Lens suggestions for 5dII on maui

[jloyo001]

Just recently picked up a 5dII to take on my trip to maui in june to shoot waterfalls. I am highly considering the 35L 1.4 is that lens going to be wide enough for waterfall photography and other landscapes there? I usually shoot a 7D with a 17-55. Also suggestions on filter combinations, I see alot of people using a threaded CPL with .9 ND, is a graduated ND necessary also? Thanks for your input!

Josh

[Hot Bob]

Originally Posted by jloyo001

Just recently picked up a 5dII to take on my trip to maui in june to shoot waterfalls. I am highly considering the 35L 1.4 is that lens going to be wide enough for waterfall photography and other landscapes there? I usually shoot a 7D with a 17-55. Also suggestions on filter combinations, I see alot of people using a threaded CPL with .9 ND, is a graduated ND necessary also? Thanks for your input!

Josh

17-40L all the way. You're going to want to shoot at long shutter speeds and stoppped down to the lens' sweet spot. The C-P will give you two stops longer exposure and cut down the glare on the water and vegatation. Depending on ambient light, you may still want a ND to blur the water further. It may be hard to do a C-P and a ND on the 17-40 at it's widest. Probably get a little vingetting. Tripod will be a must!

Bob

[jrader]

Originally Posted by Hot Bob

17-40L all the way. You're going to want to shoot at long shutter speeds and stoppped down to the lens' sweet spot. The C-P will give you two stops longer exposure and cut down the glare on the water and vegatation. Depending on ambient light, you may still want a ND to blur the water further. It may be hard to do a C-P and a ND on the 17-40 at it's widest. Probably get a little vingetting. Tripod will be a must!

Bob

Completely agree. I shoot 17-40 on the 5dII and it is amazing. It is sharp corner to corner with minor lens distortion (which is correctable with software anyway). A thin, multi-coated CPL is an excellent addition. I also recommend at least a 3-stop ND, as well as a kit of rGND and GND filters. That's a lot of money, I know, but worth it.

You're going to love Hana. Be sure to explore a bit. Anyone can take a picture of the waterfalls from the road, but most of the falls that you will see have trails down to them or above them to even more falls, just be sure to wear a good pair of shoes that you don't mind getting muddy

John

[ejenner]

Originally Posted by Hot Bob

It may be hard to do a C-P and a ND on the 17-40 at it's widest. Probably get a little vingetting. Tripod will be a must!

Bob

Yes, even with the thinnest filters with threads, stacking two of them will show mechanical (I think that's the term) vignetting at 17mm, but it will allow you to get to ~20mm or so, which is still nice and wide. With the 17-40 for corner sharpness I stop down to at least f8 and IMO f11-f16 is the best. Sure even on FF f16 has a little diffraction, but IMO it is not enough to offset the extra corner sharpness and produces overall decent sharpness across the frame (and I have a TS-E 17mm, so I know what sharp is).

[jloyo001]

Thanks everyone... I ended up with a 35L and a 17-40L for the trip AND purchased a Lee system with a BIG STOPPER (Cant wait to use this thing!). Now Im probably going to go with a Reverse ND of .6 from singh ray... what CPL do you guys recommend to stack with the stopper?

[Hot Bob]

I have no experience with the Lee system so my advice may or may not be helpful here. I like the Hoya HMC filters. I usually screw my CP to the front of the lens and adjust it and my exposure taking into account the ND filter. I then hold a 82mm screw on ND filter up to the front of the CP and take the shot. Yes, it can get old real fast if you have a 90 second exposure.

Bob

[Nachowcz]

Originally Posted by jloyo001

Thanks everyone... I ended up with a 35L and a 17-40L for the trip AND purchased a Lee system with a BIG STOPPER (Cant wait to use this thing!). Now Im probably going to go with a Reverse ND of .6 from singh ray... what CPL do you guys recommend to stack with the stopper?

Just out of curiosity, where'd you find a Big Stopper so quickly?! I'll be heading to Maui over Memorial Day and will be doing four days of hiking/backpacking so if you want any location suggestions, let me know and I'll blast that over.

[jcothron]

Take your 70-200 as well if you can, some of the shots on Maui are further way than you might think. I believe you will find yourself (with the falls) being on the longer end of that 17-40 a lot. Not that it is a bad lens choice it's not, you will have plenty of opportunity to go that wide.

[mswobo]

Originally Posted by jcothron

Take your 70-200 as well if you can, some of the shots on Maui are further way than you might think. I believe you will find yourself (with the falls) being on the longer end of that 17-40 a lot. Not that it is a bad lens choice it's not, you will have plenty of opportunity to go that wide.

I agree...went there last summer 70-200 was 50% of my shooting, things are far away.

[samsen]

I second (Or third or fourth) 17-40L.
If you have the luxuary of having any one of the 6, 70-200mmLs then you are perfectly fine, all around.

[rick_reno]

17-40 and a CPL.

[iLvision]

Or a 17-40L and ND filter (Preferably for waterfalls)