# Travel lens\es on crop body



## oarvision (Oct 25, 2012)

Hello,

My wife and I are going on holiday to Italy toward the end of November (first time, and yes we're very excited), and I need your collective advice. I've seen a lot of posts for FF travel suggestions, but not so much advice for crop bodies. 

If you could only take two lenses with a _crop body_, what would you choose and why? (or do you have a compelling argument for bringing a third lens as well?) My reasoning for only bringing two is weight, space, and not having to change lenses too often.

I have a preference for L lenses because of weather sealing and quality (November in Italy is supposed to be rainy), but I want to hear your arguments for any other lens\es you would suggest. 

I'm curious to hear your suggestions! Thanks in advance,
Seth

(current setup - yes, it's simple  )
Body: EOS 7d
Lens: 24-105 f\4L


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## neuroanatomist (Oct 25, 2012)

I'd add a wide angle (24mm on APS-C is normal, not wide). You could use the 17-40L, but honestly I'd get the Canon 10-22mm or Sigma 8-16mm.


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## RLPhoto (Oct 25, 2012)

oarvision said:


> Hello,
> 
> My wife and I are going on holiday to Italy toward the end of November (first time, and yes we're very excited), and I need your collective advice. I've seen a lot of posts for FF travel suggestions, but not so much advice for crop bodies.
> 
> ...



17-55mm 2.8 IS - Everything
50mm 1.4 or 50 1.2L or [Insert Fast Prime Lens] - Everything at Night. ;D

Done.


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## florianbieler.de (Oct 25, 2012)

The 24-105 is good to start with, I'd prefer the Tamron 24-70 VC but hey your lens also covers that zoom range. On crop you could also go with the 17-50 at a lower image and build quality.

Definitely a keeper, perfect for traveling (if you are into landscape etc) and not too expensive is the 70-200 4.0L! With and without IS it offers a top notch image quality. I decided to get the non-IS version, got it used for 390€, it's lightweight, zoomring goes very smoothly, just great to use.


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## robbymack (Oct 25, 2012)

For crop I prefer the 17-55 2.8 over the 24-105, but since you already have the latter maybe just rent a 10-22 for the trip and stick a 50 1.8 or 1.4 in the bag for those night shots.


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## Act444 (Oct 25, 2012)

24-105, definitely.

The second lens would depend on if you want more wide-angle or you're a telephoto shooter. If you prefer wide, perhaps a 10-22 (although it is EF-S and not weather sealed, it is the only true UWA Canon lens for 1.6x). If you prefer tele, the 70-300L would be a great choice (or 70-200L f4 non-IS if on a budget).


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## Random Orbits (Oct 25, 2012)

robbymack said:


> For crop I prefer the 17-55 2.8 over the 24-105, but since you already have the latter maybe just rent a 10-22 for the trip and stick a 50 1.8 or 1.4 in the bag for those night shots.



+1. You don't need to bring all the lenses everywhere you go. If you're going out for the day, a 10-22 and 24-105 combo would work well. Just use a fast prime (30, 35 or 50mm) when you head out at night.


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## dhofmann (Oct 25, 2012)

A good two lens setup for travel (other than safari) is the 10-22mm lens and the 15-85mm lens. If you need anything beyond 85mm, you can always shoot in RAW and crop.

For the same reason, a good one lens setup is just the 10-22mm lens, unless you're really sure you don't need the 10-14mm range.

If you plan to take more telephoto photos than normal field of view photos, then substitute the 70-200mm f/4.0L IS lens for the 15-85.


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## pj1974 (Oct 26, 2012)

Firstly, I acknowledged you have a good lens the 24-105mm f/4, mainly intended for FF. I would strongly recommend the Canon 15-85mm as a great travel lens for an APS-C / 1.6x crop - either to hire or buy. It's got a great and practical zoom range, and matched with fantastic IQ. Sharp, good contrast, decent bokeh and natural, rich colours.

A few weeks ago I went on an interstate holiday, and took 2 lenses: my 15-85mm and Sigma 10-20mm. My Canon 15-85mm was my most used lens, but the ultra wide (ie used @ 10mm) of my Siggie 10-20mm certainly handy for some landscape and architectural shots. I can imagine that you'd get some ultra wide usage in Italy (great landscapes and of course rich architecture).

If you are thinking of doing a lot of low light shooting (I do realise Italy is heading close to winter...end of November will have relatively short / darker days), maybe buy (or hire) the 17-55mm instead of the 15-85mm (of course, shooting wide open). The 24-105 is also a great lens, but just not wide enough as a travel zoom on a crop for my usage (but you may have a different shooting style). Matching to any of these decent / good ultra-wide though (eg Sigma 8-16, or 10-20mm or Canon's 10-22mm, or Tokina 11-16mm), does make a lot of sense.

Best wishes for your photography, and enjoy Italy. It's a lovely country.

Paul


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## wickidwombat (Oct 26, 2012)

I would say the 15-85 EF-S 
and the canon 50 f1.4 unless its a 7D then i would say the siggy 50 1.4 becasue you can AFMA

if you need wider than the 15mm then shoot a panorama and stitch later


or

option 2 if you want to spend more

canon EF-S 17-55 f2.8 IS

and sigma 85 f1.4 (if you have 7D and can AFMA) or the canon 85 f1.8 if you want to go a bit cheaper on a body with no AFMA

or Option 3

3 lenses
15-85 EF-S - zoom range is nice
40mm pancake - f2.8 brilliant l is niceens and small light and unobtrussive
85 f1.8 canon or 85 f1.4 siggy (canon is smaller siggy is bigger but better quality) - fast aperture for low light

any of those combos will be pretty kick arse


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## RC (Oct 26, 2012)

Since you've got a 24-105, buy/rent the 10-22. If you plan to go FF and don't want to buy an EF-S lens, buy/rent the 17-40 or 16-35.


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## IIIHobbs (Oct 26, 2012)

With the 24-105L you have a great travel lens. If you like L glass then rent or buy the 14L for your trip. It is effectively a 22mm on the 7D.

The EFS10-22 is very good, not L, but solid and excellent as an ultra wide on a crop sensor body.


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## marekjoz (Oct 26, 2012)

I will also share my experience from the trip to Greece. One week, lazy most of the time (beach and pool mostly).
I took 5D2, 50 1.4, 24-105, 70-200 F 4 L IS, ext 1.4 II

I didn't make a lot of photos (about 1000 of all), have chosen 139 as "good enough" to keep them.

In those 139 photos: 
- 9 made with 24-105
- 11 with 50 1.4, 
- 107 made with 70-200, 
- 12 made with 70-200 + ext. 
Checking all the focals used on photos, the average weighted focal was 133. 

When using 70-200: 30% of photos were @200mm and also 30% were @ F4 (what means that it's too short and too dark lens for me because I would use wider than F4 and longer that 200 if I could)

Looking at all the statistics, if i were you and took 7D with 24-105 and would like to make all 139 photos which I decided to keep, I would miss: 
- 2 photos because I would need wider than 24mm on crop
- 3 photos because I would need faster than F4 @50mm
- 52 photos because I would need longer than 105mm on crop

That's me, my style of shooting, place where I was and subjects which were shot. You can have quite different needs.

Below I attach bubble graphs for real geeks:
- the bigger the bubble the more photos at specific focal and aperture
- horizontal axis take focals, vertical - take apertures
- the bubbles for different lenses don't have the same size meaning specific amount of photos (ie bubbles on 24-105 showing one photo are bigger than those on 70-200) 

Explanation - I'm not crazy, just wanted to check what I use mostly and if my lenses were apropriate for me.


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## sdsr (Oct 26, 2012)

It depends on where you'll be and your photography style. For instance, if you want to photograph inside churches and similar buildings you would benefit from a very wide lens (I rather like Sigma's 8-16, which goes wider than anything else). You would also benefit from a fast lens when photographing interiors to minimize noise; unfortunately, ultra-wide zooms aren't both.... If you like night or other low light photography - and there will be more of that in November - fast lenses will help there, too, for the same reason. If, like me, you often find detail shots more interesting than overall scenes, you'll want a zoom with a good deal of reach. 

If you want all that, two lenses won't do; and if you're concerned about convenience, you probably won't want to take a fast zoom at all (the f/4 70-200s are far easier to travel with than the f/2.8s). (FF cameras are much easier to travel with thanks to their superior low light performance.) 

So, if you want just two lenses you may need to compromise - a ultra-wide angle (8-16, say) and an all-purpose long zoom (e.g. Canon 18-200 or Tamron 18-270 - not lenses one might normally want, but...). Or a zoom and a fast prime; or a couple of fast primes. You get the idea....


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## rdespy (Oct 26, 2012)

When i went to Italy i just brought two lenses 17-55mm 2.8 mostly covered a low light churches and a 55-250mm you are all set


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## florianbieler.de (Oct 26, 2012)

rdespy said:


> and a 55-250mm you are all set



Whereas he stated that he liked L lenses, the 55-250 may have a decent optical quality but lacks build quality big time. 70-200 4.0 is the lens to go with here.


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## fabpitou75 (Oct 26, 2012)

I have got a similar setup 7D + 24-105L and was quite pleased with the Canon 10-22mm.
I am planning on going FF hence decided to sale the 10-22mm and got myself a Sigma 12-24mm II.
http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/676-sigma1224f4556iiff
I have been quite pleased with it so far. A little slower than Canon 10-22mm but it has not been an issue and the fact it is a FF lens means I will be able to use it on both cropped and FF bodies..


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