What lenses to bring on a trip to Rome?

[nimo956]

I'm planning a vacation to Rome, and I want to bring my camera (of course!), but I only have a 100mm f2.8 macro and a 70-200mm f4 IS. I've decided that I'll take one of these lenses and rent another one. First, which of those 2 lenses would you take? I'm leaning towards the 70-200, since you get so much reach with a crop camera (I have a 40D), and the IS is good for walking around, but believe it or not the 100mm macro is sharper! I'm also a little nervous about walking around with such an expensive lens. Should I get some kind of camera/traveler insurance? As for the lens to rent, there's a lot of interesting architecture in Rome, but I've heard that all of the streets are very tiny/cramped. For that reason, I was thinking of the 10-22mm, which is pretty much the only wide-angle option for Canon crop cameras. I've never shot with a wide-angle lens before though, so I'm not sure if I'll know how to get the best pictures out of it right away. There are also a lot of churches and museums in Rome. Flash is usually not allowed inside, so I was thinking of renting the 24mm f1.4. This kind of gives me the best of both worlds. It's kind of wide, at around 38mm, but great for low light too.

[Bill W]

Nimo....I'd give some thought to the 17-55 IS 2.8. I had no issues w/this lens(combined w/my 40D at the time) inthe lowlight in the chapels of Santa Fe, NM last year, e.g. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29409592@N03/4792626239/


IMHO it will give you sufficient wide angle andmore versatility than the 10-22 and 24, as well as match up well w/your 70-200.


When I travel the 2 lenses I take are the 17-55 and 100-400 and use my feet to make up for the 45mm difference. []


Good luck and enjoy your trip...


Bill

[Jon Ruyle]

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When in that particular part of the world, I would see what the
locals are using, and emulate them []


Otherwise, I second Bill's suggestion of renting the 17-55 because for its high
quality, versatility, and low light capability. If you're taking pictures of non-moving stuff, the IS and short focal length makes it even more hand-holdable than the 24mm f/1.4.


Of the two lenses you have, I would bring the more versatile 70-200.


Renting the 10-22 isn't a bad idea either, but it strikes me as the type of thing you would not try for the first time on a trip to Rome (if you end up not liking wide angle, your stuck with nothing between 22 and 70mm).

[clemmb]

I second Bill's suggestion of renting the 17-55 because for its high
quality, versatility, and low light capability. If you're taking pictures of non-moving stuff, the IS and short focal length makes it even more hand-holdable than the 24mm f/1.4.
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I agree with the 17-55. I recently traveled to Spain and took this cathedral shot handheld at f4.5 with IS. The 17-55 will give you f2.8 with IS. As you can see a wedding was going on at the time but they still let us in.


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Camera Maker: Canon
Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D
Image Date: 2010-05-15 11:37:08 -0500
Focal Length: 24.0mm
Aperture: f/4.5
Exposure Time: 0.020 s (1/50)
ISO equiv: 1250
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto)
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No
Color Space: sRGB IEC61966-2.1

[Steven23]

Just want some simple snap shots of everything? 17-55 is probly best bet, 40d's noise isnt that bad, so plus a stop in ISO wont be to bad. Also what are you outputting to? mostly 4x6s? if so, noise wont really matter all that much. If you can tell us what your gonna output it to, like scrap book of vacation photos, 4x6, 5x7, or 8x10? also are you able to use tripod? if so i'd get that.

[Steven23]

Just remember you said you never used wide angle. If you have a camera store around, see if they'll let you check out the lenses.

[Fast Glass]

I've decided that I'll take one of these lenses

Why would you want to do that? Come on the 100mm macro is't that heavy....[] But dude seriously why? It makes no senseto me.


John.

[Richard Lane]

I've never shot with a wide-angle lens before though, so I'm not sure if I'll know how to get the best pictures out of it right away. There are also a lot of churches and museums in Rome. Flash is usually not allowed inside, so I was thinking of renting the 24mm f1.4.

I don't think the 24mm is versatile enough, since are only bringing 2 lenses. The 17-55mm is a great choice.


Most people get mesmerized by the wide angle lens when held horizontally and then they forget to hold it vertically, but take a look at how clemmb shot the church in the vertical position, with a wide angle lens. This will come in handy when shooting; narrow streets, tall buildings, monuments, archways or cathedrals, so don't forget to shoot the wide angle lens vertically in those instances. By the way railroad tracks, waterfalls, rivers, roadways or streets lined by trees look good vertically too. The Wide Angle Lens held horizontally; is great for landscapes, boats, planes, trains, cars, etc.





Rich

[neuroanatomist]

Great advice so far - I'll echo it. If you're going to go with two lenses, take your 70-200mm f/4L IS and rent the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS (the latter is IMO the best general purpose zoom for a 1.6x FOVCF body). If you have room/budget for a third lens, rent the EF-S 10-22mm.

I've never shot with a wide-angle lens before though, so I'm not sure if I'll know how to get the best pictures out of it right away

Have you shot anything wider than 70mm regularly? As Mark's shot of the church so nicely shows, 17mm on your 40D is reasonably wide, and will work for most situations. Personally, I'd consider a 10-22mm only in addition to something the 17-55mm, not instead of it. 22-70mm will be too big of a gap in that region of the focal range.


If you take the 17-55mm, you'll probably find that you'll leave that on your camera 80% or more of the time.


Have a great trip!


--John

[Gian Luca]

Iwas Born in Rome, and I leaved there for 18 years. It is the best place in the world to take Architectural pictures, of different times. The only stile that is not represented is modern architecture.There are tiny roads in the center, specially in Trastevere, but there are very large roads and squares as well. Churches and museums are really beautyful, for churches if you can bring with you a light tripod you will be able to use it very often.


As usual for architecture the best choice is a lens that do not suffer from distorsion, so a tse lens is the ideal choice, specially if you can rent it for the occasion. I think that the 24 is not wide enough on a APS-C body, I think that the 17 tse is the best, otherwise I would go for the 10-22 zoom, that will be very flexible in the variaty of situations you will find. If you can bring also a 50mm f 1.4, the night life in the major streets/squares of the center is very active, and you will have beautiful occasions to shoot street photo. Night landescapes of the monument in the city center are great as well.