Best Lens Combo for 1 Year South East Asia Trip

I'm embarking on a 1 year trip through south east asia. I'll be starting off in Thailand for about 4-6 months. Then work my way through Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Malasyia. I'll be in Bali for a month or so. For some of the places like thailand and Bali, I will be in the same location, renting an apartment/room. So it's not like I'm going to be "on the road" all the time. Just for some of the trip/s.

I'm also planning to hike the Anapurna trail in Nepal, then work my way into Tibet for a few weeks as well.

Yes, I'll be seeing a lot of places over the course of a year. I'm bringing a large packpack, but the plan is not really to be a "backpacker." I'd like to go to locations and linger for a while.

I currently have:

5D Mark 2
17-40mm L
Nifty 50
70-200L f/4 (now completely broken).

I'm planning on buying a 85mm 1.2 L and *maybe* a 135L

I do primary landscape photography, but I'd like to spend a good deal of time on travel photography/travel portraits too this trip. Yes, I do have a 70-200L f/4, but it's broken and the quote to fix it is about the cost of buying another one used. So that lens is out of the picture.

What do you guys suggest for a nice minimal lens setup for my trip. I want to keep things minimal and light (with the highest quality possible).

Is a 5D Mark 2, 17-40L, 85L 1.2, and 135L 2.0 a good travel setup for landscapes and portraits when traveling? I could just go with the 17-40L + 85L OR 17-40L + 135L.

Anyways, toss me your thoughts. I have had the 24-105L before, but I think with the 17-40L + 85L + 135L combo, I get a better setup with more "popping" images (especially portraits). The 70-200 f/4 + 17-40l + 85L would have been a good setup, but as I said my 70-200 lens is pretty much worthless now... I was thinking primes might be the way to go on my trip.

Ben

Do you really want to carry around a ton of camera gear for the next year? I would stick to one or two L zooms. Focal length depending on what you want to shoot.

or

Grab two primes and stick with that. Like a 35L and 135L.

AbPho wrote in post #12811680
Do you really want to carry around a ton of camera gear for the next year? I would stick to one or two L zooms. Focal length depending on what you want to shoot.

or

Grab two primes and stick with that. Like a 35L and 135L.

+1
17-40, 85 f/1.8 (except you really need f/1.2), and 70-300L IS would be my suggestion.
In Bali, you may go to the monkey forest which may need telephoto lens.

Consider weight too, it may ruined your mood when you are too tired.

take your 17-40L for landscapes, might as well bring nifty for low light (it weighs nothing), look into a 70-200 of some kind and I havent used the 85L, but I owned the 135L and swapped it for a 70-200 II. I feel it is worth its weight in gold! I love the 50mm on my crop (~85 FOV) so the 85 is my vote

I've been hearing the 85 1.2 has amazing bokeh (way better than the 1.8) though and can't be beaten for portrait shots. I was thinking that one would be perfect for close up portraits (though you really have to invade someone's space!).

I came back from Singapore+Indonesia (Jakarta, Bali) twice in the past 6 months. I spent 1 month each time. I brought my 16-35L, 35L, sigma 50, 24-70L and 580EX. After looking at all pics I took, 95% of them were taken with 24-70.

I found changing lens in the SE Asia challenging because of dust and humidity. I would definitely not recommend getting 85L for the trip. It's a very delicate lens. Instead, consider a standard zoom. Make sure you bring enough large ziploc bags to protect your stuff from humidity. It rains a lot in SE Asia.

Given your budget, I would recommend getting a (weather-sealed) standard zoom + 70-200 2.8 II + a flash.