India tomorrow! - Last minute lens advice

Hello folks,

I'm flying to India tomorrow - mostly cycling in central Indian countryside so weight is an issue.

Will take a Canon S100 compact but will also have my trusty EM1 with the lovely 12-40mm zoom. The best thing about that pairing is that it's relatively dust-proof in my experience. I'm also going to take my 75-300 zoom - I know it's not absolutely stellar quality but it's beautifully light.

So, I could leave it at that, or take one (only one!) of the following:

45mm f1.8  (lovely and small and light, gorgeous portraits)

75mm f1.8  (a bit heavier, fantastic quality, good for portraits outside to maintain some distance)

I particularly like taking pictures of people.

I have a 7-14mm too but it's just too heavy for the trip and a 7.5mm fisheye which probably wouldn't get used enough.

I realise that it's a matter of personal preference but I wonder if there's some factor I've not considered?  maybe with the 12-40 and the 75-300, I've got it pretty much covered and don't need one of the others?

Help! Grateful for any advice.

All the best, Jon

London, UK

Paulmorgan wrote:

JonLondonUK wrote:

Hello folks,

I'm flying to India tomorrow - mostly cycling in central Indian countryside so weight is an issue.

Will take a Canon S100 compact but will also have my trusty EM1 with the lovely 12-40mm zoom. The best thing about that pairing is that it's relatively dust-proof in my experience. I'm also going to take my 75-300 zoom - I know it's not absolutely stellar quality but it's beautifully light.

So, I could leave it at that, or take one (only one!) of the following:

45mm f1.8 (lovely and small and light, gorgeous portraits)

75mm f1.8 (a bit heavier, fantastic quality, good for portraits outside to maintain some distance)

I particularly like taking pictures of people.

I have a 7-14mm too but it's just too heavy for the trip and a 7.5mm fisheye which probably wouldn't get used enough.

I realise that it's a matter of personal preference but I wonder if there's some factor I've not considered? maybe with the 12-40 and the 75-300, I've got it pretty much covered and don't need one of the others?

Help! Grateful for any advice.

All the best, Jon

London, UK

I`d take the 12-40mm, 7-14mm, the 45mm and 75-300mm and leave the 75 and 7.5mm at home.

I'd take the 45mm, you'll hardly notice its weight. I'd offer the 9-18mm too but it's a bit late if you don't have it. Use the 12mm end of the 12-40mm to create some panoramas if you find yourself wanting a wider angle. I'm envious of your trip! Have a great time and bring some pics back to us in cold London.

Maggie

Thanks Maggie,

You're tipping me in that direction...

Jon

I would definitely take the 75mm for character studies, it would be totally awesome. Have fun such a wonderful opportunity.

Capture the Moment wrote:

I would definitely take the 75mm for character studies, it would be totally awesome. Have fun such a wonderful opportunity.

Oh no - now I'm tipping towards the 75.

75 or 45? 45 or 75?

Sigh

JonLondonUK wrote:

Hello folks,

I'm flying to India tomorrow - mostly cycling in central Indian countryside so weight is an issue.

Will take a Canon S100 compact but will also have my trusty EM1 with the lovely 12-40mm zoom. The best thing about that pairing is that it's relatively dust-proof in my experience. I'm also going to take my 75-300 zoom - I know it's not absolutely stellar quality but it's beautifully light.

So, I could leave it at that, or take one (only one!) of the following:

45mm f1.8 (lovely and small and light, gorgeous portraits)

75mm f1.8 (a bit heavier, fantastic quality, good for portraits outside to maintain some distance)

I particularly like taking pictures of people.

I have a 7-14mm too but it's just too heavy for the trip and a 7.5mm fisheye which probably wouldn't get used enough.

I realise that it's a matter of personal preference but I wonder if there's some factor I've not considered? maybe with the 12-40 and the 75-300, I've got it pretty much covered and don't need one of the others?

Help! Grateful for any advice.

All the best, Jon

London, UK

I've been to India with the EM1 and 12-40mm and that was plenty, when you come down to it. I have the same 75-300mm zoom and it is a good lens but you probably won't use it much in India. Have fun!

Thanks Dennis, I'm going to some nature reserves so I thought I ought to have a telephoto...

JonLondonUK wrote:

Thanks Dennis, I'm going to some nature reserves so I thought I ought to have a telephoto...

We visited several nature reserves in India.  A telephoto was essential.

The palaces, forts and other buildings we saw had enough room around them to allow good photos without a very wide angle lens.  The 12-40 might be quite adequate.

JonLondonUK wrote:

Capture the Moment wrote:

I would definitely take the 75mm for character studies, it would be totally awesome. Have fun such a wonderful opportunity.

Oh no - now I'm tipping towards the 75.

75 or 45? 45 or 75?

Sigh

Your 75-300 already covers the 75mm FL albeit slower.

The 45mmf1.8 is perfect both for its size, weight, FL and speed where the 12-40mm @40mm won't.

12-40mm, 45mm, 75-300mm is the answer.  Do I get a prize? 

JonLondonUK wrote:

Hello folks,

I'm flying to India tomorrow - mostly cycling in central Indian countryside so weight is an issue.

Will take a Canon S100 compact but will also have my trusty EM1 with the lovely 12-40mm zoom. The best thing about that pairing is that it's relatively dust-proof in my experience. I'm also going to take my 75-300 zoom - I know it's not absolutely stellar quality but it's beautifully light.

So, I could leave it at that, or take one (only one!) of the following:

45mm f1.8 (lovely and small and light, gorgeous portraits)

75mm f1.8 (a bit heavier, fantastic quality, good for portraits outside to maintain some distance)

I particularly like taking pictures of people.

I have a 7-14mm too but it's just too heavy for the trip and a 7.5mm fisheye which probably wouldn't get used enough.

I realise that it's a matter of personal preference but I wonder if there's some factor I've not considered? maybe with the 12-40 and the 75-300, I've got it pretty much covered and don't need one of the others?

Help! Grateful for any advice.

All the best, Jon

London, UK

When I travel I take the 12-40 and 75-300 and both get a good workout. A very light and handy kit indeed. I also take the Panny 20/1.7 for a faster lens. I would take the 75 too for a fast longer lens...the 12-40 @ 40 is not bad for portraits too.

Hey Jon,

Welcome to India!

My suggestion would be to take the 75/1.8 along with the 12-40 and 75-300 which you have already decided to carry. I'd prefer that instead of 45/1.8. The reason being, the high quality zoom 12-40, is fast enough (albeit a stop slower) for most situations and can meet what 45/1.8 can do to a great extent.

75-300 is a must have for it's range and light weight, but may not be the best alternative for a Medium Telephoto, being slow and lacking any special characteristics. You may come across a number of opportunities where subject separation adds greatly to the image - like interesting people in the crowd or stage shows and cultural events, where freezing movement under available light is required. In such cases, 75/1.8 would be very much useful to make those exceptional images, especially since you are primarily interested in taking portraits of people..

And, even in those nature reserves, it can come in handy for taking the pictures of wildlife (mammals), especially in low light situations where 75-300 may find itself too slow. (May be a bit short, but don't forget the DTC). So, the 75/1.8 can serve as the special purpose lens, imho.

Wish you a nice trip and a pleasant stay in India!

Best,

Ramesh

The 45/1.8 would not add too much weight and would be really great for taking portraits of people. Take that along with your two zoom lenses; the 45 could turn out to be your most used lens. The lightweight zoom makes sense. Stay well and good luck!

JonLondonUK wrote:

Hello folks,

I'm flying to India tomorrow - mostly cycling in central Indian countryside so weight is an issue.

Will take a Canon S100 compact but will also have my trusty EM1 with the lovely 12-40mm zoom. The best thing about that pairing is that it's relatively dust-proof in my experience. I'm also going to take my 75-300 zoom - I know it's not absolutely stellar quality but it's beautifully light.

So, I could leave it at that, or take one (only one!) of the following:

45mm f1.8 (lovely and small and light, gorgeous portraits)

75mm f1.8 (a bit heavier, fantastic quality, good for portraits outside to maintain some distance)

I particularly like taking pictures of people.

I have a 7-14mm too but it's just too heavy for the trip and a 7.5mm fisheye which probably wouldn't get used enough.

I realise that it's a matter of personal preference but I wonder if there's some factor I've not considered? maybe with the 12-40 and the 75-300, I've got it pretty much covered and don't need one of the others?

Help! Grateful for any advice.

All the best, Jon

London, UK

IMHO, You're carrying  too much gear.

You don't need another lens.    

Enjoy your trip.

Lena

I visited the Golden triangle (New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur) of India + Kashmir few years ago before going M43.

I took a compact LC5 (33mm ~ 100mm f/2-2.5) with a 0.7x wide angle converter making it effectively 23mm eq. My wife took a superzoom FZ5 (36mm ~ 432mm).

The result was, a lot of images on the 23mm side, and just a few % on the 400+ long end. Your 12-40 would be good, but when shooting in the great monument like Taj Mahal, inside the City palace, in front of the facade of Wind Palace etc, 7-14 would be extremely useful.