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Going to Europe - 14/2.8 vs 10-24/4?


Palomid

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Hi Palomid.

I've been to Europe recently on a business trip, taking in Paris, & Brussels. I travelled light with just my X-E2, and 14mm, & 27mm lenses. This I found more than adequate for sightseeing, street & general architectural photography.

Under normal holiday visits, I may have taken either a wide angle or telephoto zoom. However I may reappraise my photographic needs after this trip; it was a joy not to be weighed down by cumbersome zooms!

Try using a couple of lightweight primes, even the X-T1, with a pancake lens will fit in an overcoat pocket, (the other pocket for 14mm, and, spare battery, & memory cards).

Use your legs to zoom in and out, and/or stitch together pano. shots to widen the view, if required.

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... And I may need another camera bag beacause my Lowepro Event Messenger 100 does not fit all this nicely.  I'm thinking of getting the 150 which I think may fit all of it and I really like the bag.

 

Hi Marcelo, I just returned from a short vacation to Europe, and used a Lowepro Photo Hatchback 22L size (in the pepper red color.) I normally use Think Tank rolling bags to carry my FF Nikon gear and a few of their shoulder bags for my Fuji kits; however, when on vacation I thought a more secure and comfortable backpack might be better. The benefit is that it doesn't really look too much like a camera bag, and the access is through the back of the pack -- not on the front. It makes it much more secure. I was able to carry:

 

Fuji X-T1

18-55mm

35mm

27mm

55-200mm

12mm Samyang

Macro focus tubes (the inexpensive third party ones)

six batteries

ND filters and lens extension rings

Mini tripod

iPhone tripod

iPad Mini Retina

Basic Kindle

First Aid Kit

North Face Fleece

Eyeglasses

Sunglasses

Chargers & cables

Misc items

 

Yes, this did get a bit heavy, but I would only carry the needed items for the day when using it. When out and about I would remove the contents in the top section and then carry a small travel tripod that would extend to about 5' or 1.5 meters. The best part is that all of this fit inside the bag and you don't look like you are carrying a lot of expensive equipment. The other great part of this is that the backpack is not expensive, and relatively comfortable. I purchased mine from B&H for around $70 a couple months ago. Here is a link. You might want to see if this might work for you.  Have a great adventure!

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Hi Marcelo, I just returned from a short vacation to Europe, and used a Lowepro Photo Hatchback 22L size (in the pepper red color.) I normally use Think Tank rolling bags to carry my FF Nikon gear and a few of their shoulder bags for my Fuji kits; however, when on vacation I thought a more secure and comfortable backpack might be better. The benefit is that it doesn't really look too much like a camera bag, and the access is through the back of the pack -- not on the front. It makes it much more secure. I was able to carry:

 

Fuji X-T1

18-55mm

35mm

27mm

55-200mm

12mm Samyang

Macro focus tubes (the inexpensive third party ones)

six batteries

ND filters and lens extension rings

Mini tripod

iPhone tripod

iPad Mini Retina

Basic Kindle

First Aid Kit

North Face Fleece

Eyeglasses

Sunglasses

Chargers & cables

Misc items

 

Yes, this did get a bit heavy, but I would only carry the needed items for the day when using it. When out and about I would remove the contents in the top section and then carry a small travel tripod that would extend to about 5' or 1.5 meters. The best part is that all of this fit inside the bag and you don't look like you are carrying a lot of expensive equipment. The other great part of this is that the backpack is not expensive, and relatively comfortable. I purchased mine from B&H for around $70 a couple months ago. Here is a link. You might want to see if this might work for you.  Have a great adventure!

 

Thanks for the bag tip m2usa.  I wonder if the messenger bag from lowepro looks that much like a camera bag on the mica color, that is why I wanted to get the bigger one.  I don't know.  I have a small backpack also, might be better to carry around things during the day, as it would split the weight between both sholders. But, it does open from the back, so, maybe not ideal.  

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Last night I finally got my hands on my XF 18mm after it went from the digitalrev store to Florida and my friend brought it to me to Brazil, and guess what?!

 

The freaking lens came defective!!! The focus keeps getting stuck and the camera shows a message to turn it off and on.  Then the focus comes back into place and starts to work again. Then, after a few focusing tries it locks again.  If I put it in manual focus and focus with the back buttom it happens a lot more.

 

Now...I'll have to return the damn lens to Hong Kong, from Brazil!!!  And...need another friend coming from the US.  The thing is that they will want to give me a refund, but for the price I paied, I want them to ship it again for me, not refund me because the refund won't be enought to buy a new one :-(

 

Now, I'm rethinking my strategy of buying the 18 + 12mm from samyang to buying the 14mm which I read everywhere it is an excelent lens! But, I also read it might not be wide enough in some indoor monuments.

 

What to do?? What to do??

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Last night I finally got my hands on my XF 18mm after it went from the digitalrev store to Florida and my friend brought it to me to Brazil, and guess what?!

 

The freaking lens came defective!!!

 

Just a thought, as I don't have the 18mm, but try to ensure that it has the latest firmware from Fujifilm. You can update it from the camera.

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Just a thought, as I don't have the 18mm, but try to ensure that it has the latest firmware from Fujifilm. You can update it from the camera.

I checked.  It's the latest.  Focusing was kind of weird also, manual focus did not seem to be moving smothly but in steps.  After close inspection I found a dent on top of the lens, seems like it was dropped.  I'm sending it back tomorrow.

 

Thanks!

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Primes or Zoom

 

I think that one of the things to consider is whether you will have time to be changing lenses, or if you will be mostly enjoying your trip as a visitor. Since you are making a decision to buy one lens, you should consider its future use as well.

 

On my recent trip, I did bring primes, but due to circumstances I didn't want to slow down my wife digging through my bag to make lens changes. The 18-55 was used far more than I had planned, but it did get me some photos I really appreciate and enjoy.

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I checked.  It's the latest.  Focusing was kind of weird also, manual focus did not seem to be moving smothly but in steps.  After close inspection I found a dent on top of the lens, seems like it was dropped.  I'm sending it back tomorrow.

 

Thanks!

 

Oh man! That is a bummer. Hope it works out for you.

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As I live in Germany I can say that the 10-24 would be the better choice. You have a more versatile focal range and the awesome OIS. That and the high ISO capability of the X-T1 and you are set.

 

Where exactly are you going to be heading? You can PM me if you wish. Maybe we can meet up if you are in my area.

 

Thank you for an invitation!

We were mostly in Berlin, and Hamburg, and made 2 days trip to Czech Republic (Prague).

 

So, we are back form our short trip... short story - I got 10-24 at the end.

I went to Saturn mall in Berlin to handle both lenses, and found that size/weght difference is not that dramatic, as some peple say.

Yes, zoom has larger front element, but it's not 18-55 vs 16-55 difference.

And I've found that  4mm at the wide end is a huge difference!

 

Well, I have not used 10-24 a lot in Berlin, because it has plenty of space, so you can zoom out with your feet mostly, so I had 18-55 attached most of the time.

Things have changed when we got to Prague and Hamburg. There I used 10-24 most of the time - with tall Prague cathedrals like St. Vitte's, 10mm was a saviour lens,and Hamburg has pretty tall and huge buildings, not always possible to shoot with 18-55.

 

I also used a 55-200 in Berlin Zoo, and on the boat trip on Alster in Hamburg, and 35/1.4 when needed more low-light perfomance, but 60/2.4 really was used only once, wish I'd leave this lens at home at all.

 

Few shots from the trip:

 

18183513476_71a2858fd9_b.jpg

 

18023834569_8ff033e4cc_b.jpg

 

18183194045_5db24033df_b.jpg

 

18094727235_15811e920c_b.jpg

 

17558986584_55a93f004d_b.jpg

 

18184340891_17bd7ea74c_b.jpg

 

17993682428_3794852ce4_b.jpg

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Best lens for traveling to Europe?  The 23mm on the X100.  :)

 

But seriously... when I would actually take my Canon with me a few years back, I brought my 10-22mm EF-S (for crop sensor only) lens and it was absolutely amazing for Europe in general.  Loved it.  I also took a 24-70 and never really used it, just carried the beast around.  So I'd opt for the 10-24 - it gives you a lot of options, and 10mm is nice to have.

 

Nowadays, my X100 is the only Fuji camera I have, and it actually is all that I take traveling. I still have a Canon but I only use it when I'm shooting for work.

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That second picture has some weird issues :ph34r:

long focal lengths causes compression of  foreground and background. short focal length do the opposite, they expand foreground and background.  If you tilt the camera up with a wide angle lens, you bring the foreground even closer and move the background further away. What you end up is a keystone perspective.   

 

If someone is not wanting this effect, they need to mind the tilt due to the expansion property of wide angles.  Else they will need to fix in post using keystone correction.  

 

I personally like this property when I intend to exaggerate distance of foreground vs background  Similar but opposite to compression, when I intend to compress distance.  

 

Both properties are tools in photography.

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I like the flexibility and the creative possibilies of the 10-24

Zeelandbrug with 10mm and ten stop ND

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this image should give you a sense of how much tilt was involved at the time of capture.

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I'm looking more towards 14mm.. but would it be wide enough for tight European streets and tall cathedrals?

 

Thank you!

The simple answer to the above is  No ! I bought the 14mm before the 10-24 mm came out .  Using the 14mm around the streets of Rouen I wanted wider !  I've now got the 10-24 as well  which at the wider end of the range is fantastic and close to the 14mm in quality . Shooting inside Cathedrals  at 10mm , hand held  at 1/10sec with the OIS  is easily possible. ( Most venues ban tripods & Flash ) .  So for Town, Cathedrals etc I'd use my 10-24mm- for landscapes etc the 14mm is superb.  Team the 10-24 mm with an 18-55 or 18-135  and you have an awesome  two Lens travel kit 

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The simple answer to the above is  No !

 

That's a simple answer indeed. Too simple.

 

A good photo does not always need to include everything. In fact most of the photos that do include everything look boring to me, they look like some kind of postcards.

 

I don't have the pics at hand, but I came recently accross a beautiful Peugeot 404 Injection, open-top, rented for a wedding.

 

I tried to take a pic of the whole car. From the side, from the front at an angle, from the rear at an angle, tried to get the maximum of it. Then before I left I tried a last snap : I took only the rear right light at an angle to make a big "V" in the pic and a small piece of a white wedding ribbon to give a hint. Guess which one looked the most interresting when I reviewed them at home.

 

This is my personal preference, I don't say it's better than anyone else's preference but that's just to say "wide enough" is a highly subjective concept.

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the 10-24 is the lens to go for me for a great many shots I have to say that using is a lot of fun!

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The simple answer to the above is  No ! I bought the 14mm before the 10-24 mm came out .  Using the 14mm around the streets of Rouen I wanted wider !  I've now got the 10-24 as well  which at the wider end of the range is fantastic and close to the 14mm in quality . Shooting inside Cathedrals  at 10mm , hand held  at 1/10sec with the OIS  is easily possible. ( Most venues ban tripods & Flash ) .  So for Town, Cathedrals etc I'd use my 10-24mm- for landscapes etc the 14mm is superb.  Team the 10-24 mm with an 18-55 or 18-135  and you have an awesome  two Lens travel kit 

 

 

I've managed 1/2 second shots hand held with the 10-24... The OIS is impressive. (plus I have a steady hand). I get shots in low light that would need a tripod with the 14... or push the ISO past the point where I'm happy with the result.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Several year ago we went to Hawaii for vacation and I took my D800 and four lenses along with a laptop. Put it all in a tag-a-long.

Last year we went back for three weeks. I took X-T1, 18-135mm, 14mm and my X100s. I replaced the laptop with a IPad Mini. It all fit into

a Think Tank #5 bag and under the seat on the plane I had a lot more fun and took better photos

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I think the 14mm f/2.8 is a perfect companion to the 18-55mm f/2.8-4. For me, it gives me the extra wideness when I need it. Bonus: it shares both the filter size and lens hood with the latter.

 

It's wide enough for most of European cities. Of course, that's my humble opinion.

 

14mm + 18-55mm is the perfect Fuji light travel kit. Maybe ad the 35mm prime for extra low light goodness.

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