto a 10D for those "cramped streets" of Europe...

Mats in Sweden

Dave Seeley · Jul 14, 2003

alright Brian and Lee....I fear you are right....When my shoulder starts aching, I'll jus think of the dollars and hassles I saved in not buying another lens.....

Thanks all

Dave

Mats Neander said:
Dave Seeley said:

I'm planning a vacation trip, and dread carrying my whole kit with
me....though I love my lenses, the combined weight is a litteral
drag....I'm thinking I'll take my 28-70L, and perhaps buy a compact
telephoto....80-200 or more? Any recommendations for a compact that
has decent sharpness and range?

Alternately, I could go radical and pick up a G3, and leave the
whole slr kit at home....

Thanks

Dave

--
pro illustration with amateur photography
http://www.DaveSeeley.com/
current kit: 10d, 17-35L, 28-70L, 70-200L, ef50 macro, 550ex, st-e2

Click to expand...

--
Mats N

EOS600/SigmaEX17-35/EF28-85/EF70-200.4L/EOSIX/KonicaAutoreflexTCwHexanon40mmF1,8/CanonetQL17/RicohFF1s

The F:4 version of the 70-200L is the best there is if you like low
weight AND superb performance!
I have it and it absolutely shines in every respect, except one.It
does give some pincushion distorsion, so critical architercture
shots might not be what it´s best suited for.Might be seen to a
lesser degree on a "1,6 crop-factor-camera" like yours.
But color and sharpness is exceptional!
It is even better than the 10D can resolve; since the 10D is a
Bayer sensored camera, at "only" 6 Mpix it do not take out
everything the 70-200/4L put onto the sensor.
Nevertheless, a lens like that IS beautiful even on a 10D.

If you don´t need the extra F-stop, why not sell the (F:2,8?) you
list as part of your kit..?

--
pro illustration with amateur photography
http://www.DaveSeeley.com/
current kit: 10d, 17-35L, 28-70L, 70-200L, ef50 macro, 550ex, st-e2

Good compact travel lens recommend?

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