Travel kit question

I'm going on a trip to Athens, Greece and I'm having a hard time deciding between two kits. I just bought a Lowepro Classified 140 AW as my "low profile" gear bag, so I need to keep the gear pretty lean and mean. The two combos I'm looking at are:

1) 5D + 17-40L, 50/1.4, 85/1.8 + 430EX
2) 5D + 24-70L + 100L + 430EX

In the second combo I'm not looking for the macro abilities of the 100L macro but rather a semi tele 2.8 lens with IS which also works for portraits. The second combo is also a bit heavier, but I imagine I will do a lot less changing lenses with it.

What would you do?

This is where the 24-105 really shows it's strength.

I don't think anyone can ever tell you what lenses you should use. It all depends on your shooting style and WHAT *YOU* want to shoot. I personally could take an ultrawide and a normal prime with no flash and be done if I wanted, but that would be a lousy setup for someone else.

I'm a wide angle guy, and would love to take wide shots in a place like that. I'd vote kit #1

#1 since I love wide.

17-40 + 100L - if it was me.

How about 17-40/50/100...or is that not an option?

I would pick option 3: 24-70 + 70-200 + 85 1.8
For me, 24 is wide enough on the 5D. I like to shoot details on architecture, hence the 200

Thanks guys. After some consideration, I think it will be combo 2. Remembering what Athens was like last time, I'm quite confident that 24mm on the 5D will be wide enough for most things.

What it came down to in the end is that with the 24-70L I will not need to change lenses as much as if I would have gone with combo 1. It has happened before that I've lost shots just because I haven't been fast enough switching lenses.

Neither 17-40/50/100 nor 24-70/70-200/85 would fit in the bag, but I might just drop the 50/1.4 in another lens case and then just leave something at the hotel every time.

As far as the 24-105L is concerned, it's just not a lens for me. In that focal length, f/2.8 is really valuable for me. If money wasn't a concern I wouldn't mind having the 24-105L as well, but right now 24-70L works better for me.


Anyway, this will not be a very photo-oriented trip. In that case I would bring a lot more

Thanks everybody for your input! I really appreciate it!

Yeah, kit 2

fi20100 wrote in post #10969846
I'm going on a trip to Athens, Greece and I'm having a hard time deciding between two kits. I just bought a Lowepro Classified 140 AW as my "low profile" gear bag, so I need to keep the gear pretty lean and mean. The two combos I'm looking at are:

1) 5D + 17-40L, 50/1.4, 85/1.8 + 430EX
2) 5D + 24-70L + 100L + 430EX

In the second combo I'm not looking for the macro abilities of the 100L macro but rather a semi tele 2.8 lens with IS which also works for portraits. The second combo is also a bit heavier, but I imagine I will do a lot less changing lenses with it.

What would you do?

17-40, Fast 50 of your choice, and 70-200 f4L IS an option? That is about what I have minus the fast 50. Personally I'd go for a fast 35 as that is more my style, but I could get along with a Zeiss 50/2 as well.

haha, that was almost my first kit: 16-35II, 70-200 f4IS and a fast 50 in the middle. It was perfect. Slight change to the Rokkor 58 1.2 and 2.8II, but it's a classic group I still use 90% of the time.