Camera buffs - Looking for lens tips

We have a Canon and take our 18-70 and the 70-300 also. That pretty much handles everything we need. The wide angle might be a good choice for the Alps, but you will have to make the decision as to whether it's worth it to haul around 3 lenses or just 2....or maybe which 2 to take.

The 18-55 will give you your wide-angle capability. So there's no need to get a separate wide-angle. Those are very similar to the focal lengths of my 2 lenses and they have worked just fine for me. If you're determined to replace a lens, the best suggestion I would offer would be to get as high-quality and as high-speed (low f-stop) of a lens as you can afford. A high-speed lens in a dimly-lit cathedral is invaluable!

My last trip I took an 18-105 and a 70-300. Previous to that I took an 18-55 and 55-200. I used the 18-55/105 the majority of the time but there were times I used the longer range lens and was glad I did. There were other times when I would have liked a wider angle maybe a 10-20 or 12-24 but I do not have one. Sometimes the 18 just wasn't as wide as I wanted although not a major problem. An 18-200 and a wide angle lens would be a nice combination since it would give you an overlap on the wide side. If you take a 12-24 or 10-20 with your 70-300 you would have a fairly big gap between 20/24 to 70. If you took those two in addition to your 18-55 you would have a lot of equipment to take around. Maybe someone else (Ken?) will weigh in who can offer some advice. The wide angle for the Alps as well as big cities would definitely be nice to have at times. You would still have a nice range though with your 18-55/70-300.

With those two lenses you have a great flexibility, for the average traveler. The only reason I can think of to substitute a wide angle would be to get a lower f-stop for dark interior shots, but the 18-55 is probably only a few stops higher which will be just fine. Stay with the 18-55 and take a small tripod for those low light occasions.

As for the Alpine vistas, you can take multiple shots and "stitch" them together with a photo program on the computer.

I think that combination is solid and covers a good range.

My last trip I took an 18-200 (ideal travel lens - does everything well) plus one 35mm fast prime for night shots. There were only a few occasions in Prague and Salzburg where I would have appreciated a wider zoom. For landscapes, 18mm worked very fine for me.

Pete

Kimberly,

I've been travelling with a dSLR for several years, and find that I primarily use two Lenses about 90% of the time. The 24-105 works well as a "walkabout" Lens but I also use the 10-22 quite a lot and really like having wide angle capability. I usually pack a 70-300 as well, but don't use it too often.

You could probably manage quite well with the two Lenses you have. The 18-55 will give you some degree of wide angle coverage, although not as much as the 10-22. Were you planning to buy another Lens before your trip?

If you're planning to take lots of photos inside dimly lit Churches and so on (where flash is not usually allowed), you'll also have to consider the speed of the Lenses you're using. The 17-55 is a fairly good medium range zoom, and operates at f2.8 over the entire range which is good (although it's not inexpensive).

Happy travels!

I am taking on my next trip my 24-105 and my 17-50 2.8 for low lighting situations. I think you have it pretty much covered.

Kimberly, the effective focal range of your lenses depends on the size of your sensor compared to 35mm film. With a full size sensor as found on top-end professional cameras the focal ranges are the same as the lens numbers, i.e., 18-55 & 70-300. However, on other DSLRs the sensor is APS size meaning that your 18-55 is effectively a 27-83mm lens and your 70-300 is effectively a 105-450mm lens. Since 27mm is not considered very wide angle, I think there are times you would appreciate having a 12-24 (effectively 18-36 for APS size sensor) or a 10-20 (effectively 15-30). When I was last in Switzerland, I found my 12-24 very useful in the mountains where there are situations where a wider angle lens gives drama to a scene that stitching together images cannot give--for example when wanting a strong foreground element along with a great background scene. My 12-24 was indispensable for street scenes in cities. In short, a wider angle lens will give you possibilities for photos that you can't get with the 18-55, assuming your camer's sensor is APS size. Do keep in mind that a wider angle lens makes distant object/scenes look smaller particularly without good use of foreground, middleground, and background elements. On the other hand, if you are in-close to a scene, say in an alpine canyon, a wide angle will enable you to capture what you otherwise couldn't. Of course, the question is, do you want to carry a third lens? Just how serious are you about your photography? If fairly serious you may want a wider angle. I couldn't do without mine.

Great info to consider. I wouldn't consider myself super serious, but I do like to actually use the manual settings and play with depth of field when I can, so that's why I was considering it. It's one of the reasons I'm traveling with this friend, because we both like to stop and try lots of different photo ops, so I knew someone wouldn't be standing behind sighing at the time I took.

But, it looks the lens would start at around $500 new, and I'm not sure I'm ready to take that out of my trip budget, especially since it is Switzerland and all. And, I'm working with the original Digital Rebel model, so maybe it doesn't even make sense to put a lens that expensive on my camera. I think it takes super pictures still, but at a paltry 6MP, it doesn't even compare to what's on the market now. If only I had an unlimited budget.

Dwayne,

Just to clarify a point on the Lenses Kimberly has on hand at the moment.

The 18-55 Lens is an EF-S which means the focal length will still be 18-55, even with the smaller sensor.

The 70-300 is an EF Lens so the effective focal length with the 1.6 factor will be 112-480.

Kimberly, you might have a look on E-Bay if you're looking for Lenses. One other model to check out is the EF-S 17-85. It has a few minor issues and is not especially fast, but has reasonably good performance. That range would cover the "gap" and give you fairly good coverage from 17-480.

Cheers!

my last trip to Europe I pretty much used the 17-85 the entire trip as I was just starting to get more into photography and it was a good lens. You can get it for good prices check ebay, craigslist....
Like said above it is not a perfect lens, I have not used mine for some time but it is a pretty good travel lens for the most part.