Need a Backpacking Lens

Hi all,

Soon I'm going to start my life again and go travel, mostly the far-east at first.
The most important thing I'm going to take with me of course is a camera.
I'll be taking the 7D unless something happens to it, but I can't lug around various lens's.

I'm looking for JUST ONE reasonably compact lens, a zoom or prime between 20-100mm.
I want a nice wide apeture for dark situations, and I just like that kind of lens.

No more than £600 please!

Current Idea's:

17-55 2.8
85 1.8
50 1.4

I know there's a lot more to choose from.

My ideal lens would be a 24-70L, but I don't think I can stretch that.

All ideas greatly appreciated!

Ben

hmm.. it sounds like you wish to stay below 2.8 so the 24-105 IS is out of question. I would say go with a zoom lens if you can only have one lens. The 17-55 2.8 is a good choice.

Digital Panda wrote in post #9426296
hmm.. it sounds like you wish to stay below 2.8 so the 24-105 IS is out of question. I would say go with a zoom lens if you can only have one lens. The 17-55 2.8 is a good choice.

Yeah don't really want to go over 2.8

Is there a zoom around bigger than F2.8?

the 70-200 2.8 but not on a crop...

Doesn't seem to be a zoom any wider than F2.8

I think at the moment I'm interested in the 17-55, or maybe a good 50mm prime.

if you will only bring one lens, then yes the 17-55 is probably your best choice

How's barrel distortion at 17mm on the 17-55?

I'd say check out the Sigma 18-50 2.8 Macro and the Tamron 17-50 2.8 as well.

If I was going to have just one lens for a crop body, and since I like candid portraits, I would probably prefer the 24-105. The 7D does pretty well with high ISO, which would help make up for the loss in speed. But you lose a lot of ability to shoot big buildings or landscapes...

When I was shooting crop the Tamron 17-50 stayed on my camera 75% of the time, with the 85/1.8 filling a very important 20%.

if your ideal lens is a 24-70mm...why not one of the third party brands tamron 28-75mm 2.8 or sigma 24-70mm 2.8

if i had to take one lens...i think i'd go for something like the tamron 18-270mm...but i'd also have to throw in just one prime...

All good ideas, 28-75/2.8 also sounds like it could be a good lens.

I can't help going back to a 50/1.4 though... even though I know it's the least versitile.

17-55.

+1 more vote for the 17-55

When I travel I take my Tamron 18-270 and the nifty fifty.
But out of those mentioned, I'd take the 17-55 IS. (I own that lens too, still I always take my Tamron to Europe with me on trips.)

I'd take either:

17-55 f/2.8 IS.

or

18-55 IS + primes for low light shots.