Travelling Combo X-T1 and Two Lenses (But Which Ones??)

[bhamx2]

Had an interesting day today. Went to Elan Valley in Mid Wales (landscape shooting) and took both my Canon 5D - 17-35 zoom and X-E1 - 18mm prime. I am happier with the framing of the X-E1 - 18mm F2 and felt more clinical when shooting with it (if that makes sense). During the odd situation where I thought the additional width would be useful I shot an in camera pano and in the end these helped compliment the 'normal shots' and made the photograph collection more interesting to my eye. 

 

When shooting with the zoom I found myself experimenting with different focal lengths too often with no real end benefit and it was wasted time. 

 

Conclusion for me is there is a lot to be said for shooting with fixed focal lengths (consistency and learning to 'see' with a particular length) which is going to influence my lens purchases moving forward for sure. 

[Tom H.]

23 and 56 is a classic combo. I often go for 16 and 56 too.

[Nero]

Had an interesting day today. Went to Elan Valley in Mid Wales (landscape shooting) and took both my Canon 5D - 17-35 zoom and X-E1 - 18mm prime. I am happier with the framing of the X-E1 - 18mm F2 and felt more clinical when shooting with it (if that makes sense). During the odd situation where I thought the additional width would be useful I shot an in camera pano and in the end these helped compliment the 'normal shots' and made the photograph collection more interesting to my eye. 

 

When shooting with the zoom I found myself experimenting with different focal lengths too often with no real end benefit and it was wasted time. 

 

Conclusion for me is there is a lot to be said for shooting with fixed focal lengths (consistency and learning to 'see' with a particular length) which is going to influence my lens purchases moving forward for sure. 

 

I love shooting with primes, even for travel. My favorite travel kit is 16, 23, 35, and 55-200. Sometimes I'll go with the 10-24, 35, and 55-200 depending on circumstances, but most of the time anything under 55mm I use a prime. 

[gordonrussell76]

I find the 18-135mm to be a very good lens there may be QC issues but some other things to consider with this lens.

 

Firstly its an outside daylight lens if you take this you need to take something like the 35mm F1.4 as well.

 

I generally follow these rules with this lens to get the best out of it

 

1) Set it to F5.6 and treat it as a fixed F5.6 lens at 18mm it sharpens up nicely at this aperture.

2) Use a high SS to freeze action if I can 1/250 and up is my preference, for static subjects you can go lower ie inside a cathedral.

3) Try not to go above ISO 800 which is hard given the above two criteria, hence my comment about it being a daylight lens. One thing I will say about this lens is that I love the colour from it, its a very very warm lens and I had great success with two friends weddings in Portugal and Italy it really captured the heat if you know what I mean.

 

IF you can follow the above you will get sharp powerful images from the lens, in sub optimal light it will start to frustrate you. So pair it with a fast prime. 

 

I am heading to Canada this summer for a 3 week holiday that will include Vancouver, Vancouver island, the rockies, ferry rides, breath taking scenery and bears this is my planed lens line up.

 

1) 18-135mm - walkaround do it all lens for daytime saves constantly changing lenses important with 5 year old in tow, not only that I want to experience the country and not spend the entire time with my head buried in my camera bag.

 

2) 10-24mm - for the occasions where only super wide will do, and its also a great city lens as I find the 24mm end very useful for street, others will disagree but for me I am very happy with it.

 

3) 35mm F1.4 - do it all lens for indoors and nighttime, yes its not a zoom but personally for me this is the most versatile lens in the kit, I know it best and on days when I am feeling uninspired it will be on the camera to get me going again.

 

4) 50-230mm - This lens is in the kit purely for this holiday and may well get sold afterwards although considering the price I can live with it being a sit in a draw lens, I need some extra reach for some of the wildlife we will see, my normal travel line up i are the 3 lens above. 

 

Yes there are better options in the line up for reach,  the 50-140 plus TC and 100-400mm both of which are massive lens that I don't want to carry and I don't want to buy and given that I picked up the 50-230mm for £115 on ebay (US $200ish) that is less than the cost of hiring one of those lens for the holiday. Oh and using simlar techniques i mentioned in relation to the 18-135mm i find this lens to actually be a great performer. I have owned the 55-200, yes it better but not by much and you lose 30mm/45mmFF eq at the long end which defeats the purpose. Honestly if this was a focal range I used more I would buy the 50-140mm and 2xTC when it comes out, the AF and image stabilization are far superior and take the TC off and you have a great portrait zoom. It was a very real consideration as I could have sold my 90mm and replaced it at the 50-230mm with this lens and the TC, but its huge and would have taken up the same space in my rucksack that my tripod and monopod occupy which are a far more useful addition to my kit in my opinion especially when it comes to solid landscape shots with the 10-24.

 

All of this goes into a Manfrotto Advanced Tri medium backpack with space for a flash, a laptop and there is still room at the top for sandwiches/windbreaker I love Mirroless Weight of bag - laptop which will be left in hotel room 4.5 kilo's

Edited March 4, 2016 by gordonrussell76

[darktiger]

I am about to go to hawaii and plan on taking the 10-24. 35/f1.4 and 18-135.

[Marc G.]

16 1.4, 35 1.4. That's it for me. Third lens? 18-55.

 

Other setups I can think of:

12 Samyang, 18-55

35 1.4, 18-55

18-55, 90

 

Can't think of a scenario where I'd use a lens such as the 18-135. It's one of those lenses that seems to be able to do anything but does nothing really good...

[Naddan28]

I spent a few days in San Fran & Yosemite and shot the whole thing (bar a couple of panos on the 50-140mm) with a XT1, grip & 16-55mm, absolutely loved it and wouldn't hesitate on using that combo again.

 

The WR & hassle free nature of the zoom (whilst still retaining prime like quality) was great. Ultimately it made my photography a lot less invasive on the holiday which if you're travelling with others is something worth considering.