Lens options

Brando2653 · Sep 8, 2016

Good morning everyone. I am fairly knew to photography so my apologies if my questions seem mundane.
I will be taking a trip to Kauai soon and hoping to document every exciting moment as well as get a few amazing shots. My question is about the lens or lenses you would recommend? My camera is a Nikon d7200. I own a 35mm, 50mm 14-24mm and 18-300mm and considering purchasing the 24-70mm or 70-200mm. Obviously i will not be taking everything on the trip as I would prefer to only take two - three lenses total. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

weepete · Sep 8, 2016

14-24, 50mm and 70-200 would be my choice out of that lot.

OGsPhotography · Sep 8, 2016

Seems like you have a good range if lens.

If you have the need for more expensive glass by all means do it.

IMO Your not going to acheive much benefit being new to shooting and having 6 lens in your kit.Your probably all set now to have a lit of fun on your vacation.

If you need an excuse to buy a 70-200 then Kauai would be it!

My plan it is to have an ultrawide 14mm,50 or 85 prime 1.2 for portraiture and low light, 24-70 2.8, 70-200 2.8 and a 300 2.8 to basically have it all. Might need a larger lens after that who knows, but I have some years to go before that will happen.
Probably more like a lifelong adventure with lens lust.

Brando2653 · Sep 8, 2016

Thanks guys! I like how you noticed that I'm trying to justify buying a 70-200 lol

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

goodguy · Sep 8, 2016

I would take the 24-70mm, 70-200mm and 35mm
To my trips I always take the first 2 lenses and one fast prime for extreme low light situation.
Sometimes I will add a wider lens but I rarely use it even in landscape situations.

mrpink · Sep 8, 2016

To capture ever exciting moment... probably a gopro or nice compact point and shoot with a travel tripod. I love my Canon S90.

Leave the bulky, complicated, and expensive stuff at home... enjoy the trip.

p!nK

PersistentNomad · Sep 8, 2016

mrpink said:
Leave the bulky, complicated, and expensive stuff at home... enjoy the trip.

But, but.. that's why you take the trip.

If it were me, I wouldn't buy anything because I would rather have the reach of the 300mm over the 70-200 (but I agree that should be your next investment when you come to it) for this trip. I would also bring the 14-24 and the 50. It would leave you with all your bases covered for anything that might arise.

Drive-By-Shooter · Sep 8, 2016

Brando2653: If I knew what you planned to shoot....
any micro? lots and lots of flowers there! :icon_flower:

While I've been shooting for 4 decades, I am new to digital (D600), just two years.

I thought I would keep my Nikon lenses from the 90's, but I sold them and bought new zooms.
I thought I would be happy with 3 zoom lenses covering me completely from 16mm through 200mm all at f2.8 and with a teleconverter to get to 340.
I was wrong, twice. I sold my 16-28 2.8 and my 24-70 2.8 is on eBay now.

With sharp lenses and 24 megapixels, zooms don't have the advantages they used to with film or lower res digital cameras! :icon_scratch:

For example, I can shoot my 24mm, crop it a ton and have a picture that looks like I used a 50, 70 or even an 85mm portrait!! Unless I want an 8x10 print and how often do we do that?

I love my Sigma 50 and 24 Art lenses. Much better than ANY zoom and most primes. (Not all Sigma ART lenses deserve that designation in my opinion and some non-ARTs are killer like the 105 micro.)

My main lenses are 24 f1.4 ART, 50 f1.4 ART, Nikon 70-200 f2.8 VRII and a Sigma 105 micro.
And and much of the time, I take the much lighter and smaller 105 instead of the superstar Nikkor 70-200 which is amazing!

So, with this in mind, I still go shooting with 2-3 lenses and have almost the field of view coverage I had with 2-3 zooms! (I do miss 16-20mm, tho. Would like the Nikon 14mm)

Don't buy nutt'n! Take your lenses and chill, you have a great set and your primes don't take up any space; 14-24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 18-300mm. Take a wide enough lens when you visit places and crop later.

Feel better now? good, now go buy a micro!

If you like, you can check out my pictures and see why I am dumping the zooms. Nothing against zooms, just that the resolution from all the better lenses is unreal now, especially with a great prime!

Checkout my pic at 600mm (with a zoom) and then the cropped one that follows: _MAY3656
I did not need to buy a 1800mm lens to get this (click on pic to zoom in): magnolia tree flower

I have no plans to sell the Nikkor 70-200, the Sigma 150-600 sport or Rokinon 12mm.

I hope this helps,
George

SquarePeg · Sep 8, 2016

mrpink said:
Leave the bulky, complicated, and expensive stuff at home... enjoy the trip.

PersistentNomad said:
But, but.. that's why you take the trip.

That's always the question isn't it? To bring the gear or not to bring the gear. I usually bring it but am thinking of leaving it at home on future family trips and just bringing my iPhone and my small p&s. Too many times I've brought it and not really used it and too many times I've devoted more time than I should have to photographing scenery when I could have been relaxing and spending time with the family. Unless the trip is planned solely for photography purposes or there will be ample time and opportunity for getting out on my own to shoot, I'll be leaving my gear at home on vacations.

kundalini · Sep 8, 2016

Consider renting a lens or two for your trip before purchasing. I have used LensRentals several times in the past. Good service and reasonable prices for an unknown quantity, plus you can rent a dream lens without having to rob Peter to pay Paul.

LensRentals.com - Rent Lenses and Cameras from Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, Leica, and more

Drive-By-Shooter · Sep 9, 2016

SquareP: surely all can relate! imagine scuba diving with me with a SLR in a housing and a monster flash. worse yet, with it setup for macro. my buddy's dives (usually wife) were less exploratory. LOL I carry the DSLR most everywhere.

Kundalini: excellent recommendation! Had I done so, I would not be taking a bath now on ebay. But, our ego says we know what we're doing when we decide to buy.

Brando: I shot this crocodile through a fence @200mm knowing when I shot it that the fence obscured all but his eye. Cropping gave me something like a 2000mm lens:
Photo "38648" in the album "Profile Pictures" by Drive-By-Shooter

So, take Kundalini's advice and rent some to see what you like. You, too might get hooked on high end primes. I checked their prices and they are very reasonable. Even for a Zeiss: LensRentals.com - Rent a Zeiss Milvus ZF.2 100mm f/2M

Streets · Sep 9, 2016

If I were to take one lens to a spot like Kauai, I would take my 18-135mm Sony. That range is ideal and the weight of it and similar brands like it make it a pleasure to carry. leave your big primes at home.