Help choosing which equipment to take on holiday

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Dredd123

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In a few weeks I am heading off on a driving holiday over to France, Switzerland, and Italy. I am short on space so I really need to be choosy about what camera equipment I take.

I will be going to watch the start of the Mille Miglia classic car race, with trips to Venice, Porto Fino, Nice, Monaco, lots of places in the Italian lakes, lots of places in the south of France (e.g. St Paul Du Vence).

I will be taking my Canon 1Ds II with me, but I would appreciate opinions on what lenses to take out of the following:

Canon 24-105L
Canon 50L 1.2
Canon 85L 2.1
Zeiss 21mm
Zeiss 100mm Macro Planar
Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS USM

I may buy a 35mm prime lens before I go, in which case I will take that as I think it is a good focal length to go with a full frame camera.

My current thinking is if I had to choose only 3 lenses, it would be the 24-105, the 85L and the Zeiss 100mm Macro Planar.

Any other suggestions?
 
It seems a waste to take 2 primes covered by the zoom you are taking. I would either take the 24-105 and the 70-200 to cover a wide range, along with 1 prime, probably the 50mm, for low light or if I wanted to do something a little different take all primes, in your case the 21, 50 and either the 85 or 100. If you get the 35mm take that too.
 
I'd be temped just to take the 24-105 as the always-on lens and then switch to the 21mm/50mm for when you're struggling with light or want a low DOF.
 
menthel said:
It seems a waste to take 2 primes covered by the zoom you are taking. I would either take the 24-105 and the 70-200 to cover a wide range, along with 1 prime, probably the 50mm
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This was the same exactly the same conclusion I came to. I think you'll want the 50mm if you plan on visiting the art galleries and churches in Venice.
 
Thanks for suggestions so far. Would 35mm be a more suitable focal length than 50mm for Venice?
 
No offence but it seems crazy asking these questions when you have such high-end kit available to you. Venice is as most other cities; full of details but also vistas so you can bring home a good set with virtually any lens you take out.
 
Dredd123 said:
Thanks for suggestions so far. Would 35mm be a more suitable focal length than 50mm for Venice?
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I like 35mm on full frame, a really practical focal length, I would certainly take the 21 in case you get cramped for room in amongst the buildings, and either the 85 or 100
 
Care to extrapolate on this? Intended or not, I do tend to take offence when people insinuate that I am asking crazy questions?

robertgilbert86 said:
No offence but it seems crazy asking these questions when you have such high-end kit available to you.
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Sure, it's likely that someone with your level of kit has been shooting for quite some time and probably has a good idea of what focal lengths they tend to use and what they like to shoot. If you take loads of portraits then the telephotos lenses would be appropriate and so on. I personally have found 'standard' zooms cover 80% of what I want to shoot whilst travelling so if I want to travel light I just take that one lens. I imagine you've either travelled a bit, know what a location like Venice is like from similar experiences, or seen other peoples photos so it shouldn't be too hard deciding what you want to take.
 
I've just come back from a few days in Paris. I took my 24-70mm and 16-35mm and I'd estimate that the 16-35mm was used at least twice as much as the 24-70mm, but your final decision will probably rest on what sort of subjects interest you e.g. architecture/people/landscapes.
 
Interesting, thanks Andrea. I'm interested in all of these subject matters!!!

I think this is going to be one of those occasions when a 16-300 f1.2L would come in very handy!!

Manxmaid said:
I've just come back from a few days in Paris. I took my 24-70mm and 16-35mm and I'd estimate that the 16-35mm was used at least twice as much as the 24-70mm, but your final decision will probably rest on what sort of subjects interest you e.g. architecture/people/landscapes.
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I would class myself as an intermediate amateur. I get very little time to indulge in this hobby due to work commitments - however I am in the fortunate position to be able to indulge myself somewhat when it comes to buying kit. Contrary to your imagination/assumptions, this doesn't necessarily translate to knowing how to get the best out of said kit ;)

The 24-105 is definately coming with me - it would be stupid not to take this zoom given the focal length flexibility it will allow.

It would also make sense to take the 70-200 and the 50L as has been suggested, but I would REALLY like to take at least one of the Zeiss lenses (unfortunately I can imagine that both 21 and 100 focal lengths could really come into their own, e.g. the 21 for alpine scenery and Italian lakes, and the 100 in Venice/Monaco for monuments/statues etc etc).

Decisions, decisions.

robertgilbert86 said:
Sure, it's likely that someone with your level of kit has been shooting for quite some time and probably has a good idea of what focal lengths they tend to use and what they like to shoot. If you take loads of portraits then the telephotos lenses would be appropriate and so on. I personally have found 'standard' zooms cover 80% of what I want to shoot whilst travelling so if I want to travel light I just take that one lens. I imagine you've either travelled a bit, know what a location like Venice is like from similar experiences, or seen other peoples photos so it shouldn't be too hard deciding what you want to take.
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Haha yeah maybe I'm assuming the usual path people take. I can provide my postal address if you want to make choosing lenses much easier in future! :P
 
robertgilbert86 said:
No offence but it seems crazy asking these questions when you have such high-end kit available to you.
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Have to agree completely. Why does someone with four L lenses need advice on which lenses to take where? Unless of course they just have too much money, buy lenses because they are L lenses, but don't know what they are for! :nono:
 
Many thanks for your helpful and constructive comment Neil.

NOT.

Jackwow said:
Have to agree completely. Why does someone with four L lenses need advice on which lenses to take where? Unless of course they just have too much money, buy lenses because they are L lenses, but don't know what they are for! :nono:
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Jackwow said:
Have to agree completely. Why does someone with four L lenses need advice on which lenses to take where? Unless of course they just have too much money, buy lenses because they are L lenses, but don't know what they are for! :nono:
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I think that's out of line and smacks of jealousy rather than adding anything useful.

So what if the chap has a bag full of L lenses, he asked a perfectly civil reasonable question and didn't deserve some of the stupid responses in this thread IMO.
 
Thank you Mark - it seems the usual friendly and helpful spirit of TP has a couple of interlopers on my thread with nothing useful to add. I was always taught to keep my mouth shut if I didn't have anything useful to say.


markmullen said:
I think that's out of line and smacks of jealousy rather than adding anything useful.

So what if the chap has a bag full of L lenses, he asked a perfectly civil reasonable question and didn't deserve some of the stupid responses in this thread IMO.
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Hi Gary,

Perhaps I should have stated originally that I will be travelling in a very small two seater car with VERY limited space (i.e. plastic bags tucked into every conceivable nook and cranny for almost three weeks away). Pretty much every square inch of space matters, hence why I have a lens dilemma. I definately do not have room for a camera bag, so everything will be going in loose (probably wrapped up in clothes).

vulcan2912 said:
Surely you can find room in the car to take all of your gear.If you are taking 3 lenses you don't actually need that much more space for the other 3.Something like a mini trekker would take all of your gear no problem.

Cheers
Gary
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When I'm travelling I just take the 5D and 50mm, as it's compact, light, fast and relativly wide. Having said that if I had a 35mm I'd probably take that instead.
 
Murphy's law states that the lens that gets left behind is the one you need most!
 
Dredd123 said:
Hi Gary,

Perhaps I should have stated originally that I will be travelling in a very small two seater car with VERY limited space (i.e. plastic bags tucked into every conceivable nook and cranny for almost three weeks away). Pretty much every square inch of space matters, hence why I have a lens dilemma. I definately do not have room for a camera bag, so everything will be going in loose (probably wrapped up in clothes).
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What's the car?
 
Dredd123 said:
however I am in the fortunate position to be able to indulge myself somewhat when it comes to buying kit.

...for alpine scenery and Italian lakes, and the 100 in Venice/Monaco for monuments/statues etc etc).
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and

miurasv said:
What's the car?
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Something quite sexy would be my guess... Doing something like the Gumball 3000? (not at all jealous if you are you understand ;) :D)
 
markmullen said:
I think that's out of line and smacks of jealousy rather than adding anything useful.

So what if the chap has a bag full of L lenses, he asked a perfectly civil reasonable question and didn't deserve some of the stupid responses in this thread IMO.
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Jealousy, really? :lol: :lol:

I have and have had a number of L lenses, in fact just bought another (70-300L) and like to think that I know what they are all for and would never ever consider asking advice on what lenses to take on any particular trip. Clearly the OP has no idea why he bought his lenses in the first place. :thumbsdown:
 
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Imo, i'd take the 70-200, 24-205 and the zeiss 21mm. Got a Prime for some good DoF stuff, 24-105 as a walk about/short zoom. and the 70-200 if you want something long/fast/IS. Only small overlaps.
 
Jackwow said:
Jealousy, really? :lol: :lol:

I have and have had a number of L lenses, in fact just bought another (70-300L) and like to think that I know what they are all for and would never ever consider asking advice on what lenses to take on any particular trip. Clearly the OP has no idea why he bought his lenses in the first place. :thumbsdown:
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He bought those because he had money to spend on nice gear! I just don't see why this is a problem! Do you think people who buy expensive fast cars all know how to exploit their full potential? Or the price of your guitar/piano depends on how good you are? some people just buy those because they can afford the best that is out there (and I would do so if I could tbh even if I am a crap tog!:cool: )



SimonUK said:
Imo, i'd take the 70-200, 24-205 and the zeiss 21mm. Got a Prime for some good DoF stuff, 24-105 as a walk about/short zoom. and the 70-200 if you want something long/fast/IS. Only small overlaps.
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That's what I would suggest as well...Wide angle to mid tele covered and the 70-200 should cover everything else :)
 
Not quite as sexy as you guessed methinks - just my little plastic Lotus Elise (which I absolutley love to bits).

We were supposed to do this run last year to mark mine and my wife's 40th birthdays but for various reasons it didn't happen, so we are doing it this year. It's just something I have pieced together around the Mille Miglia by doing lots of reading on the Internet about places to visit and, most importantly, 'interesting' roads. :)

arad85 said:
and



Something quite sexy would be my guess... Doing something like the Gumball 3000? (not at all jealous if you are you understand ;) :D)
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I know exactly why I bought my lenses and also what they are for. Normally I would take them all with me and wouldn't have asked my original question as I would be able to choose the right one for whatever I wanted to achieve at the time.

However, as already explained, I cannot take them all so I have a dilemma about which ones to choose to try to cover as many bases as possible for a trip which will no doubt throw up lots of different opportunities for lots of different types of photos. I was hoping maybe someone who had done this type of thing previously with a similar dilemma might be able to advise what had worked for them (most people have offered very useful suggestions - you seem to be the exception).

I would appreciate it if you just kept quiet if you don't have anything useful to contribute in terms of positive, practical suggestions, there's a good lad.



Jackwow said:
Jealousy, really? :lol: :lol:

I have and have had a number of L lenses, in fact just bought another (70-300L) and like to think that I know what they are all for and would never ever consider asking advice on what lenses to take on any particular trip. Clearly the OP has no idea why he bought his lenses in the first place. :thumbsdown:
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Dredd123 said:
Not quite as sexy as you guessed methinks - just my little plastic Lotus Elise (which I absolutley love to bits).
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Well, it was wishful thinking and fun adding 2 + 2 and getting 304 :D Enjoy the trip!!
 
The 24-105 is definately 'in'.

I would like to take the Zeiss 21 as experience from previous trips (before I got interested in photography I might add) says there will most likely be some stunning scenery, but I am also conscious that this is really a driving trip, not a photography trip IYSWIM so I think the wide end of the 24-105 might well suffice.

I hear what everyone has said about the 70-200 and appreciate the opinions, however the Zeiss 100 is quite a bit smaller and lighter and TBH I prefer the images is produces. I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I went without this lens.

So, the definates at the moment are:

24-105, and Zeiss 100

So that leaves room for one, or possibly two (at a push) further lenses.

I am still considering picking up a 35mm prime before we go, but that is far from certain,

Thanks again.
 
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