Lenses for my travel kit

[peter_n]

Maybe Joerg, if I had a 75 (which I don't). To be honest I really like the 50mm focal length and the 90 can be very handy when you want to compress frames in a scene. My Domke F-2 bag will take all four and two bodies so I have no worries... 🙂

 

[cbass]

The CV 25/4 and 15/4.5 make great travel lenses. When I went to Europe earlier this year I took the 25mm and the 15mm, along with a 40mm fixed-lens RF for B&W. I never once missed my 50 or 75 (in fact, I've since sold the 75). You can see some of the results in my gallery if you're curious.

The CV 25/4 is a terrific all-purpose lens and the 15/4.5 is great for interiors.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[Joerg]

Maybe Joerg, if I had a 75 (which I don't). To be honest I really like the 50mm focal length and the 90 can be very handy when you want to compress frames in a scene. My Domke F-2 bag will take all four and two bodies so I have no worries... 🙂

Recently I find myself using the 90mm less and 50mm seems like a short tele lens .
So I was wondering if 75mm would bridge the 50-90mm range in combination with 25 and 35mm lenses.
For whatever reason I do not have a camera with 75mmm frame lines😱 to check my theory.
Oh well life is too short and the 90mm Elmarit too good to worry.

Ciao

Joerg

 

[Bailey]

It's not about the place. It's about you.

There's many things you can do in Asia. Way too many things. You have to decide what you want.

Eg. if you want to shoot predominantly landscapes, then there's tons of sights, from volcanos and lakes in Indonesia to jungles in Borneo.

If you like temples, well-- there's a hell of a lot too.

If you think that you should go shoot everything, what you'll end up with is many pictures of everything, but probably few good ones. On the other hand, if you know what you want, and tailor your equipment accordingly, you will get fewer but much higher quality output.

Well, it's tough to say what I'm going to want to shoot because I've never been to asia and I've never traveled with multiple lenses before. But in general when I'm traveling I like to try to be sneaky and get candid shots of people without looking through the viewfinder. I like to try and capture some of the landscape and architecture, as well as people and the overall flow of life. I also tend to be the kind of person that will sleep a little bit late, spend the day drawing in a cafe, and be out walking around at night, rather than going to be early so that I can wake up and hit the trail at dawn. And at times I have an ichy trigger finger, but I usually have to shoot a lot of duds to get a few good shots.

You can see some of the photos I took with my XA on a trip to costa rica and panama here. Maybe that will give you a better idea what I end up shooting.

 

[Bailey]

Tom you'd be surprised here in SE Asia! my last two projects 75% were @1.4 @800 in some interiors and that's in the middle of the day. Sure outdoors it's a different story.....
Gompa Temples in Ladakh i was lucky to get F1.0 @800

Simon, your photos from Cambodia are truly amazing. There's so much beauty in those shots I feel bad asking dorky tech quetions, but I am really curious. What kind of film are you shooting those on?

 

[Simon Larbalestier]

Simon, your photos from Cambodia are truly amazing. There's so much beauty in those shots I feel bad asking dorky tech quetions, but I am really curious. What kind of film are you shooting those on?

Hi Bailey
well depends which ones you've seen 🙂

Most of the Between Two Worlds series (lith prints) were shot with Delta 400 and Tri-X 400 - 95% 120 format.
Cambodia Trust images (Work in Progress portfolio) all Tri X 400 - 35mm

 

[Bailey]

The work in the "Between Two Worlds" series is what prompted the question. I really like the one of the bed in the interogation room and some of the ankor wat ones. Really breathtaking stuff. Are you getting that look from the litho printing process? And please forgive my ignorance, but I'm confused about the film you were using. Delta 400 and Tri-X400 are both 35mm films. But isn't 120 a medium format film size? I haven't messed around with medium format yet, so I'm not really sure.

 

[Simon Larbalestier]

Tuol Sleng (bed image) and all other "sepia like" images on my website are lith prints not litho prints
see here for an much better expanation than i can give!
http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Lith/lith.html

Angkor Wat images mixture of 120 and 35mm and yes you can get Tri-X and Delta 400 in 120 format 🙂 although Tri-X is getting hard to get in Bangkok now and Delta 400 i've given up hopes of getting in Thailand.....

 

[Jacob]

If You wan't to keep it light but still carry two cameras, one suggestion is to put the 50mm on the CL and get a wide lensed p&s, like a Ricoh GR1 or the recent Fuji Natura with the 25/1.9 (...get it in Hong Kong!). That way You don't have to change lenses but still have a very compact combo for interiors, people, street, architecture, landscape and more. You could of course bring a 90mm for that occasional volcano in the sunrise...
I tried this set up (Nikon S2 w 50/1.4+Ricoh GR1) on a Paris trip and it worked out great. Although this summer I went to Ireland with an M6 w 28/2.8+75/2.5 and no p&s. Maybe I liked that even better.
Jacob

 

[Alex Krasotkin]

Simon, just visited your web site! Great job!!! My favorite one is Surfer Rosa #3

 

[FrankS]

If this were me with your equipment (I have most of it myself) I'd take the CL with its 40mm lens and colour film. I'd put B+W film in the Bessa R2 with CV25mm, 35mm Summaron, 50mm Summicron, and 90mm Elmar.

 

[Quinn Porter]

CV 28 f/3.5 and CV 40 f/1.4 would cover 95% of my needs and they are both small and light.

 

[wen]

I am having my vacation back to Asia during Thanksgiving time, for 3 weeks. I am bring MP with 35 con. (well, my only lens I have now). Last trip to Asia, Japan, I took Xpan II. I feel that wide lens are more fit for me.

Some Asian don't feel comfortable to be photographed. If you like portraiture, people, tele photo lens might help 😉

 

[Simon Larbalestier]

Simon, just visited your web site! Great job!!! My favorite one is Surfer Rosa #3

Thanks Alex 🙂