Lens to photograph St Pauls etc

I'll be travelling to the UK and a lot of my shots will be interiors of buildings such as St Pauls Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, the usual UK and Paris suspects. For an xti, what lens would be recommended? I have Tamron 17-50, 28-75 plus the canon 24-105L shortlisted. The Tamrons are 2.8, the Canon F4 but has IS. Any views are appreciated but I want to take two lenses MAXIMUM, so a bagful of lenses for every occasion isn't possible.
Also, on an XTI, how far can ISO be pushed before it becomes objectionable on a 16 x 19in (A3+) print?? I'm near certain flash will be forbidden just about everywhere.

Thanks,

Hal55

I'd say sell the 24-105 and get a 17-55 f/2.8 IS. It was made for that kind of photography

I'd say the Tamron 17-50 2.8 or the Canon 17-55 2.8 IS...

Although you might wanna look at the canon or sigma 10-20/22mm ultrawide angle. Especially if you want the entire interior of the St. paul in the picture (I don't believe photography is allowed in there though..).

Using a tripod or resting your camera on a beanbag would be very useful. It will allow you to keep your ISO down and eliminate camera shake.

If tripods aren't possible then your best bet is probably the 17-55IS, mainly for the IS unit.

As the above person said an ultrawide lens would be very desirable too.

Good advice from everyone, but no, they don't allow pictures inside St. Paul's. At least not when I was there in 2005.

Rats!!!!!

St Pauls looks awesome, I was really hoping I'd be able to get some shots but fair enough, if rules say no then that's all there is to it. Even for other historic buildings that do allow photograhy I believe the rules are usually no tripod and no flash.

hal55

This from St. Paul's Cathedral:

Q Why is filming/photography not allowed inside the Cathedral?
A St Paul's is a national monument that everyone should be able to enjoy, and it is for this reason that we don't allow filming and photography.
Even outside of worship times St Paul's is first and foremost a place of prayer and worship where visitors can seek solace and comfort and filming/photography is very distracting, especially when taking into consideration the large number of visitors that come into the building on a daily basis.
However, limited filming and photography for press purposes can be arranged as long as prior notice is given. Enquiries should be directed to pressofficer@stpaulsca​thedral.org.uk / 020 7246 8321

True, rates I've just found are:

Photography - from 250 UK pounds per hour
Filming - from 350 UK pounds per hour.

Pity. there are things in there, like Nelson's Sarcophages (probably spelt wrong) that I would have loved to photograph. Fair enough though, it IS a place of worship and shutterbugs like me don't exactly help the communal spirit.
Looks like I'll just have to buy their own set of prints.

hal55

The tokina 11-16 f2.8 if getting pretty decent reviews...and it is tack sharp wide open. Now if you can get hold of one...

In other words, they ban photography so they can charge a completely ripoff price for it, and then claim it's banned because it's primarily a place for prayer. Total nonsense - as if a video camera makes any noise. They just want your money! (tax free of course)

pman67 wrote in post #5708831
Good advice from everyone, but no, they don't allow pictures inside St. Paul's. At least not when I was there in 2005.

Then OP should consider going long with 70-200 and hope the doors stay open enough to sneak a shot from the outside!

JoYork wrote in post #5708644
Using a tripod or resting your camera on a beanbag would be very useful. It will allow you to keep your ISO down and eliminate camera shake.

If tripods aren't possible then your best bet is probably the 17-55IS, mainly for the IS unit.

As the above person said an ultrawide lens would be very desirable too.

If you're travelling, might be worth considering one of the monopods with the little legs - Manfrotto do one with reasonable stability, and it will be easier to lug around compared to a full tripod.

Agreed with going wide - the Canon lens is worth the money. Not available in IS though, hence a tri/mono pod will be useful

Also agree with getting lens with IS - especially in UK where it is often overcast. (Lived there for 21 yrs, so know what it can be like). The IS will give you (usually) a two to three stop advantage.

Oh, and also agree with you, Jo - it's all about the money.

willstar wrote in post #5713892
Then OP should consider going long with 70-200 and hope the doors stay open enough to sneak a shot from the outside!

Heh, I went in November last year, you can't see anything from the entrance.

Photography was forbidden, but this didn't seem to be enforced very strictly for the P&S crowd. However, on spotting my 30D as I was going down to the crypt an officious attendant reminded me not to take photos . Note that in France, photography in the Pantheon and Notre Dame de Paris is permitted.

I managed to get some shots of the ceiling and dome by sitting peacefully in a pew and balancing the 30D + 10-22 on my lap. They weren't very good (see below), but better than nothing.

Couldn't agree more, I was at ISO 400 and above almost all the time unless I was using a tripod. There's the odd sunny period but they are few and far between.

Wow, that's a lovely pic - I've never been to St Paul's but if that's what it's like I'm going next time I'm in London.

JoYork wrote in post #5713861
In other words, they ban photography so they can charge a completely ripoff price for it, and then claim it's banned because it's primarily a place for prayer. Total nonsense - as if a video camera makes any noise. They just want your money! (tax free of course)

Reading this line:
"However, limited filming and photography for press purposes can be arranged as long as prior notice is given. Enquiries should be directed to ressofficer@stpaulscat​hedral.org.uk / 020 7246 8321"
it hardly seems like they're trying to extort big money out of the public. Of course they want money though. The cost of maintaining buildings like this is ridiculous. And competition for this money is fierce. What's the score in the Minster?
And I also don't think the line about consideration for prayer is as much bull as some people seem to think. Maybe it's not so important to me, but I would have thought it would be quite important to theologists/christians etc.

denno75uk wrote in post #5714072
it hardly seems like they're trying to extort big money out of the public.

Well they're effectively telling us we're not allowed to photograph because it's a house of prayer, yet as I said earlier a camcorder is pretty much silent and they're banned. If they truly want to ban all photography for religious reasons they shouldn't allow an exception if you give them $500 an hour should they? Either it interferes with prayer or it doesn't.

On the one hand you say they're not trying to extort big money (your emphasis) and on the other you say it's a very expensive building to maintain. I'm not sure how banning casual photography yet charging the media (who must be a very tiny percentage of the visitors) to photograph or film the place helps anyone.

By the way, notice earlier I said after seeing a photograph of the place I now want to visit? I've been to London many times and never visited there because I'd never seen a photograph of what it was like. So perhaps by allowing photography they could actually increase revenue? Just a thought...