Photographers--Siena/Tuscan countryside--How much zoom?

Ultimately, it's a deeply personal decision based on what you like to shoot. My general thoughts:

1. 2.5lb is a lot of weight to be carrying around, both during the day and during your travels. That's around 66% heavier than your 24-105, assuming it's the Canon 24-105 f/4
2. Since you have a FF sensor, the extra weight may not be worth cost of having to do some tighter cropping in post-prod
3. I never travel with anything longer than 75mm or so on a FF body: even the fairly lightweight 70-200 f/4 lens stays at home. This means I sacrifice some shots (or crop tighter), but I've never been dissatisfied with this decision

If you're unsure, your best bet may be to see if there's any places around that rent out one of these lenses. Grab it for a weekend (or just buy it) and walk around your city for a day and see how you like it. If it seems like it's not too heavy for you and you get a lot of shots you like with it, it may be a good idea to bring a lightweight prime (40mm f/2.8 or 50mm f/1.8) and the 100-400 with you on the trip and leave the 24-105 behind.

I was there several years ago and the longest lens I had was the 24-105 and never felt the need for a longer lens. Do you really want to carry a 100-400 lens for your whole trip just for a couple of shots?? I have a 100-400 lens and would not want to carry it around on an European trip. With today's cameras resolution you can get away with cropping. If you really must have a telephoto look at a -200 or -300 mm. Find the smallest and lightest lens that is within your IQ and budget requirements.

We’ll be in Tuscany around then as well. We take our trinity of lenses (14-24, 24-70 and 70-200,), all F2.8 and heavy but we love photography and for us it’s worth it. We also take a camera body each( one crop, one FF) , an infrared body(so cool!!), a decent tripod and a flash. The 35mm will prob accidentally get left in the bag too, ooooops! How did that get there!! 😂😂 Prob no help to your question, but if you love photography, take the fear that lets you do what you want to do.

Eric,

I agree with Nikky in that this is pretty much a personal decision based on what you like to shoot. I've been packing three lenses along for many years, for use on a crop body (Canon 7D).....

• 10-22 wide angle
• 24-105 zoom
• 70-300 DO (very compact and easy to carry)

I've found that I tend to use the first two lenses almost exclusively and the 70-300 rarely gets used. The wide angle is extremely useful inside buildings, and it often spends more time on the camera than the 24-105. That was certainly the case when I took a photography workshop in Tuscany several years ago. On other occasions, the 70-300 DO zoom gets used heavily, such as at the Abbotsford Airshow last year. Even though it's a bit of a "slower" lens, with the right camera settings it can be quite effective.

I assume you'll also be packing along a Tripod, so the extra weight of a large zoom lens may be a bit of a burden to carry. I'm not sure the larger zoom lenses would be any advantage.

A landscape that looks true to life doesn't need a tele, 35-50 mm will do well. That shot depends on finding the viewpoint and the light. Of course, other photo types can benefit from a tele, but much longer than 200 is more effort than it's worth, imo.

Thank you for all of your thoughtful responses. I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience.

Yes, Ken, I do take a tripod, as I enjoy taking pre-dawn and sunset shots that require a longer exposure. I do take a wide-angle zoom (12-24) for the indoor/tight city stuff, and have found it very handy!