New Zealand Lens Choice

COtoNY wrote:

My wife and I are getting ready for a two week trip to New Zealand at the end of August/ early September. We're planning on flying into Queenstown and slowly working our way up to Wellington. I am very excited for all of the photographic opportunities, but also aware my wife will not enjoy the trip as much if I'm stopping to change lenses all of the time.

Given my current equipment below, I'm trying to decide if it's worth renting the 16-55 2.8 or something else.

Cameras: X-T1 and X-E1

Lenses: 16 1.4, 35 1.4, 18-55, and 50-230

When I'm walking around just doing photography, I generally like to use the 35 or the 16 and simply switch between the lenses. I like the look of these a little better than the 18-55. My initial plan was to put the 35 on the X-T1 and the 16 on the X-E1, but I'm afraid I'll miss some opportunities where I'll want to use the long zoom. This has gotten me thinking maybe I should rent the 16-55 to get the same quality I like from the primes. Appreciate advice on what has worked for other people!

A really common question and a bit confusing as there is so much choice and many have conflicting opinions.

New Zealand is all about the scenery. So a wide lens would be your primary lens here. There will be endless amazing beautiful lakes, mountain scenes. I have driven down the Highway from Christchurch to Queenstown and it can be stunning in places. Up there with Switzerland and easily one of the most beautiful scenic locations in the world.

10-24 zoom would be very handy. 16-55 F2.8 is a fine lens and is my main lens for my XT2. If it were me (I don't have any Fuji primes though) I would use the 10-24 and the 16-55. 35mm in APSc is really 52.5mm in full frame and for landscapes its starting to get long but still of course useable depending on how you like to frame your landscapes.

The 16-55 would be great for portraits as you can frame perfectly and F2.8 is very useable.

I know the 16 1.4 is very popular but for me viewing many Fuji landscapes from Greg's National Parks travels I felt it seemed a tad narrow for many of the shots and I preferred the 10-24 images more. The 18-55 is fine for XE1 and XT1 but not XT2 in my opinion where its weaknesses start to be revealed.

The 16-55 is one of the finest zooms I have ever used and its not really that large and heavy compared to its competitors.

An early morning shot of Lake Tekapu would be amazing with the 16-55 at 16mm and a tripod.

I am not sure how often you would use the 55-200 though. I don't remember seeing a lot of wildlife, mostly sheep.

Greg.