Lens advice for trip to Italy

[brucehughw]

Hello,

My family and I are traveling to Italy in late December. I'm thinking architecture and maybe interiors will be much of my subject matter, although to be honest, I don't seek either out. I tend to like unusual perspectives for bridges, water, boats, street scenes, markets, and so on. Nikon makes a 16-85 mm zoom as well as primes with short focal lengths. Any thoughts on which lens (if any) I should add to my current collection to best capture the above subjects?

thanks, Bruce

[selig1656]

Seems as though with the array of lense you are basically covered , a fisheye would be neat for the architecture subjects.The 16-85mm might compliment the 70-300mm and I love the 105mm which is very versatile.Keep the load lite and remeber the crop factor . Have a terrific trip and I will wait to see your photos .

[Mike Buckley]

Based on everything you explained, I agree with Raymond that you're very well covered. You might want to consider renting a Tokina 12-24. It will be less expensive than the comparable Nikon lens and it's a great lens for use with your D7000. (I have the Tokina and the D7000.)

[Shadowman]

The short focal lengths will help you when in very tight spaces, the roadways leading up to the cathedrals and markets are usually very narrow. If you don't have the 18-55mm kit lens, the WA lenses mentioned will be a must.

[Manfred M]

Bruce - I had a quick look at my shots from Florence and Venice from a few years ago. My shooting was very much what you are looking at doing and I had three lenses along; the Tokina f/2.8 11-16mm, the Nikkor f/2.8 24-70mm and the Nikkor f/2.8 70-200mm. At the time I was shooting a D90, but had picked up the two full-frame lenses in anticipation of my D800 arriving.

When I look at the numbers, around 15% of the shots were taken with the 11-16mm, 70% of the shots with the 24-70mm and 15% of the shots with the 70-200mm. I'm not sure if that helps at all, but for my shooting style the mid-zoom was the workhorse on the trip.

[Val Mansfield]

In 2011 we toured Italy, of the shots I kept 18% we taken at a focal length of 40 mm, 13% at 90 mm, 10 % at 60 mm and the remaining 50% between 14 and 350 mm. (All focal lengths 35 mm equivalent)

[Black Pearl]

A few basics:

How long have you had your camera and what have you been shooting with the lenses you have?
Is there a reason you don't have the standard zoom lens that usually comes or is fitted to a D7000?
How much do you intend to carry on a day-to-day basis?
What is your budget?

[tclune]

I've settled on the Nikon 18-140 plus the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 when travelling with my D5200. The zoom is on the camera most of the time, with the 35mm being used indoors. The combo is very portable. I'm not crazy about the barrel distortion of the 18-140 at the far wide angles, but otherwise the combo is a good compromise between flexibility and portability. I don't use either of these lenses when I'm home, so they don't really excite me photographically. But they are good enough and I just can't stand to lug a duffle bag of equipment all over creation. FWIW

[brucehughw]

A few basics:

How long have you had your camera and what have you been shooting with the lenses you have?
Is there a reason you don't have the standard zoom lens that usually comes or is fitted to a D7000?
How much do you intend to carry on a day-to-day basis?
What is your budget?

Hi, thanks for your help. I've had the camera for two years. Most of my shooting is of my kids' sports and I use the 70-300 for that. I have an old kit lens from a D50, so when I bought the D7000, I just bought the body. The kit lens is not very good optically. As for what I plan to carry, no more than two heavy lenses, so that 105 mm may stay home. My budget is $800 max.

Thanks. Bruce

[Mike Buckley]

Considering that you don't have a regular need for another lens, I'll mention again that you strongly consider renting whatever additional lens you take on this trip. The cost will be a lot less than buying and you can learn whether a particular lens might become so useful to you that you would want to own it. I highly recommend LensRental.com. If you decide that you really like the lens they rent you, you can buy it from them rather than return it.

[brucehughw]

Thanks, Mike. Good advice.

Bruce

[Andrew1]

On the first travel holiday we ever took without our own car I dragged along a fair bit of gear and learned not to do that. Second trip a bit less but still too much. Sometimes the bulk and security worries interfered with a good time.

After looking around at options I believe my best choice if I ever get to travel afar again I may have to purchase the Nikon 18-200. On a DX body that range will give me almost all of what I'm usually shooting while traveling. I like my Nikon 12-24 so it may get included as well but the others are too much bother. If you have time, drag along all your gear for a week at home. Never go anywhere without it including the bathroom. You'll soon learn what you can possibly do without.

One other suggestion, if you are planning on taking a tripod consider making it a monopod instead. Less bulk, more convenient, easier to set up, not a problem in crowds and best of all, in some buildings they won't allow you to use a tripod because others may trip. So far only one place said no to even the monopod. Actually, there were more frequent situations inside buildings in which using a flash was discouraged. Churches, museums, etc.

[brucehughw]

Bruce - I had a quick look at my shots from Florence and Venice from a few years ago. My shooting was very much what you are looking at doing and I had three lenses along; the Tokina f/2.8 11-16mm, the Nikkor f/2.8 24-70mm and the Nikkor f/2.8 70-200mm. At the time I was shooting a D90, but had picked up the two full-frame lenses in anticipation of my D800 arriving.

When I look at the numbers, around 15% of the shots were taken with the 11-16mm, 70% of the shots with the 24-70mm and 15% of the shots with the 70-200mm. I'm not sure if that helps at all, but for my shooting style the mid-zoom was the workhorse on the trip.

Manfred and everyone else who shared advice, thanks very much. I would not have thought of answering a question such as mine by reviewing photos from a similar trip and breaking down the shots by lens. Others provided similar information. I benefitted so much from your expertise.

Although Mike B. suggested I rent, I looked into it and renting would have been about $90. For four times that I bought a used/inspected/guaranteed 16-85 mm lens from the same outfit (lensrental.com). I don't think this lens will collect dust. Even for local shoots - Boston, its islands, woods - I've felt limited by not having a WA or even 1:1 mag available. So this should work out well. I'll post some photos after I return. Thanks again.

[Mike Buckley]

Hope the new lens works out well. Even if it does eventually collect dust, you'll probably be able to sell it ultimately for a price that nets you the cost of the rental or even less. LensRental.com is a good company, so if you have any issues with the lens they will stand behind it.

[Clactonian]

A good choice. I decided on a Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4 paired to my D3200 holiday camera and have never regretted that choice of zoom range, which is similar to the Nikon. Mind you if I want to travel light I take my tiny Voigtlander 20mm f3.5. Although it is a manual lens, stopped down a bit it is in focus from a few feet to Infiniti and one never needs to worry about focussing.

[TheBigE]

I had good luck with my 18-140 f3.5-5.6 and 35mm f1.8 on my trip to Rome. The 18-140 stayed on the camera most of the time.

As a note, I noticed that LensRental.com is having a 25% off one rental sale on Black Friday this week. I am really considering renting for my next trip based on this discount.

[rpcrowe]

First take a look at my smugmug.com gallery of Venice images and see if you like my style...

https://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Architecture/Venice/

I shot these images with a pair of 7D cameras carrying a 17-55mm IS and a 70-200mm f/4L IS lens.

Out of the 90 images in this gallery I used the 17-55mm lens on 77 of them and the 70-200mm lens on the other 13. This count is not entirely accurate because I have a few duplicate images (color and B&W) and I did not sort out these dupes...

Here is my smugmug gallery of Istanbul images.

https://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Other/Istanbul/

Out of the 167 images in this gallery, I used the 17-55mm lens for 110 of them and the 70-200mm for 57. (same thing goes for a few duplicates that I did in both color and B&W). This is closer to my normal ratio of about 2/3 of my shots with the 17-55mm lens and 1/3 with the 70-200mm...

I am thinking that the preponderance of Venice shots with the 17-55mm lens was due that city being a fairly close quarters environment for shooting. That might well be true for other cities of Italy...

BTW: a cheap way of "renting" a lens is to buy a used copy on eBay and then sell it on eBay when you return...

Another tip: A pair of double sided Velcro straps about a meter or a yard long can secure your monopod to some solid (parking meter, fence, etc) will give you a solid hold for a long exposure AND/OR carry an empty bean bag and fill it with rice or beans at your destination. Bean bags can be used in many places for a camera rest.

Finally... if you are a wide angle aficionado, the 12-24mm Tokina f4 Mkii lens is great and will not require to sell your first born child to buy...

[Clactonian]

Finally... if you are a wide angle aficionado, the 12-24mm Tokina f4 Mkii lens is great and will not require to sell your first born child to buy...

I have a Mk1 and it's a great lens although prone to CAs but is comparatively heavy being built like a tank.

[brucehughw]

Hi, Richard.

Thanks for the helpful post. I looked at all the Venice photos in smug mug. I like what you did with the sepia and black and white and also the compositions. It gives me an idea of what awaits me in Rome and Florence. Thanks for breaking down the number of shots using different lenses. I think the 16-85 will see a lot of use.

Bruce

First take a look at my smugmug.com gallery of Venice images and see if you like my style...

https://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Architecture/Venice/

I shot these images with a pair of 7D cameras carrying a 17-55mm IS and a 70-200mm f/4L IS lens.

Out of the 90 images in this gallery I used the 17-55mm lens on 77 of them and the 70-200mm lens on the other 13. This count is not entirely accurate because I have a few duplicate images (color and B&W) and I did not sort out these dupes...

Here is my smugmug gallery of Istanbul images.

https://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Other/Istanbul/

Out of the 167 images in this gallery, I used the 17-55mm lens for 110 of them and the 70-200mm for 57. (same thing goes for a few duplicates that I did in both color and B&W). This is closer to my normal ratio of about 2/3 of my shots with the 17-55mm lens and 1/3 with the 70-200mm...

I am thinking that the preponderance of Venice shots with the 17-55mm lens was due that city being a fairly close quarters environment for shooting. That might well be true for other cities of Italy...

BTW: a cheap way of "renting" a lens is to buy a used copy on eBay and then sell it on eBay when you return...

Another tip: A pair of double sided Velcro straps about a meter or a yard long can secure your monopod to some solid (parking meter, fence, etc) will give you a solid hold for a long exposure AND/OR carry an empty bean bag and fill it with rice or beans at your destination. Bean bags can be used in many places for a camera rest.

Finally... if you are a wide angle aficionado, the 12-24mm Tokina f4 Mkii lens is great and will not require to sell your first born child to buy...

[rpcrowe]

Bruce - have a good and safe trip!