Nero

Well, Cadillac Mountain is special in one way, it's the first point in the US that sunlight hits during sunrise. It's not the furthest east, but the elevation gives it the edge. That being said, it's a beautiful view that you have to fight crowds of other photographers to get good shots on some days. One of my favorite spots on Acadia is a place called Hunter's Cove or Hunter's Beach. It's a little out of the way and very nice. Also, one thing that a lot of people don't realize is that there is a section of Acadia National Park that isn't on the island, It's on the Schoodic Peninsula. It gets much less traffic typically and the coastline there is quite beautiful. Winter Harbor and Prospect Harbor are interesting little fishing towns too for photographing. Schoodic Arts in Hammond Hall in Winter Harbor is a nice stop to learn a little more about the area. If you have any time to spare, I will say that Quoddy Head State Park is 100% worth the drive to go see. It's maybe 3-4 hours north along the coast near Lubec. That is technically the far eastern point in the US. Gets very little tourist traffic, and has wonderful, dramatic coast with cliffs and a lighthouse. If you can take a day and a half or two days to go up there and hit both golden and blue hour, you will NOT regret it!

I lived in Maine for a couple years and have been to Acadia a number of times. I like have a zoom on one body and a prime on another. I don't own the 16-55mm, but I do own the 16mm prime. 16mm should be plenty wide for most of what you encounter in Acadia. I love my 10-24mm, but I tend to use it as a "scouting lens" when I want to go wide. I'll shoot mid-day with it just getting to know the place, then I'll go back during the best light with the 16mm unless there is a compelling reason that I need the 10-15mm range of the zoom. Go with the 16-55mm, you won't miss out on much, if anything, in my opinion.

I love the 55-200mm for its balance of quality and price (new or used). I think it's also a great fit for the original poster given their name indicates that they live in Idaho. In that kind of landscape, having some extra reach beyond the 50-140 is just as useful as the wide end of the 16-55. I've heard good things about the 50-230, but since I've owned the 55-200 I simply wouldn't go with anything else after seeing the incredible images it produces. If it's a toss up between those two partly due to price, I would go used 55-200 over new 50-230 any day.

My wife and I are spending a long weekend (4 days, 5 nights in the city) in Budapest in early September. She recently finished her PhD and started a new job, so she doesn't have much vacation time, otherwise we would be staying longer. I've read countless "top ten things to do" articles, but I would like to get some opinions from photographers about the must see places that might not make it into those general tourism lists. Obviously we will be spending some time in Castle Hill and the other big attractions, but what are the hidden gems for photographers?

I have the 18-135mm (which is actually my least used lens for a number of reasons I won't go into here) and it was the primary reason for pushing me away from the 50-140mm. The image quality is no comparison between the two, but 135mm was just not long enough whenever I really wanted some reach. I went with the 55-200 to get that extra length and it's quickly become a favorite lens. The image quality is stunning for a lens of that price. It has some tradeoffs, but that extra $1000 that I saved allowed me to buy an X-Pro2. The 55-200 is almost permanently attached to my X-T1 and then I rotate between the 16, 23, and 35 f/1.4 on the X-Pro2. If I had spent the extra $1000 on the 50-140, my gear would not be nearly as flexible right now.

I have both and they are easily my two most used lenses. I don't think they are too close at all. They complement each other very nicely.

18-135mm I used to split all my time between this and the 10-24mm a couple years ago, but the extra reach of the 55-200 made me go for that pretty frequently once I bought it late last year. Now that I have a Pro2 paired with my T1, the 18-135mm has sat unused for all of 2016 so far. Depending on where I'm shooting, I pick between the 16, 23, and 35 f/1.4 on the Pro2 and then use the 55-200 on the T1. I'll probably end up giving the 18-135mm to my father this summer because he's a big fan of zooms and doesn't like to change lenses very often.

Most versatile if you just want one lens is the 16-55, especially if you're hiking with it and want weather resistance. If you're looking to add another lens or two to that and weight is a big concern, you could add both the 55-200 and the 10-24 for less than the cost of the 50-140. I think that the 55-200 is very underrated given the price and superb image quality and it has more reach and less weight.

I ended up getting my money back through the PayPal dispute. If the strap does miraculously show up at some point, I'll gladly transfer the money back to him even though I felt mistreated as a customer and will probably get another nasty email from him as a result. I have found that most countries, regardless of whether they supposedly have good or bad reputations, have roughly the same proportions of good versus bad business people. The majority I encounter are fine and at worst may not be overly polite, but are not at all rude either. Whether they are American, Italian, Middle Eastern, or other nationalities, most small businesses I deal with are a pleasure to work with. I still wish him well in his business, but I personally won't be spending my money in his shop again. I ended up going with a Tap and Dye wrist strap, which is more than I wanted to spend, but I have one for my X-T1 and have been very happy with everything about it, from craftsmanship to look to the fit. I guess sometimes it just pays to stay with what you know!

I love leather bags, but I don't use them for my camera gear. They just scream "expensive!" too loudly even if they don't look like a camera bag. They seem more likely to be stolen. Of course I don't have any statistics to back that up, so I wouldn't fault anyone for going with a leather bag if they really prefer the look. Just my opinion.

Aside from the whales, Alaskan cruises typically pass glaciers that can make for incredible photo opportunities and a 100-400 could be perfect for those types of shots too. There is a lot of beautiful landscape that the ship may not get very close to that this lens will open up for you to photograph.

In my opinion, the 18-135 has some quality control issues compared to other Fuji lenses. Some people swear by it as an incredible lens and their images back it up. Personally, it's my least used lens, even when traveling, and find that I have to use the dehaze tool way too much for my liking on any landscapes with some real depth to them. It just loses contrast like crazy in those situations. Also, the bokeh is not very good. That's to be expected from a slower zoom, but it's just not there. Perhaps those quality control issues have cleared up, I bought mine very early after the initial release. Not sure. Where it shines is the image stabilization. I've shot it at f/5.6 inside Mammoth Cave, half second handheld. All that being said, it's still miles ahead of the 18-135 kit lenses that other camera companies put out. Even if I had a good copy, 135 doesn't quite cut it for the long end of the range for me. It's all about versatility. My 55-200 has none of the issues that my copy of the 18-135 shows. Beautiful lens. The autofocus is a little slow at times, but for landscapes that's not really an issue. The 18-55 is a great lens too, but since you mentioned that you like wide angle lenses, I think the 10-24mm is an obvious choice. If you like to shoot cityscapes at night with some action or you like to have the extra range in your depth of field for miscellaneous other shots, then the 16mm is one to consider. I own both and they each have their purposes. It's a great combo to own if you like wide angle lenses. But to start with, I'd pick one or the other to match your needs then consider adding the other later. For the primes, it kind of depends on what you go with on the wide end. If it's 10-24, then one of the 35mm lenses. If it's the 16, the maybe consider the 23. My favorite kits depending on where and what I'm shooting are either 10-24, 35 f/1.4, and 55-200 or 16, 23, 35 f/1.4, and 55-200 with a Pro2 and X-T1.

I completely agree with you on that point and I swear by Billingham for that reason. For myself though, already owning a Hadley Pro, it's hard for me to buy a Hadley Digital at about $40 less when the bag is less than half the size. To me, the Hadley Pro is priceless, but I would be inclined to examine all other options before spending that much on the Digital.

I agree that Angelo Pelle does beautiful work and I don't want to discourage other people from ordering his products. However, I recently had a bad experience with him, as noted in my thread about his wrist straps in this section of the forums. I know that he has a good reputation behind his products, so I would encourage everyone to form their own opinions. I may have just caught him on a bad day and he reacted poorly, I'm sure it can happen to anyone, but it definitely did not go over well with me.

I agree on the Billingham. I have the Hadley Pro, which was only marginally more expensive than the Digital despite being significantly larger. My father owns the Digital and it is a greta bag, I really trust their product in all kinds of weather conditions, but the price point for such a small bag seems way too high. I think you can find a much more cost effective solution than the Hadley Digital.

Well, I have to report that I am very disappointed in Angelo Pelle. I submitted a dispute in PayPal and let him know that I had not received the item. Note that this was after I had made 2 attempts to contact him through his website. He responded by criticizing my choice of shipping. I responded by saying that I apologize for selecting his least expensive option, but that was the only way I could afford to buy one of his wrist straps, but I had heard good things about the quality of his products and wanted to give him my business. I then received an email from him saying only "TYPICAL AMERICAN." I just escalated the dispute to a claim. I cannot recommend dealing with him going forward given that he has consistently chosen to criticize and insult me instead of handling this professionally.

Thanks, I have had some things (Helios lenses) take even longer than this, but they were coming Ukraine when the crisis with Russia seemed to have peaked, so I assumed up front that those would take a long time. I did pay with PayPal and the charge went through, but did not receive a shipping notification. I'm going to try contacting him again through something other than the form on his site (perhaps it is not working) before I file anything through PayPal. I don't want to cause any problems for him and I have never heard anything but good reviews about his business.

Has anyone here ever had a problem with Angelo Pelle? I've never heard anything bad and I'm not accusing them of anything, but I ordered a wrist strap in the last week of March and have not received it. I'm in the US and did go with the cheapest shipping option, basic airmail. Still, 5+ weeks seems a bit long. I emailed him through the contact form on his site about 7-10 days ago and have not received any response. Has anyone else had extremely long delivery times when ordering from him with the cheapest international shipping option?

I find that the bokeh on the 55-200 is very nice and underrated compared to other lenses. It's a little bit slower, but I prefer having the extra reach out to 200mm. It's also much lighter. The 50-140mm does have weather sealing, but I don't really need that feature for how I use it.

I love the X100 series of cameras, but unless they are a really perfect fit for your style of shooting (such as being primarily a street shooter), I think they are best as a second camera add-on to another Fuji camera with interchangeable lenses. Fuji simply has so many outstanding lenses on the market right now that going with a fixed lens camera puts some very strict limits on your exploration of what they have to offer and how you can craft a 2-3 lens kit to suit your specific needs.

My wife this weekend in Millennium Park, Chicago. X-Pro2, XF 23mm @ f/1.4, 1/6400s, ISO 200. Mahdieh by Oren Darling, on Flickr

I've been using my Billingham Hadley Pro exclusively for almost 2 years now. Absolutely the perfect bag for me and I try to buy quality and stick with as few bags and other accessories as possible so that I can focus my finances on lenses and trips..... However, I do a lot of hiking and my wife finally told me that I really need to get a backpack that I trust with my gear as much as my Billingham because I look ridiculous and awkward carrying both a cheap daypack and my camera bag in the woods. She's asking me to buy more gear? No arguments here! Damn I love her! I didn't want to go with a backpack that is exclusively for photo gear, so I bought a Millican "Dave the Rucksack." Exactly what I was looking for. Is it for everyone? No, but if you live in an area where you can get your hands on one to try out I would highly recommend it.

I've never had problems when traveling, and I don't try overly hard to be covert about my photography. I have a Billingham Hadley Pro that I carry. Yes, thieves who know cameras may recognize what I'm carrying, but it will fool many and this is also a bag I trust in all weather conditions and that is easy to fit all of my necessary gear into while never being questioned as appropriate dimensions for a second carry-on for any airline I'm flying. I need to be able to trust the bag in all conditions before I will travel with it. What good is a bag that cuts the risk of thieves if it also gets left at the hotel because of risky weather? My second strategy is to limit my potential losses. I have an X-T1 and an X-Pro2. Depending on where I'm going, my favorite lens kits are either 16, 23, 35 f/1.4, 55-200 or 10-24, 35 f/1.4, and 55-200. All of them fit in my Billingham with both bodies when I'm on the plane. My wife carries an X-E1 with the 27mm in her purse. If I'm in a city that is known for having issues with thieves, I'll usually just have one camera and at most one spare lens and a spare battery or two. The rest stays at the hotel, in the safe. I don't carry everything with me at all times. That's a recipe for total disaster. A thief can completely eliminate your ability to get photos for the rest of your trip unless you buy another camera on the spot or just use a phone camera. Carry just what you need for the day and a thief might make that day really, really, bad, but they won't completely destroy your entire trip by cleaning you out. If I'm in the countryside, I'll probably carry a bit more, the risks are lower. And how do I deal with bringing less gear out each day? As long as I'm staying multiple days, it's easy! I just plan a day for scouting. I put my 23mm on the Pro2 and walk around. If I see any shots that I need to have and just can't get with that lens, I'll make note of it to come back later. That day is usually where I have the most fun and get the most authentic experiences. Carrying minimal gear can make your day more enjoyable as long as you can set aside the thoughts of what shots you're missing in favor of the ones that are in front of you.

Most used are the 23 and 35 f/1.4, but if asked for my favorites, I would say 16 and 55-200. Those 4 lenses make up my normal walk around kit, with a prime on my X-Pro2 and the 55-200 on the X-T1.

I love Luigi's leather work and I'm sure the cases with the plastic strip are great quality, but for me personally the plastic ruins it. I'm also not a big fan of cases that screw into the tripod socket to attach. As long as I can access the battery, I don't mind taking the case off for memory card access as long as it's just two snaps over the strap lugs. I kind of prefer to have the sides covered a little bit for extra protection. The Kenji case looks pretty good to me. I might give them a try. They were a close second for my X-T1 half case before I went with Arte di Mano. I've been very happy with that choice, but they do tend to have a long wait time, are expensive, and some of their products aren't listed on their website. When I ordered my X-T1 half-case, I found out they were selling X-T1 cases by an eBay search and emailed them directly to get around the extra eBay fees. I may go with the Kenji this time.