Traveling to China. Need kit advice.

[piiooo]

don't bring a white lens. Way too conspicuous, you'll attract too much unfriendly attention [img]/emoticons/emotion-14.gif[/img]

The 70-200, though a nice lens, would be too much for your 'schedule' unless you don't mind carrying around almost 10lbs of camera equipment.

I couldn't agree more.


I think you should ask yourself if you will be able to change lenses back and forth. If not, consider one of the superzooms for the trip, they range from 18 to 200-270mm. They are not optically as good, but they do a decent job, they are very versatile, you will not have to keep changing lenses, and you will not carry around those 10 lbs...


If you are willing to change lenses, these are my 2 pennies worth ofthoughts:


1) The EF 24-70 2.8L is HEAVY! I have it and don't really use that much due to its weight.


2) The EF 24-105 4.0L is very good for traveling, but on a full frame body. You are likelyto wantwider angleon your APS-C body.


3) EF-S lenses are lighter thanEF lenses. Consider EF-S 10-22 and EF-S17-55 or just the new EF-S 15-85. The latter will give yougreater zoom range than EF 24-105 ona full frame.


You still have some time before your trip. Like others said, rent the lenses you're interested in and see for yourself. Good luck

[the_d]

I'm a little hesitant on the white lenses too, but I'll be there during the World Expo so the place will be crawling with photographers. That being said, it is a theft magnate and a lot of weight to be carrying around. As of right now, I'm thinking about an UWA and a good walk around zoom. I'm not too crazy about the super zooms. Aside from the hit to image quality (I like to make large prints from time to time), I'm more concerned with the lack of weather sealing. If the weather is crappy out, I could just forgo the UWA for a while and use an L lens. I'm still torn between the 24-70 and the 24-105. I wish Canon would just announce a 24-70 with IS, it would make my decision a lot easier.


As far as the UWA, I'm pretty lost on that one. I hear a lot of gripes about Sigma's quality control and I don't want to deal with the hassle of trying to find a good copy. The Tokina has a wide aperture, but lesser IQ. The Canon looks great, but has a crappy aperture on the tele end of things. Ugh.....

[Daniel Browning]

What is your budget? You said "24-70 and a 70-200", so I'd guess you're talking at least $2600 or so.

I intend to shoot just about everything; people, nightlife, buildings, landscapes.

Here is what I would suggest for $2300:

• Canon 10-22: ultra wide gives you great flexibility for architecture and landscapes
  
• Canon 15-85: For ample light and deep DOF, this will give you a huge range of flexibility.
  
• Sigma 30mm f/1.4: for low light, thin DOF shots. Along with your 50mm f/1.4 should cover night life well.
  
• Canon 100mm f/2: Excellent portrait lens for nightlife.

These lenses all have unique capabilities and very high image quality. Plus, they are all very light (by themselves), especially compared to the 24-70 f/2.8 and 70-200 f/2.8.


If I had to recommend just one lens for the whole trip, it would be the Canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS.

Any and all recommendations would be appreciated. Especially from those who have lugged their gear around a lot.

Everyone has their own idea of what weights and sizes are acceptable for lugging around a lot. Most of the general public considers it a nuisance to carry a normal-sized 10X digicam around all day, even though they weigh less than a single pound and can fit inside a coat pocket. They would rather have an ultra-slim digicam that fits in a shirt pocket.


Then there are DSLR photographers who consider a rebel+18-55 kit lens to be about the largest size that they would take on all-day hikes/excursions. For them, the 50D+17-55 f/2.8 would be too heavy.


Next are the stronger photographers, who are willing to carry more than one lens and even 7 full pounds of weight and quite a bit of displaced volume in spare lenses. Looks like you're in this category. You'll be able to get fantastic image quality.


It all depends on what you're used to. In the military, they train for 10+ miles a day with 45+ pounds of gear. If you hike for recreation, you might be used to going all day with 30+ pounds, so carrying a 10 pounds of camera gear would be easy for you (unless it's on top of your normal hiking gear, of course). Everyone has their one preferences.