When you pack photographic equipment for the holidays, it's hard to decide what to take. You want to take enough to get a good photo, but not so much so that the weight you down or takes up too much space in your luggage. If you're going on vacation with specific photographic intention in mind, like safari, it is relatively easy to decide what lens to take. But if you're going to go on vacation to the city or state standards, where you may find many different photographic situations, it would be difficult to determine the lens to take, and who left at home.
This article covers a few different options you might want to consider when deciding which lens you should take to use with your digital SLR camera on vacation.
This article covers a few different options you might want to consider when deciding which lens you should take to use with your digital SLR camera on vacation.
Creative Light - Small prime lens
For the most in terms of traveling light with a digital SLR camera, consider bringing only one prime (fixed focal length) lens, eg 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, or 85mm. While you may lose the convenience of a zoom lens, remember that you still can 'zoom with your feet when using prime lenses.
However, when using a single main lens, the goal should not really be to try and get the same picture as you would when using a zoom lens. Instead, it should make you think differently, and you should try to take a picture using fixed focal length to your advantage.
If you decide to try and push your creativity to shoot with only a single focal length, I would recommend that you try this before you go on vacation. This way you can see what the job picture with a particular lens, and the kinds of shots do not, before you go.
In addition to forcing you to challenge your creativity, shot with a single main lens has other benefits:
* Prime lenses are usually smaller than the zoom lens.
* With no lens changes you do not have to worry about the camera sensor is dirty.
* Prime lenses usually have a maximum speed hole, for example, f/1.4. This allows you to take pictures of shallow focus that you can not get with slow zoom lenses.
Obvious disadvantage is that there will be some pictures you might want to make but can not because you do not have the right focal length and "zooming with your feet 'is not possible. eg If you carry a 50mm prime lens you will not be able to take wide-angle picture from your hotel room.
Lightweight comfortable - Walk around (Medium width - medium telephoto) zoom
For the convenience is hard to beat walking around zoom lens. This is available in a wide range of focal length, some more simple example 24-70mm (for full frame DSLR) or 17-50mm (for DSLR APS-C), or quite extreme (known as 'superzooms' as), for example 28-300mm (for full frame DSLR) or 18-200mm (for DSLR APS-C).
Generally shorter zoom range, the higher the image quality lens will produce, but you lose the convenience of having a long zoom.
This lens goes from wide angle to medium telephoto middle, allowing you to capture things that most of the city's streets, to portraits, to the larger wildlife. Maybe there are still some situations where you find you want a broader long or more the focus of your lens, but a walk around lens should cover most situations you encounter.
Although convenient, these lenses tend to have a maximum aperture smaller than the prime lens. This means they are not quite as suitable for low light photography (although with today's high ISO camera capable of this is less of a concern than first).
A walk around the zoom lens may produce worse picture quality than prime lenses, but quality still have quite a lot for most print sizes.
Heavyweight all the bases covered - Walk around the zoom + zoom + wide angle telephoto zoom + (optionally) the primary normal
If you want to cover almost all situations you come across, above the lens selection should do well. This will not cover every single situation, to do that you will need to bring so many lenses you will need a Sherpa to haul them around for you. But this lens will cover most of your photographic opportunities tend to find, without your having to become a body builder to carry them.
Walking around the zoom, as discussed above, may be your main lens, and cover most situations.
A wide angle zoom lens, such as 10-20mm, 12-24mm, 14-24mm, 16-35mm, or 17-40mm, will prove to be great to get the breadth of views of beautiful country, square, or a crowded market. Super wide angle of this lens can also be used to great creative effect, emphasizing the object in the foreground and provide a sense of perspective.
Wide-angle zoom lens will also be useful in a tight spot where you want to get in a whole scene, but can not move further back, for example, spending a small alley.
A telephoto zoom, like 70-200mm or 70-300mm lens would be useful to take pictures of things in the distance, or wildlife. They are also useful for picking out details on buildings higher, and can make a fair portrait lens as well. You probably will not need a telephoto lens zoom range very often, but it's nice to have when you need it.
If you use a superzoom lens (eg 18-200mm or 28-300mm) to walk around the lens, then you may decide to not have the extra weight of the telephoto zoom. But the range of focal lengths smaller walk around lens (eg 17-50mm or 24-70mm) and telephoto zoom lens will provide superior image quality compared with a superzoom.
To round of your kit, you may want to consider adding the aperture (eg 50mm) fast normal (eg f/1.4) prime lens. While it may be double-ups on the part of the focal length covered in the walk around lens, aperture more quickly than the main lens makes it more suitable for portraits and photos where you want to use a shallow depth of field.
This kit will be quite a bit heavier than a single lens, but it must fit in a smallish bag without too much difficulty. And gives you added flexibility compared to using only a single lens.
Medium-weight covered the most basic - a normal wide angle prime + prime + prime medium tele
If you like the sharp and fast lens you fit, try to bring such a prime wide angle 14mm, 21mm, or 24mm, the main normal, for example 35mm or 50mm, and the prime medium tele, for example 85mm or 135mm.
Not quite as comfortable as a zoom lens choice, you have to 'zoom with your feet, but the choice of prime lens will give you the ultimate in image quality. Large aperture prime lens (50mm and 85mm lenses especially) also allows you to take advantage of the shallow depth of field is enlarged more slowly can not match.
Depending on your main lens aperture, if they fast for example f/1.8 - f/2.8 you should find they take less space than equivalent zoom lens. If you have a prime lens such superfast f/1.2 - f/1.4 then they may be as heavy or heavier than a zoom lens that covers focal lengths are equal, but then of course, the zoom lens can not match the holes superfast.
The main problem with just using the lens of choice is that you can not cover the telephoto end is very good except if you do not mind the big telephoto primes and heavy. You may not want to be carrying around with one of your holiday, unless maybe you are visiting a zoo or wildlife reserve.
I suggest that the 85mm or 135mm might be enough to cover most situations where you want longer focal length. You may miss a few shots in which the longer focal length is required, but you'll also be able to get some pictures in other situations which would zoom pass (eg a very low light or very shallow depth of field).
Hopefully the above has given you some ideas about what lens to take a vacation with you. If you want to know more about the selection of photographic equipment and packing for a holiday, please see Selecting and packing photographic equipment for the holidays.
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