Best Travel Lenses?

Hi folks, about to buy an 80D and will be going on a honeymoon in September! I want to pack light, but want to make sure I get all the best shots I can of course. Any suggestions on lenses? All I have right now is a Tamron AF 17-50mm f/2.8. It's an oldie so not even sure if there's something better to look at?

My initial thought is a zoom in that range, plus maybe a prime 35mm to get some good quality landscape shots in? Or not wide enough??

Feihung08 wrote in post #18287195
Hi folks, about to buy an 80D and will be going on a honeymoon in September! I want to pack light, but want to make sure I get all the best shots I can of course. Any suggestions on lenses? All I have right now is a Tamron AF 17-50mm f/2.8. It's an oldie so not even sure if there's something better to look at?

My initial thought is a zoom in that range, plus maybe a prime 35mm to get some good quality landscape shots in? Or not wide enough??

My thought would be a 18-135 IS USM Nano, plus maybe the 35 f/2 IS or 50mm f/1.8 STM, or if you need wider the 24mm f/2.8 STM. This is exactly what i took to Florida earlier this year and although not the lightest weight, i found this covered everything i needed, and i didnt miss my 'better' gear at all.

Feihung08 wrote in post #18287195
Hi folks, about to buy an 80D and will be going on a honeymoon in September! I want to pack light, but want to make sure I get all the best shots I can of course. Any suggestions on lenses? All I have right now is a Tamron AF 17-50mm f/2.8. It's an oldie so not even sure if there's something better to look at?

My initial thought is a zoom in that range, plus maybe a prime 35mm to get some good quality landscape shots in? Or not wide enough??

Honeymoon and lens questions? Whats wrong with you?

Where are you going and what do you like to shoot? Budget? I'd say a 50L1.2 and keep the lights low.

You already have it. 17-50 2.8 is great travel lens. I have 28-75 2.8 and it isn't on crop body. For quality landscapes you will need to add quality tripod and remote for shutter release.

Feihung08 wrote in post #18287195
Hi folks, about to buy an 80D and will be going on a honeymoon in September! I want to pack light, but want to make sure I get all the best shots I can of course. Any suggestions on lenses? All I have right now is a Tamron AF 17-50mm f/2.8. It's an oldie so not even sure if there's something better to look at?

My initial thought is a zoom in that range, plus maybe a prime 35mm to get some good quality landscape shots in? Or not wide enough??

That 17-50 F2.8 would be an appropriate travel lens.

Realistically, I would say drop the dSLR on travel and just take a decent P&S like a Canon G16 or a Sony RX__ series. Less bulk. More fun. Less to worry about.

I definitely don't understand the idea of getting a 35mm prime for good quality landscape... you'll be stopping down, it will not be any different than your zoom at F11 for landscape... ?

Besides, are you going to be walking around with your full kit, tripod, etc, everything, on a honeymoon? Or is it more of a photography outing?

If you were buying a lens today, I'd point towards a 17-50 F2.8 flavor.
And if you were still looking for something more, I'd simply point to something like a 10-22 and go as wide as you can.
Really depends on where you're going.

Travel is too broad. I simply recommend take an ultrawide-wide zoom when possible when you have no idea what to expect. Keep it light. Make sure it's not getting in the way of you and your significant other enjoying why you're there.

Very best,

I agree with MalVeauX. I second the Sony rx100. I brought an rx100 with a6000+16-70, Rokinon 12mm to Iceland, Germany, Belgium, and Netherlands.. Not even halfway through the trip, I ended up using only the rx100 from capturing waterfalls to the milky way and the northern lights. Bring less and enjoy your trip.

to make sure I keep the lens range covered for anything and everything.

I keep the following:

Sigma 12-24mm for super wide purpose, inside a building/church or from outside
Sigma 24-105mm Art - love this lens and so sharp and does everything I need to do, this is my all round lens mostly!
Sigma 85mm & 50mm F1.4 - just in case its a nice place worth taking Portrait of family.
Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 for the long range zoom where I get up top on a tower and shoot the surroundings etc. good fun!

Enjoy the trip

I pretty much only bother bringing my 16-35 on vacations and if I bring something else it doesn't usually get used. With that in mind, I'd say that your 17-50 is probably a really good option.

I travel a lot and my kit is an A7R2 / A7R with a 25mm, 35mm and 85mm lens. Kit is light and covers off my most used focal lengths.

I have traveled in Europe and the Orient with a two lens outfit on a pair of crop sensor Canon bodies: 17-55mm f/2.8 IS and 70-200mm f/4L IS (with a 1.4x TC thrown into my bag just for the heck of things).

I travel to take pictures and if I could not photograph, I wouldn't bother traveling. I don't take selfies and have only a couple of photographs of my wife.

The rest of mt hundreds of travel pictures (that I have culled from the many more that I have shot) are of the people I have seen and the places I have been.

I never felt like I was lacking with that pair of lenses...

there's no best answer for this type of question. Some people don't like carrying heavy equipment for a variety of reasons, especially while on vacation. What is heavy for one person may seem light to someone else. Others may not be happy NOT having their best gear with them at that once in a lifetime photo-opportunity.

Furthermore there are many people asking these types of questions who may not have the technical ability to get the best out of a DSLR...these people would clearly be better off with a smaller lighter P&S.

That's one reason I rarely answer these types of questions. I'd hate to 'convince' someone to go buy some expensive lens(es) only for that person to not know how/when to properly use it. In many peoples' hands a DSLR could create images inferior to a P&S assuming the person doesn't know how to properly harness the increased abilities of the DSLR.

Usually I assume that is the case when someone asks such a question.

I would pair your lens with a

a) Canon EF-S 10-18mm or Tamron 10-24mm Di II VC (for wide angle)
b) 85mm prime (EF 85mm f/1,8) or 70-200 f/4L IS (for lovely portraits)
c) 100mm makro (ring shots, etc)

Happy Honeymoon!

Feihung08 wrote in post #18287195
Hi folks, about to buy an 80D and will be going on a honeymoon in September! I want to pack light, but want to make sure I get all the best shots I can of course. Any suggestions on lenses? All I have right now is a Tamron AF 17-50mm f/2.8. It's an oldie so not even sure if there's something better to look at?

My initial thought is a zoom in that range, plus maybe a prime 35mm to get some good quality landscape shots in? Or not wide enough??

dave_bass5 wrote in post #18320040
My thought would be a 18-135 IS USM Nano, plus maybe the 35 f/2 IS or 50mm f/1.8 STM, or if you need wider the 24mm f/2.8 STM. This is exactly what i took to Florida earlier this year and although not the lightest weight, i found this covered everything i needed, and i didnt miss my 'better' gear at all.

This is the best advice. The 18-135 USM and 80D go hand in glove. And the tiny, light and sharp 50 and 24 cover your low-light and thin(ish) DOF needs.

How about something like 17-55 and 70-200 f4 is along with 35f2 is.

Your 17-50 with your 80D will be a great lens...the 35 won't be much help for landscapes - on the 80D it isn't particularly wide and the range is covered in your 17-50.

I have just come back from a holiday in New York and took 16-35, 24-70 & 85mm lenses for my 5D4 to cover all focal lengths. I took a normal rucksack and carried the lenses in Neewer lens pouches from Amazon and took a Manfrotto Pixi Evo tripod. That was as light as I could get but even that became a heavy load!

It depends of course on what you are hoping to take photos of but if it is landscapes maybe think about adding something in the 10-20mm range.