Reading mode: Light Dark

Hiking Trip: Which Lens to take?

Go to last post
N

Nirbhay Kuppu

Member
Messages
20
Reaction score
0
Hey Guys,

So I'm going up to the Himalayas for a month, this involves a lot of treks and camping. I wanted to know what the best choice of lenses would be for me. I have quite a few but I'm not sure what to take and what to leave. Taking them all makes no sense as i need to travel light. I will be doing landscapes as these are the largest mountains in the world, would also do some portraits. Hybrid Portraits where id composite the subjects onto the landscapes, as id want to use speed lights for some dramatic lighting. I think the only lens im taking for sure is the 14mm samyang.

The list of choices are as follows(all canon):

24 - 105 f4

85 f1.8

50 f1.8

75 - 300 f105

14mm t3.1 cine

Would love to hear which combinations you guys would suggest.

Thanks a lot!
 
Nirbhay Kuppu said:
Hey Guys,

So I'm going up to the Himalayas for a month, this involves a lot of treks and camping. I wanted to know what the best choice of lenses would be for me. I have quite a few but I'm not sure what to take and what to leave. Taking them all makes no sense as i need to travel light. I will be doing landscapes as these are the largest mountains in the world, would also do some portraits. Hybrid Portraits where id composite the subjects onto the landscapes, as id want to use speed lights for some dramatic lighting. I think the only lens im taking for sure is the 14mm samyang.

The list of choices are as follows(all canon):

24 - 105 f4

85 f1.8

50 f1.8

75 - 300 f105

14mm t3.1 cine

Would love to hear which combinations you guys would suggest.

Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...
You have not mentioned the places you would be visiting. Lens choices depend on the landscape also. For example if you are going to Ladakh/Spiti region there will be scope of using the tele lens to capture further details, but if you going to garhwal or Nepal then you will be walking among the peaks and a moderate tele would be sufficient.


Keeping that in mind, here are some general ideas. Don't bother about these RX100 and mirrorless advice. They have no idea about Himalayan condition. It's the same advice here on every thread. Just use what you have. I will skip the 75-300 which is really bad. I would go for the 18-135 (or Sigma 18-200C) as someone else suggested. 135 on Canon APS-C is around 215mm equivalent which will be sufficient for distant vistas and peaks. 18mm is also much more useful than 24mm of your 24-105
alternately you can choose the cheap combination of 18-55 + 55-250 IS if you also intend to shoot some birds.


as you are taking the Samyang, I would suggest to take the 50mm additionally for some village portraits.


depending on the destination take enough batteries. If you have no access to electricity I would at least take 1 battery/2 days.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rajesh_b/
 
Last edited:
Gareth Bourne said:
Nirbhay Kuppu said:
Hey Guys,

So I'm going up to the Himalayas for a month, this involves a lot of treks and camping.
Click to expand...
You don't say what altitude you'll be hiking to. If you're going up as high as Everest base camp then bear in mind that there will be around (or less than) 50% of the oxygen there is at sea level. Even at lower altitudes there will be less oxygen than you're used to.

When you're hiking in these environments you need to consider the weight of everything you're carrying. When you're at altitude it will feel like double whatever it is at sea level.

I would suggest that you take a good compact camera, or a mirrorless / ILC / m43 camera that gives you a good range but is also light and compact, and easily accessible from a pouch on your pack.

I wouldn't take a DSLR. Too heavy and bulky.
Click to expand...
 
nofumble said:
BTW, you need no fast portrait lens for a trip like that. Why do you want blurry background when you have a spectacular mountain behind? Use your composition skills.
Click to expand...
This is not Rocky mountains, but Himalayas, one of the most culturally rich human habitat in the world. A trekker gets to spend his nights in tea houses and villages everyday, except very high altitudes. there are wonderful opportunities to shoot village life, portraits of children etc. That's why he needs a a fast portrait lens.
 
StIves said:
So not wanting to change batteries (there are plentiful recharging options in the touristy parts of Nepal, though the ones above Namche in Khumbu cost money) but opening the entire camera to change film every 36 shots is a reasonable thing to do, vs using a single SD card that can hold several thousand images?

What sort of image quality do you get from a P&S that takes film? This is a class of gear that went out of production over a decade ago.

Where exactly is all this crazy advice coming from, how many people posting here have ever been to Nepal... or come to think of it, even out of the first world?

Screw this, the level of stupid in this thread is too much to deal with. I am unsubscribing.
Click to expand...
BTW, did he mention in any comment that he is going to Nepal? I probably missed it.

If he is going to Indian Himalayas, then there is much less option of charging. So a d-slr is useful.
 
Rajeshb said:
BTW, did he mention in any comment that he is going to Nepal? I probably missed it.
If he is going to Indian Himalayas, then there is much less option of charging. So a d-slr is useful.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rajesh_b/
Click to expand...
Good point. I had assumed that the "hiking for a month" and "Himalayas" means standard trekking holiday in Nepal.

But the Indian username means that it's entirely plausible that he's not doing a western packaged trekking holiday.

DSLR is definitely useful, it's what he's already got. I really don't understand all the "buy a completely new camera in a different format, with crap battery life!!!" posts that followed it.

I went both times with a camera with batteries that lasted 500-600 shots, each time took around 3 batteries and managed okay, but the longest I was away from charging was perhaps 10 days. I did come across hikers with their own solar setups, but frankly they looked more trouble than they were worth.
 
Last edited:
cookedraw said:
where do you live that do not have second hand stores ? It's not difficult to take photos with a compact..

Do you even think before you write something. Surely It is lighter option than any DSLR and FF too.

--
" Use the shutter button on the headset cord " - Leonardo Da Vinci
Click to expand...
I really should stay out of this thread for my sanity, but why would the OP buy a crappy secondhand FILM P&S with substandard image ability when he has a DSLR?

Secondhand stores. Right. When you've posted something clearly devoid of sense, stop trying to back it up by digging your hole even deeper.
 
Last edited:
cookedraw said:
where do you live that do not have second hand stores ? It's not difficult to take photos with a compact..

Do you even think before you write something. Surely It is lighter option than any DSLR and FF too.

--
" Use the shutter button on the headset cord " - Leonardo Da Vinci
Click to expand...
Yes, I do think unlike you. That's why I listed all those practical difficulties of using transparency films. But you didn't learn anything.


India (where I am from) is not a collector's market. I am sure there are no 2nd hand stores for ancient film compacts there.


And you conveniently bypassed the camera choice and high cost of using slide films. So which compact do you suggest? Stylus or any of those slow zooms?


And no, if someone has learnt photography with digital, it is not easy for him to use velvia in a compact with limited exposure modes. That will be a good way to ruin a life long trip.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rajesh_b/
 
Last edited:
Rajeshb said:
Yes, I do think unlike you. That's why I listed all those practical difficulties of using transparency films. But you didn't learn anything.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately people often affirm their belief on the first random thought they read rather than through logic or experience (or from those with).

Probably wasting my time, but this account might clarify their thought:

Despite the big dSLR, the photo gear I carried on my latest trek weighed less than that of the first I made back in 1995.

Why? Because I wasn't lugging 50 rolls of 135mm film (weighing over 1.5 kg).

Instead I had x3 batteries and 2 memory cards (giving me the equivalent number of exposures. (weighing under 250g)
 
NearerNirvana said:
Rajeshb said:
Yes, I do think unlike you. That's why I listed all those practical difficulties of using transparency films. But you didn't learn anything.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately people often affirm their belief on the first random thought they read rather than through logic or experience (or from those with).

Probably wasting my time, but this account might clarify their thought:

Despite the big dSLR, the photo gear I carried on my latest trek weighed less than that of the first I made back in 1995.

Why? Because I wasn't lugging 50 rolls of 135mm film (weighing over 1.5 kg).

Instead I had x3 batteries and 2 memory cards (giving me the equivalent number of exposures. (weighing under 250g)
Click to expand...
50x36=1800 .

You must have made a lot of shots in less than ideal situations or it was a very long trip because it is 60 frames per day for 30 days. I hope you did not shoot portraits and landscapes because if so you must be a very bad photographer. Who knows what you did but it probably was related to logic and experience whatever that means.

I could easily do a trip to himalaya with 4 rolls of film. One per week or 5 frames per day.

Whatever you did I don't think you would agree that the weight of a DSLR and a few lenses is no problem if you did carry your own food and camping gear for 30 days. Then you would know that every gram counts.

Anyway one lens is enough and since OP likes the samyang I would advice him to leave rest behind and have the phone as backup. For backup a spare camera is much better than a lens.
 
Last edited:
StIves said:
cookedraw said:
where do you live that do not have second hand stores ? It's not difficult to take photos with a compact..

Do you even think before you write something. Surely It is lighter option than any DSLR and FF too.
Click to expand...
I really should stay out of this thread for my sanity, but why would the OP buy a crappy secondhand FILM P&S with substandard image ability when he has a DSLR?

Secondhand stores. Right. When you've posted something clearly devoid of sense, stop trying to back it up by digging your hole even deeper.
Click to expand...
He's trolling you, Bro. Probably all of us when he suggested film. I like film too, but c'mon.



troll.jpg




--
-Jeremy
 
cookedraw said:
50x36=1800 .

You must have made a lot of shots in less than ideal situations or it was a very long trip because it is 60 frames per day for 30 days. I hope you did not shoot portraits and landscapes because if so you must be a very bad photographer. Who knows what you did but it probably was related to logic and experience whatever that means.

I could easily do a trip to himalaya with 4 rolls of film. One per week or 5 frames per day.
Click to expand...
After this sentence, I feel you were just trolling. There is no point in talking with you anymore.
 
Rajeshb said:
cookedraw said:
50x36=1800 .

You must have made a lot of shots in less than ideal situations or it was a very long trip
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
It was a very long trip.
Rajeshb said:
Rajeshb said:
I hope you did not shoot portraits and landscapes because if so you must be a very bad photographer.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
People can feel free to judge that by actually looking at my photos. (Links frequently provided in signature)
Rajeshb said:
Rajeshb said:
Who knows what you did but it probably was related to logic and experience whatever that means.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
It means actually walking the walk (literally in this case) and not just talking the talk.
Rajeshb said:
Rajeshb said:
I could easily do a trip to himalaya with 4 rolls of film. One per week or 5 frames per day.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Sure you could. Have you? I also advocate considerate and conservative photography. I would love to see your portfolio.
Rajeshb said:
After this sentence, I feel you were just trolling. There is no point in talking with you anymore.
Click to expand...
????!!!

--

Loading…

journeys.carbonmade.com
 
NearerNirvana said:
Rajeshb said:
cookedraw said:
50x36=1800 .

You must have made a lot of shots in less than ideal situations or it was a very long trip
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
It was a very long trip.
NearerNirvana said:
NearerNirvana said:
I hope you did not shoot portraits and landscapes because if so you must be a very bad photographer.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
People can feel free to judge that by actually looking at my photos. (Links frequently provided in signature)
NearerNirvana said:
NearerNirvana said:
Who knows what you did but it probably was related to logic and experience whatever that means.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
It means actually walking the walk (literally in this case) and not just talking the talk.
NearerNirvana said:
NearerNirvana said:
I could easily do a trip to himalaya with 4 rolls of film. One per week or 5 frames per day.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Sure you could. Have you? I also advocate considerate and conservative photography. I would love to see your portfolio.
NearerNirvana said:
After this sentence, I feel you were just trolling. There is no point in talking with you anymore.
Click to expand...
????!!!

--

https://journeys.carbonmade.com/projects/5540903
Click to expand...
2 posts are mixed up. I wrote to cookedraw that he is trolling after his 5 frames/day sentence. Then you answered my post instead of cookedraw's post.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top