UK Bound!! Lens options...?

Hello, friends and photographers.
I was hoping to never have to do this again, but the introduction of my Tokina 12-24mm lens sent my lens world into a black hole.

You see, I am making my first trip overseas from December 31 to January 14. Odd time of year, I know, but we found it best to go when we were both off from school and during the "low season." My best friend and I are spending 2 weeks in the United Kingdom, spending time in Edinburgh, Betws-y-Coed (Wales), Bath, Canterbury, and London, with day trips to Stonehenge, Cornwall, Beachy Head, Shaftesbury, and a couple more. Right now, I own a Tokina 12-24mm and the Canon 50mm f/1.4 and am looking to fill the gap with one more lens for the trip and beyond.

(Mind you, I used to own a 24L, but sold it due to money matters and the fact I never touched it after the wonderful Tokina came into my life.)

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a good lens to make my lineup a little more versatile and covered. I do not want to spend any more than $400 on this lens, so I am considering the following options:
- Sigma 24-60mm f/2.8
- Sigma 30mm f/1.4
- Canon 35mm f/2

I am also open to other suggestions if you have them! Remember: absolutely not more than $400!
Thanks!

ef-s 18-55 IS and even an ef-s 55-250 IS.

Thanks... I should have mentioned though that I'd prefer f/2.8 or faster. :P The 55-250 may be worth looking at in the future though.

The 24-60 seems like a good choice, usually I'd prefer the 24-70 over it, but the 60 is smaller/lighter/cheape​r which are all good things, and eventually you might want a 70-xxx type of lens of some sort so you'd have everything covered with 3 lenses, that's versatile.

madhatter04 wrote in post #6687310
Hello, friends and photographers.
I was hoping to never have to do this again, but the introduction of my Tokina 12-24mm lens sent my lens world into a black hole.

You see, I am making my first trip overseas from December 31 to January 14. Odd time of year, I know, but we found it best to go when we were both off from school and during the "low season." My best friend and I are spending 2 weeks in the United Kingdom, spending time in Edinburgh, Betws-y-Coed (Wales), Bath, Canterbury, and London, with day trips to Stonehenge, Cornwall, Beachy Head, Shaftesbury, and a couple more. Right now, I own a Tokina 12-24mm and the Canon 50mm f/1.4 and am looking to fill the gap with one more lens for the trip and beyond.

(Mind you, I used to own a 24L, but sold it due to money matters and the fact I never touched it after the wonderful Tokina came into my life.)

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a good lens to make my lineup a little more versatile and covered. I do not want to spend any more than $400 on this lens, so I am considering the following options:
- Sigma 24-60mm f/2.8
- Sigma 30mm f/1.4
- Canon 35mm f/2

I am also open to other suggestions if you have them! Remember: absolutely not more than $400!
Thanks!

I shouldn't worry too much about which lens............ with the travelling you're going to have to do in 14 days to visit all the places you've mentioned, you're not going to have much time for picture taking That's a pretty impressive itinerary.

24-70 2.8. I know its over the $400 but its worth it

Canon 85mm 1.8 Brilliant lens. I used it with the Sigma 10-20mm in Barcelona. Great for street portraits etc. $329 at amazon. I´m sure you´d find it elsewhere in the US for a similar price. Check out my flikr site for some examples.

Personally, I would go for the sigma 24 - 60 out of your list (I haven't used any of those). I prefer the convenience of a zoom rather than swapping lenses all the time, especially when time is short! It will be wet at some point while you are here, so if you don't have to change lenses too often in bad weather, that has to be a good thing!

Also a zoom will give you the ability to crop out things / get closer when you can't foot zoom eg busy roads (London, Edinburgh etc), rivers (snowdonia), or barriers (Stonehenge, plus loads of other places too - even on pavements / sidewalks).

madhatter04 wrote in post #6687310
My best friend and I are spending 2 weeks in the United Kingdom, spending time in Edinburgh, Betws-y-Coed (Wales), Bath, Canterbury, and London, with day trips to Stonehenge, Cornwall, Beachy Head, Shaftesbury, and a couple more.

Wow, it looks like you'll be spending all your time travelling - that's a really ambitious itinerary! The roads around Betws-y-Coed, Stonehenge, Cornwall, Beachy Head and Shaftesbury may well be a bit slower than you're expecting...

The lenses you'll need are the same as you'd need anywhere else in the world It depends more on the kind of pics you like to take than it does on where you are. Personally, I'd want something much longer, but I'm not sure I could cover what I'd want with $400 (but then I wouldn't carry the 12-24 in the first place). I think that all you'll get here are other people's preferences, and that may be totally at odds with what you need for the trip...

Thanks guys... nice to see so many replies after getting back from coaching (which means dead brain cells)!!

I'm quite excited for the trip, seeing as I've been taking art history classes and such for so long and have only seen photos from Europe and beyond! We're using the BritRail flexipass to train-hop from one place to the next and I think we're spending at least 2 nights in each location (not the day trips, naturally), so thanks for the traveling advice as well.

Ahem! Anyways, now that I have a chance, I'm much more of a landscape/scenery type shooter. I almost never shoot people candids or anything like that unless it's for headshots or the like (I had a 70-200 for a while, but it saw action maybe once before I sold it to someone who'd use it way more than I did). Thus, my 12-24 Tokina would probably see the most action. Then again, with all the low-light situations I foresee occurring, I was considering a fast "normal" prime. Hmm. The Sigma is starting to look a little more favorable at this point but keep'em coming

I'd go with the sigma (or something with a similar length).
Don't want to dampen your spirits too much but expect rain, possibly snow/sleet, certainly alot of grey skies. Temperature will be no more than 50 degrees, dropping to low 30s.
An hour north of Edinburgh is Stirling - nearby is the wallace monument. The scenery up there is amazing, so could be worth a trip - weather depending
Interested how you know Betws-y-coed - its a tiny place ! holidayed there many years ago as a kid.

Oddly enough I'll be visiting Southern California from the UK near the end of January

That's a rather busy itinary for 14 days - I'd make sure you have enough memory cards for that lot!

Bring a tripod. It will be cold, wet and dark over here. Wales and Scotland should give you some nice landscape opportunities.

Sounds like you have alot planned for 14 days.

Definately bring a tripod and some wet gear, weather will not be too pleasant up beachy head this time of year, its very open.

However you will get some nice views up there. It will be windy and wet though.

Other than that, have a great time in the uk and enjoy the british countryside

shaftsybury???????????