Going to El Salvador in May

Going to document (Video and Stills) a mission trip to El Salvador and the leader wants me (Video Producer) to use a 5DM2 that we will rent with lens instead of my usual camera Sony EX1. I have no problem using this gear other that Im unfamiliar with it. Need any advice on a good lens that has good range (Wide angle and telephoto) I want to limit the amount of gear I have to carry as we will be doing a great deal of hiking in the hills.

24-105 f4 L IS. Throw in a (good) 50mm f1.4 for the dark and arty stuff. Job's a good'n.

If you are looking for some real wildlife reach then throw in a 100-400 f4.5-5.6 L IS as well.

You could swap the 100-400 for a 70-200 f2.8 L (same size and weight as the 100-400 but with awesome f2.8ness) and stick on a 2X if necessary. I've not had great results with that combo at the long end myself though so bought a 100-400 as well.

The 70-200 is a wonderful lens by its self, and considered to have the best optics of any zoom produced(other than the f:4). The 100-400 is a very capable lens and much loved by many rough wildlife photographers who would rather carry (or drop) a 100-400 than a 500mm prime.

Don't forget a good stock of batteries and a good stock of chargers - you don't want to be up all night waiting for a battery to charge ready to put in the next one (guess who's done that ).

John Sims wrote in post #13725928
24-105 f4 L IS. Throw in a (good) 50mm f1.4 for the dark and arty stuff. Job's a good'n.

If you are looking for some real wildlife reach then throw in a 100-400 f4.5-5.6 L IS as well.

You could swap the 100-400 for a 70-200 f2.8 L (same size and weight as the 100-400 but with awesome f2.8ness) and stick on a 2X if necessary. I've not had great results with that combo at the long end myself though so bought a 100-400 as well.

The 70-200 is a wonderful lens by its self, and considered to have the best optics of any zoom produced(other than the f:4). The 100-400 is a very capable lens and much loved by many rough wildlife photographers who would rather carry (or drop) a 100-400 than a 500mm prime.

Don't forget a good stock of batteries and a good stock of chargers - you don't want to be up all night waiting for a battery to charge ready to put in the next one (guess who's done that ).

Thanks John. I read on another thread about the 24-105l and am liking the combo. Like I said, I dont necessarily want to be packing a bunch of glass around, so this and maybe the 50 mm for interviews will be all I need.
I agree you cant have too many batteries and of course memory. I will be able to dump my footage to a hard drive at the end of each day, so maybe all I need is 2 really big and fast CF cards

Personally I'd carry a 24-70 f/2.8L and 70-200 f/2.8L to cover most of your necessary focal lengths. Don't forget that you'll be shooting full frame on the 5D2 (as compared to your 60D), and I sometimes find that even 135mm falls short of "enough reach." If you need more light for interviews, bump up your ISO because filming an interview at 50mm f/1.4 may be too sharp anyway.

Keep in mind a 16GB card will hold around 50 min of footage, so estimate out how many CF cards you'll need for a days-worth of shooting with that point.

kamek wrote in post #13728205
Personally I'd carry a 24-70 f/2.8L and 70-200 f/2.8L to cover most of your necessary focal lengths. Don't forget that you'll be shooting full frame on the 5D2 (as compared to your 60D), and I sometimes find that even 135mm falls short of "enough reach." If you need more light for interviews, bump up your ISO because filming an interview at 50mm f/1.4 may be too sharp anyway.

Keep in mind a 16GB card will hold around 50 min of footage, so estimate out how many CF cards you'll need for a days-worth of shooting with that point.

Excellent advice on the CF Card. I estimate needing at least 4. Im pretty choosey when it comes to shooting video, but if there is plenty of action to shoot, I will shoot a lot of it.

I still feel that I can only bring just a couple of lenses. There are weight issues and I dont want to carry a lot of it due to hiking up and down mountain trails.

displaced texan wrote in post #13728707
Excellent advice on the CF Card. I estimate needing at least 4. Im pretty choosey when it comes to shooting video, but if there is plenty of action to shoot, I will shoot a lot of it.

I still feel that I can only bring just a couple of lenses. There are weight issues and I dont want to carry a lot of it due to hiking up and down mountain trails.

Either do four 16 GB cards or two 32 GB cards. Less cards makes the whole experience less cumbersome, but more cards will allow you to rotate cards as you dump data into your computer.

I still think a 24-70 and 70-200 if you want to travel as light as possible while covering the most focal lengths.

The 24-70 and "light" aren't often things you find in the same sentence (unless talking about light gathering) . I haven't checked the weights but would anticipate the 24-105 and "Nifty Fifty" are lighter together. With a full frame I also think you would be constantly swapping between the 24-70 and 70-200 as they are just on that cusp point.

On the weight (and size) front you would make a noticeable saving dropping down from 70-200 F:2.8 to the F:4.