Size, Weight, Systems, What would you take?

Bennp2000

Bennp2000

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Paul
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It looks as if the Mrs. and I will be going travelling this year. We've done Europe before but this time its looking like the USA and Canada. We basically spent all of our time rock-climbing on these trips and as a result see some pretty darn good scenery.

My main question here concerns which gear to take. Currently I've got two cameras:

Canon S95 - which gets taken with me 'up' things where weight REALLY matters, sometimes even this is ditched.

Canon 5d Mk II with an array of lenses:
17-40 f/4 L
50mm f/1.8 Mk II
85mm f/1.8
70-200 f/4 L

which I absolutely adore. However it weighs rather a lot and more likely than not it'll get left behind at the drop of a hat simply due to its bulk. The other issue I have is that currently I don't have an editing laptop (nor endless funds to buy such things). So, what would you do?

If I accept the bulk and the missed shots from taking (and this not always having the mk II) I'll also need to buy an editing laptop.

If I buy something smaller (maybe a Micro 4/3rds setup) I'll have to firstly sell some of my exisiting setup (this can't cost 'extra' cash) but more likely than not I won't be 'as' impressed with the results (nor will the camera be quite as good across a range of focal lengths and ISOs unless I completely sell up, FF to M4/3rds seems like a HUGE reduction in sensor size).

I understand in photography there'll always be trade-offs (especially concering size and weight) but I'd appreciate some advice so I make a good decision regarding this one!

Paul
 
I guess it depends what you prefer to take photo's of, and what you've taken photos of before on your similar adventures?

for me, I'd be happy with just a fast 50 prime, and a 28mm prime, but everyones different!

Out of that list, I'd leave the 85mm behind, but that's my [uneducated] opinion, as I've never been to the US, or up a mountain for that matter to know what to shoot :lol:
 
I'll be in the Desert, Yosemite National Park, Tuolmne Meadows, The High Sierras + Needles then likely Squamish and the Bugaboos.

A lot of scenery + a lot of climbing. Annoyingly for climbing shots I tend to favour shooting long and wide open rather than wide and close like some of my peers.

I've just done some maths and the M4/3rds route gives me 3 times as much DoF for similar effective focal length and aperture!
 
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Try the Fuji X-E1 and associated lenses. Compact size, and the results blow away most APS-C size DSLRs. It's an absolutely great camera.
 
Bennp2000 said:
I'll be in the Desert, Yosemite National Park, Tuolmne Meadows, The High Sierras + Needles then likely Squamish and the Bugaboos.

A lot of scenery + a lot of climbing. Annoyingly for climbing shots I tend to favour shooting long and wide open rather than wide and close like some of my peers.

I've just done some maths and the M4/3rds route gives me 3 times as much DoF for similar effective focal length and aperture!
Click to expand...

Dunno about that. If you replace your 5D+50mm with a MFT+25mm to retain the same FoV wont that give you equiv. DoF x 2? But of course if you use a longer lens and change your FoV shallow DoF is there for the taking if that's what you want to achieve. In lower light of course it'll probably be easier to take hand held shots with a MTF and 20/25mm f1.7/1.4 than with a 5D and 50mm f1.8, that's been my experience anyway and a MFT will probably have much superior anti dust bunny technology than your 5D. That matters when you get home from holiday and start to process 100's of shots. I've been there.

As for giving up image quality, I have a 5D and an ageing Panny G1 and at low to middle ISO's (up to 800 maybe) the G1 holds up very well and whole images and non excessive crops taken with it are well and truly lost in a pile of 5D images once all have been processed to get the best out of them. I fully expect later MFT bodies to do even better and some of the MFT lenses are getting very very good reviews indeed.

If you keep faith with your 5D, faced with your lenses I'd take the 17-40 and the 50mm or the 85mm, most probably the 50mm.
 
I haven't read that but I have a problem believing x3 DoF.

Thinking about it 25mm on MFT at f1.4 should be roughly the same as FF 50mm at f2.8 and my own little tests seem to confirm a x2 DoF factor.

If anyone needs a quick and dirty test to confirm this I'll do it tomorrow with a 5D+50mm f1.4 and a G1 with 25mm f0.95, it'll only take a few minutes to do. I've done this before and convinced myself it's give or take a gnats the same but I can't find the images on my pc at the moment.

From that link...

DOF2.jpg


DOF1.jpg


DoF x 2 seems to work?

PS. Tables... Dunno if you can read these on screen but here they are...

50mm.jpg


25mm.jpg


Looks to be within a gnats +/- nothing that really matters x2 DoF.
 
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arad85 said:
It's x2 in DoF. 1.4@25mm on m4/3 is the same as 2.8@50mm on FF. It approximates to the crop factor.
Click to expand...

As it should and as my little plastic wind up Cartman confirms :D
 
I have no problem with converting one format/focal length/FoV/aperture to another it's just the dogmatic blind worship of DoF tables to three decimal places and the belief that cutting an image in half changes anything within the image that I like to laugh at :D
 
woof woof said:
and the belief that cutting an image in half changes anything within the image that I like to laugh at :D
Click to expand...
It changes nothing in the captured image. You just magnify the cropped section more when you print to a particular given size, so the blur becomes more apparent....
 
Any CSC system will be bulkier and heavier than a good compact, so it basically boils down to finding one (compact) that gives the angles of view you like and delivers the quality you need.

I'm in the process of reducing my portering and am trying to use a trio of Fujis (HS-30 EXR, X-10 and XF-1) rather then lugging a DSLR kit around with me, especially on holiday where the weight of the SLR kit is a real drag! (D700 + 6 lenses etc weighs in at 8kg+...) Of course, compacts have their limitations, with minimum apertures being relatively wide (f/9 on the X-10 and XF-1, f/11 on the HS-30) and maximum apertures being slightly limited (f/2-f/2.8 on the X-10, f/1.8-f/4.9 on the XF-1 and f/2.8-f/5.6 on the HS-30). The zooms on the 2 smaller cameras are 6.4mm-25.6mm on the XF-1 (25-100mm 35mm eq), 7.1mm-28.4mm (28-112mm 35mm eq) with the HS-30 offering a huge 4.2mm-126mm range (24-720mm 35mm eq). All have trustworth metering systems and deliver prints up to A3+. While ultimate image quality may not be up to my D700, it's close enough for me.
 
arad85 said:
It changes nothing in the captured image. You just magnify the cropped section more when you print to a particular given size, so the blur becomes more apparent....
Click to expand...

And again, I have no problem with that. Once stated clearly it's... clear... instead of the sloppy misleading statements we get from the DoF equivalence and sensor size measurabator Taliban.

I hope that this little digression helped the OP :D
 
Was looking at this before xmas, heres a comparison i gathered, body plus wide, standard and tele:-

FX
Body d800 (994g)
Wide 16-35 (679g)
Standard 24-70 (902g)
Tele 70-200 (1468g)
Total 4043g

DX
d300 (932g)
10-24 (462g)
17-50 (430g)
50-15 (780g)
Total 2604g

M43
omd e5 (430g)
7-14 (300g)
12-35 (305g)
35-100 (360g)
Total 1395g
 
I have a setup similar to you, with a 24-105 walkabout lens rather than 70-200 tele. as such, I'd take 5D2 with 24-105 in a small camera bag (Lowepro Nova 160) when I want to travel light. According to the calculation above, it's about the same weight as M43, but retaining full frame.

for the holiday in Edinburgh I had, with moderate walking, I've taken:
-5D2 850g
-17-40 L 350g
-24-105 L 600g
-35/2 250g
-430ExII flashgun 300g
-in Thinktank Retrospective 20. 200g with accessories
total: 2600g.

so, I think you could try this setup.
-5D2
-50/1.8 for low light
-70-200 f4 L for your style of shooting
-perhaps the 17-40 L, depend on how much you use it, I think it's THE lens for landscape.
can't be more than 2000g.

also remember you'll want to carry a tripod for any landscape shots. if you are taking a tripod anyway, then why not put a full frame on it?
 
That's pretty much the thought I had (yes to tripod but I'll be buying it over there as I have SO much equipment to get out there).

I tried the X-E1 in my local store, ok it looks nice and I'm sure the shots are wonderful but poor RAW development support and only a few lenses would make me nervous (for now).

Thanks for the mini-dof refresher, still at x2, that's quite a difference considering my shots will be somewhere in the 5-8m working distance, wide open.

The weight comparison of each system is very helpful although it'd be useful to know the relative cost. As in the OP, any changes need to be paid for by existing glass/body.

Thanks
 
I've had a look at your website (nice by the way!) and in my opinion you'd struggle to replicate a lot of your climbing shots on 4/3.

It's not so much the quality issue as the loss of DoF control you utilise.

If at all possible this trip needs your 5d2, 17-40 and 70-200 as a minimum.

Mike
 
Thank you and thanks for taking the time to look over my site. I'm dying to put my new stuff up there but until its published (Apr), I can't (for the most recent stuff it was all wide open [ish] on my 85mm)...

I think I'm coming to the same conclusions. Maybe I should consider simply upgrading the 50 to the 1.4 and then leaving the 85 behind (if I haven't sold it to fund things).

I guess my next thread needs to ask about the cheapest piece of tech I can use to edit 5dII RAW files on the move!
 
Bennp2000 said:
Thanks for the mini-dof refresher, still at x2, that's quite a difference considering my shots will be somewhere in the 5-8m working distance, wide open.
Click to expand...

Yet another thing to remember is that with some cameras the max shutter speed comes into play if you like shooting with wide apertures. Many CSC have a max shutter speed of 1/4000 sec so if you're shooting with wide apertures in good light (and why wouldn't you) you may need an ND or two. I carry two in my G1 bag and often need t stack them both to bring the shutter speed down to below 1/4000. PITA!
 
It's f2.8 though and if I was the OP and already owning a 50mm f1.8 which isn't exactly a tank weight and bulk wise I'd give it a miss.
 
I've gone lightweight but don't need (or have!) telephoto

Fuji X100 445g
Fuji WCL-X100 wide angle 150g
Fuji Hood and Filter Holder plus Hoya ND8, ND400 filters 105g including protective cases
Giotto's GTMT8223-50 Tripod 1100kg
3 spare batteries 106g

Total 1.906kg including the Tripod!!!!

Haven't taken my Canon 40D out of the house since getting the Fuji.
 
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