Which lenses to take on holiday??

[Tricky]

I'm about to go on a one-week break to the Whitsundays - Airlie Beach, Hamilton Island, Whitehaven etc...

I'm taking a medium-sized backpack, ie one that I can take on board as hand luggage. I've spent most of the morning agonising over what lenses to bring... can't take them all due to both lack of space in the bag and weight.

Currently packed are:

17mm - will definitely be taking some UWA shots of tropical beaches. Automatic choice.

24-105 - general all purpose lenses. But how much will I really use it?

100mm macro - in case any macro opportunities present themselves. Also doubles as a make-do portrait lens.

70-200 & 1.4x - in case there's some telephoto captures to be had from the various boat trips we take whilst island hopping.

580 flash - if I'd still had my 7D, then I probably wouldn't be taking the flash. The 7D's on-board flash would have been good enough for the odd family shot at dinner etc. But now I don't really have a choice?

The bag is at stretching point with the above. Tempted to dump the 70-200 & 1.4x and 580 flash. Also tempted to add the 85mm, as there will no doubt be lots of lots of opportunities to shoot family portraits (but its very heavy and the 100m is a made do proxy).

Any suggestions from AP's members? Has anyone recently done this trip and found they'd had more use of certain lenses than others?

If anyone has any specific Whitsunday places that are a must for a photographer to visit, that would be appreciated too.

[William]

I'd just take the 17mm and the 24-105

[JM Tran]

17mm and 24-105 also, and ONLY

[kiwi]

Take it all, get a bigger bag. What's the point on owning nice gear if you don't use it ?

(or follow advice already given)

[Xebadir]

Just got back from sailing up there. Keep the kit simple...I took a 10-20 and a 50mm on a crop body. Polarisers are a must up there. In terms of particular places to go....I got lucky with a james bond type shot at Whitehaven...but alot of the shots have been done before, especially near Hamilton and Hayman....try and think differently. Flash...maybe if you have an idea on what you are planning to do...no sense in taking it if you aren't going to use it.

Above all enjoy the trip.

[Tricky]

Thanks for the advice and suggestions. Not sure I have the self-retraint to take just 2 lenses!

Good idea re the polariser... the only one I've got attaches to my 24-105, so that's locked that lens in.

Flash is heading for a cull...

[TOM]

i took two lenses to europe with me recently; a 35mm and a 75mm. The 75mm sat in my bag the entire trip. In my humble opinion, leave everything home but the 5D and the 24-105 zoom, and enjoy your trip.

[geck]

Definitely the 24-105, perhaps the 17. Or alternatively, the 17 and the 70-200 with the 1.4x (but only if you can use it with the 17)

[peterb666]

The 24-105 and if you exepct to be shooting wide, the 17. Leave the rest at home unless there is a specific purpose in mind for them.

[TwinII]

I would take the 17mm and 24-105. Maybe take the 1.4x if you want a big of extra reach (as long as its a sunny day).

[old dog]

I recently did a trek in NZ and just took my 17-55 on a D80. It was all I really needed.

[mpot]

Notice how almost everyone is recommending taking less gear? ;-)

If you're going away on a holiday, you shouldn't take too much gear - just take one or two lenses, and make sure you enjoy yourself!

[Blueywa]

For trips/outings I try to keep it simple and pack 1x body with lens attached [18-200 or similar], a nifty fifty, at least two batteries, spare memory cards,and a speedlight with spare batteries.
Depending on where I'm going and for how long I would leave the battery grip and speedlight at home.

If going overseas make sure your battery charger will work on the power supply.

[Avalon]

In this situation I think I would leave the macro lens behind.
Have a great trip

[rellik666]

+1 for everything said, less is more. I took pretty much all my lenses and used 2 on my last holiday! With the UWA, could you not just take panoramic rather than wide? Also took my macro and didn't use it once! Too busy enjoying my holiday!

[gje38752]

A recen t 3 month holiday around Oz I took my 50D, 15/85 and 70/200L. Hardly used the L, the 15-85 was excellent

[jev]

I'ld take the 24-105 and the 70-200 (without TC), but would certainly bring the flash if you're planning to do any portraits.

[Erin]

Zoom and wide/prime. 'Nuff said, really. That's what I take with me these days when taking all my stuff isn't possible.

[Tricky]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions - this thread kept on going whilst I was away on the holiday!!

I ended up ditching the flash, but took the lenses (17, 24-105, 100L, 70-200)... I haven't yet moved them across to my PC, but when I do I'll do a quick count of how many pictures I ended up taking with each and post back... I know the 100L macro never made it out of the bag, as predicted by several of you in the thread above! But I also missed the 85L on several occasions.

[Tricky]

The final tally below... unfortunately a couple of days were cut from the middle of the holiday as the entire family caught a stomach bug... so missed out on Hamilton Island and some other sights.

The tally measures the number of scenes at which each lens was used - ie more than one composition might have been captured at each scene, panos taken, HDR multiple exposures etc.

TSE 17mm f/4L: 28 times

EF 24-105 f/4L: 9 times

EF 70-200 f/4L IS: 5 times

EF 100 f/2.8L macro: 0 times.

As the numbers suggest, the 17mm was the go-to lens for landscapes and 3-frame panos. The 24-105 was used for general people shots and also for bigger panos (which I prefer to capture at a longer focal length, eg 12 frames at ~50mm). The 70-200 was used mainly when some whales appeared whilst cruising to Whitehaven beach.

There were quite a few times that I could have used the 100L macro lens, but never had the time. Family patience extends to capturing a beautiful beach vista or sunset (possibly as they'll grab a copy of the image in due course!), but quickly runs dry when you're shooting insects!