Lens Advice

I'm getting ready to head to Madrid for a week. I'll naturally be taking my T3i with me. Which lens would I be best leaving on my camera most of the time...the 18-55 kit for the wide angle capability in the city or the 55-250 to capture more candid and distant shots?

I would think definitely the kit.

If you are going to limit yourself to just one lens then I think the 55-250. There are no more boring vacation pictures than when the shots are too far away to see detail. 55mm even in a crop camera will allow you to get good full body shots in all but the smallest spaces. Have a great trip! -rick

I would take the 18-55 for the landscape and architecture possibilities.

Do you not have enough room to take both?
ETA: Ah - I may have misread your question - I find I have my 70-200 on my camera the most. Ultimately, I think it depends what type of shots you generally find yourself taking.

It sounds like you will be taking both lenses with you, but are wondering which you are more likely to be using most of the time, yes?

What do you intend to shoot that is candid and distant, and do you foresee yourself shooting more of that then scenery, landscapes, landmarks, and family photos?

Unless you are dedicating the trip towards distant, candid people photos to capture the culture and lifestyle of the location you are visiting, I would also vote for 18-55 because it offers the widest angles through to 'normal' focal lengths, which are used for most subjects. The low end of the 55-250 range, up to about 85, may be useful in certain cases, but not as much as the 18-55 range.

I rarely use my 70-300 on vacations or trips, unless I am shooting something pretty far away. I do use it though, so I always bring it along. But it definitely doesn't stay on the camera for long.

The way I see it is, if there is even one situation where I need the 70-300, it makes having it with me for the rest of the trip worthwhile. Good example was shooting Puffins from far away in Iceland; we could not get any closer to them, so it was long lens or useless shots. Actually that was one of the really rare occasions where I found myself thinking a longer lens would have been great. It's just me, of course, as many people who do birding or wildlife would definitely disagree with my sentiment on the rare need for a long lens.

I am taking both lenses but just wondered which was be the most used. I don't know how many museums I will be allowed to shoot in. I guess I'll just have to swap out lenses more than I would like. Hopefully I can avoid dust on the sensor and not drop a lens during the swaps.

Thanks for the advice and input.

I just came back from Madrid a couple of months ago. I had my 10-22mm on almost all of the time. I had my 24mm prime on the rest of the time. I brought my 50mm, 85 and 135 as well but never found a need to use them at all. They were all too close and could not capture the beauty of the city.