travelerb
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- May 28, 2008
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- 37
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- Location
- Georgia
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I'm on the heals of a small dilemma and hope to either confirm my thoughts or get a different idea on picking a lens to rent. Here's the deal (and I hope I don't say too much that keeps anyone from reading the whole thing and responding): In about a month, I'm heading to Arizona for a short trip. My Wife and I will be heading to the Grand Canyon for one (only one) day, to the south rim. The plan is to hopefully arrive by noon, stay until after sunset, and start heading toward Las Vegas to fly home the next day. We also plan on stopping at the Hoover Dam on the way to catching our plane for a couple of hours (depending on when we wake up in the morning).
I want to rent a lens for the trip, and am mostly doing so only for the sake of renting a lens. The main reason is that I'm planning on a trip to Yellowstone next summer, and anticipate renting a nice big telephoto for that trip (which one is a discussion for another day). I want to go through the process at least once before it really matters, and this is the perfect opportunity. The only question is, which lens would be best for me to take to the Grand Canyon?
First, I have a D60 with the kit lens (which is 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VRs). I also have the 55-200mm f/4-5.6 ED AF-S DX, which gets me by with a tripod and covers a lot of range for not a lot of money.
I've been leaning towards the 12-24mm f/4G IF-ED AF-S DX, which I understand is a pretty decent wide-angle lens. For a little wider, maybe the Sigma 10-20mm. But I'm not entirely sure wide angle is necessarily the way to go, particularly for a big landscape that I'm not likely to enlarge to poster size when I get home. Maybe there's some good angles I can get close up to the walls a little way down or something that would make it useful. On the other hand, I suspect a good wide-angle lens might be very useful at the Hoover Dam, where I'm likely going to me taking pictures from relatively close to the dam.
Problem is, I've never been to either, and don't know if it might be better to get a fast telephoto lens for wildlife or some other purpose. So, anyone who has (or hasn't) been there have any thoughts or suggestions? Am I on the right track in thinking wide angle (even with the crop factor)? Or should I go in another direction for the short time I have to take pictures there?
(Murphy's law says it'll be raining or something the whole time and it won't much matter what gear I bring, but I'll put those thoughts in the back of my head for now!)
I want to rent a lens for the trip, and am mostly doing so only for the sake of renting a lens. The main reason is that I'm planning on a trip to Yellowstone next summer, and anticipate renting a nice big telephoto for that trip (which one is a discussion for another day). I want to go through the process at least once before it really matters, and this is the perfect opportunity. The only question is, which lens would be best for me to take to the Grand Canyon?
First, I have a D60 with the kit lens (which is 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VRs). I also have the 55-200mm f/4-5.6 ED AF-S DX, which gets me by with a tripod and covers a lot of range for not a lot of money.
I've been leaning towards the 12-24mm f/4G IF-ED AF-S DX, which I understand is a pretty decent wide-angle lens. For a little wider, maybe the Sigma 10-20mm. But I'm not entirely sure wide angle is necessarily the way to go, particularly for a big landscape that I'm not likely to enlarge to poster size when I get home. Maybe there's some good angles I can get close up to the walls a little way down or something that would make it useful. On the other hand, I suspect a good wide-angle lens might be very useful at the Hoover Dam, where I'm likely going to me taking pictures from relatively close to the dam.
Problem is, I've never been to either, and don't know if it might be better to get a fast telephoto lens for wildlife or some other purpose. So, anyone who has (or hasn't) been there have any thoughts or suggestions? Am I on the right track in thinking wide angle (even with the crop factor)? Or should I go in another direction for the short time I have to take pictures there?
(Murphy's law says it'll be raining or something the whole time and it won't much matter what gear I bring, but I'll put those thoughts in the back of my head for now!)