Trip to Paris, what lenses should I bring?

tom0927 wrote in post #16847453
We will also be walking around all day so I want it to be lightweight. I'll mainly be taking pictures of my friends, the architecture, and food.

Out of the lenses I own, I'm thinking of bringing the 15-85mm only. I don't see much need for anything longer then that, unless others can chime in and give me advice?

Paris is a city for walking, so lightweight is definitely the way to go. IMHO your 15-85 will be fine. It's already fairly wide, so personally I don't see much point in spending additional $$$ for a few extra mm of width. Paris is also an expensive city, so if I were you I'd save my cash for the trip instead of than buying or renting the 11-16.

If you do take additional lenses, I'd suggest being careful when changing them in public places. Theft is frequent in the streets. My husband, a very seasoned and careful traveller who's been to Paris about 30 times in the last 20 years and knows the dangers well, has had a pair of glasses snatched off his face and also had a bag snatched off the metro (someone leaned in and grabbed it as the train doors were closing). This is one of the reasons why, if I were going to Paris, I'd take a one-lens setup.

I would say 15-85 and a good point and shoot that would do it for me. I would also bring a gorilla pod for the small camera. If you don't take pictures around these friends much firing away with the point and shoot taking fun/silly pictures will help soften them up to being photographed.

I was in Paris, Cologne, Washington, and Boston last year. I really liked my 15-85 for all the outside/daylight shots. It was wide enough for me. Interior, especially in churches, it was too slow. I was using a T1i body, so you have better high ISO on your 70d.

Two things to watch out for in Paris:

Don't carry a back pack, carry a messenger bag. My husband had to check his back pack most places, and I didn't have to check my messenger bag even though it was bigger.

Watch out when changing lenses. Even when my husband was watching my back, I had beggars come out of nowhere when I tried to change my lens on the street.

Have fun and get up early. My best shots were of Montmartre at dawn.

For an APS-C (crop) camera your 15-85 will cover most of your needs. While I found a 50mm f1.4 to be useful in museums, with the better sensitivity of the 70D, you can get by with either the 10-22 Canon or 11-16mm Tokina. Both are fine lenses, the Tok is much faster, of course. If you feel the need, the Canon 70-200 f4 IS L is my choice for urban tele shooting. It is light weight and does well with a teleconverter for those rare wildlife shots.
As for the Parisian two-legged wildlife, if you choose to shoot close you may have to accept a sip of cheap wine or have a cup of Turkish coffee.

Thanks yet again! Although I haven't been replying much to the advice given, I am reading them all. You've all given me a lot of food for thought, and with 5 months to go, it's a LOT of thinking!

I'm still on the fence about the Tokina 116, and I have a feeling I'll be on the fence on that until I get on the plane and I can't change my mind anymore. Then it'll switch to.. "I should've done this......." At the moment, I'm thinking of saving the money for spending in Paris so my gear will be the 15-85 and 20 f/1.8 for low light areas. My cell phone will serve as my P&S for the quick snaps.

Good call on changing lenses in public and general safely, I'll have to be careful about that. I am using a 6MDH messenger, hopefully it's not so big I have to check it, and messengers should be a little safer against pickpockets then backpacks... cross my fingers!

Just make sure your 6MDH is slinged in front of you at all times.

I just got back from a trip to Barcelona and only brought the 17-40 with me. I think much of Europe is pretty narrow especially in the cities so UWA is pretty useful. If you're fine with spending the money then go ahead...but if you're not comfortable then don't. Just gotta keep in mind that you can never get 100% of the photos you want so might as well make do with what you have.

I went to Korea with only a 24-105 and a tripod for landscape panoramas. I ended up shooting quite a few handheld panos and used the tripod at dusk/dawn.

PacSafe makes camera straps and bags that add a great deal of security. I've used both in trips to Europe.

Last year I had my 5D3, 24-70, 70-200f4 and a borrowed 17-40mm plus my G12. I used the G12 most of the time. It was hot and humid or pouring rain (typical Paris summer), climbing up and down ancient narrow stairs and standing in line, no fun with heavy gear.

Pickpockets are EVERYWHERE in Paris, they even shut down the Louvre for a day because of them. The Louvre is gigantic and full of hundreds if not thousands of people. Including pickpockets. On the Eiffel Tower they had public announcements over speakers warning about pickpockets. It's sad, but to be expected where people are full of money and gear and distracted on every corner.

If you bring a camera bag, get one that opens from the back only, so nobody can get at your gear. Do not leave it out of sight for a second. Watch your phone as if you had $300 cash in your hand. My friend (who lives in Paris for the last 2+ years) had her iphone stolen. Watch out for people with clipboards asking you to sign some charity crap, people telling you they just found this wonderful gold ring, etc. No reason to be paranoid, but don't carry your wallet in your back pocket either. They can and do open bags (my friend has that on photos!), the subway is full of them. Often pretty and well dressed teenage girls from Rumania. But they come in all shapes and colors. Last year they called it the capital of pickpockets.

Also at least some places don't let you in with a backpack, so have something small you can (and want to) leave in a locker. If/when I go again, I'll leave my DSLR at home and will either get a mirrorless and sell it after the trip or a high quality P&S that records RAW.

I did not use the 17-40 much at all, too much distortion of buildings for my taste. 24-70 was perfect most of the time. I hardly used the 70-200, if at all. I brought it since we later went to Germany to visit my family there.

Unless you go on a dedicated photo vacation, I'd pack light and enjoy the scenery, instead of shlepping and watching gear. It's a fantastic town, sit in a cafe and watch people, sit at the Seine and do the same. Walk, eat and enjoy.

Oh, do not ever carry your passport with you, not required to have ID on you and a stolen passport is a major PITA. Supposedly the US embassy has a sort of vending machine to pay for the replacement fees, since so many are stolen every year. And the embassy is closed on weekends, read of people having theirs stolen on Fri evening before a Sat flight they could not take then. And cameras stolen with all the memory cards. That's the part that hurts, could not care less about the gear, it's insured. Something you might also look into for at least the trip.

Try to get away from the touristy stuff a bit, book lunch at the cafe on the Eiffel tower online now, gives you lift access to a seperate elevator so you don't have to stand in endless lines. Food is pretty good, views are fantastic. Book the earliest you can so you get a table at the window. Bring a small umbrella. Buy a museum pass if you want to go in a couple, also extra entrances and saves a bit money. Louvre is the size of a small town it seems, plan what you want to see, Mona Lisa is a madhouse and you can't really see her.

I could move to Paris tonight and live there for ever, that city has something magical.

But if I'd go only for a couple of days (and get over my jetlag there) I'd leave all this stuff at home and only take my Sony RX100II or something similar small and street efficient. Or buy/rent a mirrorless combo. I'd really want to just hang back and soak it all in, food, drink, people, smells.

I have an extra pocket sewn in some of my jeans inside the waist band. Some travel pants come with special theft-proof pockets. I add a sweat-protected cover for the passport and it goes in the secret pocket. I like the idea of the 20mm f1.8, think about one of the newer polarizing filters that transmit a bit more light for shooting through museum glass cases.

advaitin wrote in post #16858930
PacSafe makes camera straps and bags that add a great deal of security. I've used both in trips to Europe.

PacSafe bags can also be bought from http://www.corporatetr​avelsafety.com/catalog​/, sometimes at a lower price. Their bags have cut-proof straps with locking attachments for bags and cameras. Some of them even have metal webbing to stop thieves from slashing the bag and grabbing stuff from inside. They also have cut-proof purses and wallets with chains to attach them to your belt.

On one trip to Paris, thieves grabbed 150 euros from my wallet even though it was chained to my belt. But they didn't get the wallet itself, with my credit cards and driver's license. Later I replaced the wallet with one that has a zipper compartment for the money. This would probably have prevented the theft.

Everyone has different shooting style. I had my 17-50 on 90% of the time I was in Europe. I had my 70-200 on for longer subjects but it was rare.

I travel a lot, and I just follow a simple rule to be aware of the environment and follow common sense. Just do not offer pickpockets the opportunity, and you will be safe. Of course, I am not talking about dangerous places, but rather European typical tourist destinations like Paris, Barcelona, Rome, or Amsterdam. Do not leave your backpack unattended, do not put it on the top racks on trains, do not carry the wallet in the back pocket, etc. Then you can just enjoy those amazing cities without worries.

"I could move to Paris tonight and live there for ever, that city has something magical."

I agree. I've been in all major US cities, London, Berlin, Rome, Athens and Tokyo but Paris is #1 with me. Second? A tie between San F and London. I lived in NYC so I don't count that one. <g>

hrblaine wrote in post #16864915
"I could move to Paris tonight and live there for ever, that city has something magical."

I agree. I've been in all major US cities, London, Berlin, Rome, Athens and Tokyo but Paris is #1 with me. Second? A tie between San F and London. I lived in NYC so I don't count that one. <g>

Beautiful dream. I love Paris, go there at least once a year, sometime more often. My stepdaughter lives there with her French husband, so my wife is trying to convince me to move there for retirement. But have you lived in a place where you don't speak the language? I have, here in Boston. English is my second language. Try it, and see how much you will like it then.

I am not challenging you by any means, just a making it a little bit closer to reality.

I spent 5 years living in Europe. If I ever go back, I'd want to carry a camera with me everywhere. I'd take either an S120 or a G16. I've lugged DSLR, lenses and a flash around way too many times. Spend more time enjoying the city, and less time worrying about perfect photos. The best memories are going to be in your head, anyway.