Fuji travel kit advice

justyn_c_uk

justyn_c_uk

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Justyn
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I am going around the Med on a cruise in a month and I’m trying to work out what lens(es) to put in the rucksack for a light-ish travel kit. I’ve got an X-T1 with the following lens to choose from Fuji 10-24mm, 18-135mm, 35mm 1.4 and a Samyang 12mm f2.

My style of photography is trying to find great photos in locations that I’ve scouted online beforehand and having little time to take shots as the wife and kids huff and sigh about how much time I’m taking (although I have a cunning plan of getting my daughter an EM-10 to even the odds).

The Fuji lenses look to be well balanced for covering all bases on a holiday where I’m expecting to dive off the boat, run round for the day, grab shots and run back aboard. The Samyang is primarily for astro, so probably won’t be taken.

Except... if we’re walking round Rome or Palermo would a different lens be a better fit for a light kit? I might be able to fund something like the 23mm f2, but will it make the odds over the 35mm?
 
Travel is about travel, not being a photo-bore.

Unless it is specifically for photography then I always just take a body, superzoom and fast prime. In fact it's liberating not constantly thinking "if I just change the lens".
 
While the 35mm is my favourite lens on Fuji if you have the 18-135 you have that focal length covered. Do you need the faster aperture of the 35mm (on a hopefully sunny cruise around the Med)? I keep chopping and changing my kit but of late I've found that a wide zoom and a longer zoom are enough, and fast specialist lenses are just extra weight to carry.
 
I'd take the 10-24 for the days I know I'll be looking at architecture and the 18-135 as general walkabout lens. Evenings out and family moments, I'd use the iPhone or equivalent.. Have your time with the camera but don't ruin the trip and family time with them.

Just don't forget cards and spare batteries!!
 
Thanks for the responses, it’s aligning with my thoughts as well, but I wanted to test them. Batteries, cards & tripod ready to roll.
 
To be honest, on a cruise you might as well take all 4 (12mm, 10-24, 18-135 and the 35mm f1.4), most suggestions here are take the two zooms, but the 12mm is tiny and light as is the 35mm, just leave them in your cabin if your taking them that day....
 
I don’t have the 100-400, my longer lens are micro 4/3s on an Olympus EM1, which is my rugby camera and isn’t going on holiday. The 200mm equivalence from the 18-135 will have to suffice, maybe if I’d had a 55-200 I would have taken it.

I did consider the 12mm for Astro on the boat, but looking into it even on a 130k tonne ship the vibrations and movement are too much.
 
justyn_c_uk said:
I don’t have the 100-400, my longer lens are micro 4/3s on an Olympus EM1, which is my rugby camera and isn’t going on holiday. The 200mm equivalence from the 18-135 will have to suffice, maybe if I’d had a 55-200 I would have taken it.

I did consider the 12mm for Astro on the boat, but looking into it even on a 130k tonne ship the vibrations and movement are too much.
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I don’t think you’ll miss a longer focal length, certainly not in Rome anyway.
 
Just been back to look at my Rome shots and it's one of the few places I actually found ultrawide useful (I'm not really a fan of UWA), mainly for indoor shots as outside you are generally far enough away and would want to avoid massively converging verticals (I presume).
 
I did a Med cruise last summer with just an 18-55 and a 14. (I took the 55-200 but it really didn't get used.) So I'd recommend from your kit to go with the 10-24 and 18-135. If you're looking to spend any money I'd look at a small travel tripod (e.g. Joby Gorillapod) or a bean bag for any long exposure shots.

My family audibly groan when I get my camera out so I tended to sit them in a cafe and then scoot around to get the photographs I wanted.
 
bumper said:
I'd take the 10-24 for the days I know I'll be looking at architecture and the 18-135 as general walkabout lens. Evenings out and family moments, I'd use the iPhone or equivalent.. Have your time with the camera but don't ruin the trip and family time with them.

Just don't forget cards and spare batteries!!
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Exactly what I'd do.
 
Might be tempted to just take the 10-24, more than once taken two or three lenses and just used one.
 
Take everything with a body for each lens, Hawaiian shirt and an American accent.
Sorted. :)


Seriously, I'd take the 18-135mm and the 12mm for my pocket. Maybe.
 
An ultrawide, or at least a wide, is very useful in Rome. There are a lot of narrow streets and restricted spaces in the older parts of the city - which are popular with tourists - and it can be busy.

Having said that, I'm probably not the best person to comment. I never carry anything bigger than a compact with a wide zoom range when I'm travelling. It's currently my wife's TZ 9, which is getting long in the tooth, but it meets my needs for this. Have fun!
 
desf said:
Take everything with a body for each lens.
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I do! 19-24 on X-Pro1, 18-135 on the X-T1 and the 100-400 (+1.4x teleconverter) on the X-T2. I can live with the gap between 135 and 140mm... Saves on lens changes (dusty in Crete, where I shoot most) and the resulting missed shots (faster to swap bodies than lenses.)

No Hawaiian shirts and my fake American accent makes Dick van Dyke's Mockney sound convincing!
 
Now I’m not suggesting you should dash out and buy one, but this may give you food for thought...

I spent November in Australia, with a short stop-off in Hong Kong. After much deliberation I decided to leave my X-T2 at home and only took the X100F and WCL. Managed just fine and did not miss the extra lenses one little bit. Got all the shots I wanted and then some.
 
When I go anywhere (other than wildlife shooting) one of my bodies always has the 10-24 on it; it's just a great lens, and the focal length on the crop is really useful. I would take that, and the 35 for anything narrow DOF or portraits. Keep the 10-24 mounted, and the 35 in a pocket/bag.

Also, take one of those little tabletop tripods and an ND grad filter - you get some great sunsets while cruising the Med, make the most of the opportunity and shoot from the boat.
 
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Jelster said:
you get some great sunsets while cruising the Med, make the most of the opportunity and shoot from the boat.
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Don't be afraid to whack the ISO up a bit and apply NR in PP if necessary (on both counts). The slight loss of detail won't matter if the colours shine through.
 
Well holiday done, photos taken, culled and edited. I took the 35mm f1.4, 10-24 and 18-135, which were used in very different proportions, 85% of shots on the 18-135, 14% on the 10-24 and a handful the 35mm. So we what did I learn, the 10-24 was very useful in Rome to grab shots in tight conditions or wide vistas like the Coliseum, the 18-135 works very well in well lit Mediterranean conditions and handheld in poorly lit churches it still works well. (My family hate having their photo taken so the 35mm got carried around in a bag a lot) I know the 18-135 isn't to everyone's taste, but for all round I didn't find it too limiting or poor.
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