14mm f2.8 or 10-24mm f4 for Egypt trip

jonikon wrote:

gdanmitchell wrote:

jonikon wrote:

My wife and I have a trip to Egypt planed for this year and I am considering buying either the 14mm f2.8 or 10-24mm f4 lens for the trip. Any advice? My camera is an X-T2.

Is that the only lens you will carry? If not, what other lenses will you use it with?

Right now I plan to also take my XC 16-50mm. I'm also considering buying the XF 16-80mm. Not sure whether to also take the XC 50-230mm or not.

If you have a lens with a 16mm minimum focal length, I'm not at all sure that it is worth also carrying the 14mm f/2.8. I have had that lens since it came out and it is an excellent lens... but I have to wonder if getting only an additional 2mm is worth carrying an extra lens for travel.

These questions often come down to questions of how you like to combine travel and photography. Is photography your primary reason for travel (at one extreme) or largely a way to record aspects of your primary goal, the travel itself.

If the former, it can make sense to burden yourself with more gear that covers a greater range of potential situations and which might provide some additional image quality — especially if you might, for example, make large prints of the photographs.

If the latter, wide-coverage general purpose lenses like the 16-80mm (and that 50-230mm or some other Fujifilm alternatives) can do a great job with a lot less fuss and weight/bulk.

It is hard to say which approach is best for you, not knowing your photography or how you like to travel. I will say that, in general, it is probably better to err on the side of taking less gear than taking too much when it comes to travel, a lesson I've learned (sometimes the hard way) over decades of travel.

McWoodley wrote:

jonikon wrote:

gdanmitchell wrote:

jonikon wrote:

My wife and I have a trip to Egypt planed for this year and I am considering buying either the 14mm f2.8 or 10-24mm f4 lens for the trip. Any advice? My camera is an X-T2.

Is that the only lens you will carry? If not, what other lenses will you use it with?

Right now I plan to also take my XC 16-50mm. I'm also considering buying the XF 16-80mm. Not sure whether to also take the XC 50-230mm or not.

First of all. I think you made a good choice with the 10-24. I always kick myself when I leave it at home. Usually because I take the 16-55. I tend to use it at the extremes though. So for me the 10-24 works well. The depending on my plans I’ll take a fast prime, usually the 35 1.4. I almost always take my XC 50-230 unless I have a specific reason to take the 100-400. The 50-230 weighs almost nothing and while a bit soft at the long end it’s a better than average lens. I’d definitely take it as a zoom option.

Now that I have it, I'm glad I chose the 10-24mm WR. The OIS is a must for shooting handheld indoors. I've gotten consistently sharp shots at 1/15 sec using the electronic shutter at all focal lengths. My primary zoom has been the XC 16-50mm which gives better image results than my XF 18-55 and  I most frequently shoot at 16mm. You're right that the XC 50-230 is so light I decided I will be taking it along. I must have gotten lucky with my copy of the XC 50-230 as it is surprisingly sharp at 230mm.