p.1 #1 · Traveling to Bangkok. 35L or 135L to complement my 24-70?
Hey all,
will be traveling to Asia end of June - Thailand, China, and Taiwan. And am having trouble deciding what to bring / buy to complement my new 5DIII and 24-70L .
Since I don't want to be lugging a lot of glass the 24 is heavy enough as it is... I was thinking of getting either a 24/35L, 135L or 85L? My thinking is that I can sell my 50mm 1.8 and use the 35L for portraits and low light and then use my 24-70 as an all around lens.
The other route would be is to keep my 50 1.8 and get a 135L for landscape photos and use the 24 for more up close and mid range photos.
Or, my final route would be to sell / trade the 24-70L for a 135L or 70-200 and then buy either a 85L or 24L to bring along with my 50mm.
Since I'll most likely be using my camera for landscapes, or friends at night, I want to maximize the usability of my lens. Thoughts?
p.1 #2 · Traveling to Bangkok. 35L or 135L to complement my 24-70?
For general street photography, landscapes, temples etc., I have found that a fast lens is generally not essential. I have 'junked' my older 28-70L in favour of a 24-105L IS as the weight became an issue. The 70-200L f4 IS is brilliant to get shots of people, sometimes at prayer, and monks without being intrusive. Also, some things are not easy to get close enough too, and you can't take cameras into the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, for example. (There is an open window directly opposite the Buddha which works well to get a good shot of the Buddha using a long FL.) Put a longer lens on some of the long-tailed boats and you see some amazing adornments, even hand grenades, that are otherwise hard to capture. I have sometimes only taken the 70-200mm and concentrated on people shots - not ideal if this is a first visit.
For evenings with friends in places like bars, I hate to say it, but the DLSR can be a pain. A good pocket size Canon Powershot has given me some great shots which are good enough for printing at A4 size. If you still wish to use the 5D, the low light capability of your 50mm f1.8 may be fine. Ultimately, it's all a compromise!
p.1 #3 · Traveling to Bangkok. 35L or 135L to complement my 24-70?
just returned from a trip to Korea but visited similar places (temples, candid street shooting, landscapes, cityscapes, food) and shot similar photos as my previous trip to thailand (bangkok, chiang mai (sp), islands).
brought my 21 Zeiss, 35L, a new 24-105mm purchased for this trip, 50mm and a 135L.
My old 24-70 that i sold was used a lot in thailand and got great pics. it was heavy. I purchased the 24-105 for this trip to Korea and used it 70% of the time. my 21 was used for market shots, street shooting in seoul, and temple shots. the 135 was used for zooming in on candid street shots, market shots, detail shots. the 50 (which i always have, it's so light) was used for food and restaurant and wide aperture shots.
didn't put the 35L on once and it's one of my favorite lenses.
i thought about the 70-200 (i have both the 2.8 II and 4 IS) but wanted something not too heavy and fast. the 135 shots are incredible and most were shot at f2 - 2.5. i remember now why i love this lens (haven't used it in a year!) and it was so fun to use in asia. i highly recommend taking the 135 over the 70-200 4L, but that's just my shooting style.
the big plus is it doesn't look like a big white lens which attracts a lot of attention while street shooting.
p.1 #5 · Traveling to Bangkok. 35L or 135L to complement my 24-70?
I'm going through a similar debate with myself at the moment. I'm heading to Bangkok, Laos and Vietnam in May and want to travel as light as possible. I plan on taking a 24L, 50 1.4 with me, but am considering a 70-300 DO lens as a general purpose very compact zoom to complement the other two. I'll take one body (5d mk III).
Every so often , I wonder if I really need a change of clothes and maybe I could squeeze in my 70-200 instead
p.1 #7 · Traveling to Bangkok. 35L or 135L to complement my 24-70?
Funny I'm having just that debate. I have a fair list of lenses I could take but I'll probably take:
24-105 f4 - on my camera most of the time
16-35 f2.8 - for those really wide angle shots
50mm 1.2 - for the low DOF beautiful shots
and MAYBE a 135 f2 - but I just don't know how much I'll be wanting to change lens.
Apr 13, 2012 at 09:10 AM
Lars Johnsson Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #8 · Traveling to Bangkok. 35L or 135L to complement my 24-70?
Take a look here what lenses you like and need for your trip. I have thousends of photos from Thailand and Laos on my website. From all parts and shot with at least 30 different lenses. You will find exif for all pics here so you can see what they are shot with. And bring fast lenses if you like to shoot in the temples, and for people shots http://www.pbase.com/larsjohnsson
p.1 #10 · Traveling to Bangkok. 35L or 135L to complement my 24-70?
That's a tough one ... if you wish to keep the weight down. Not sure when the 24-70L II will be out but I think that lens will rock with the 5D III. But otherwise, the 24-105L is all that you need (+ 270EX II for fill) and the 5D III will allow you to crank up the ISO if you have to. Have fun on your trip!
p.1 #12 · Traveling to Bangkok. 35L or 135L to complement my 24-70?
If the 24-70L is already in, my next choice would be the 135L; it would make a nice two lenses set (I like the 24-105L + 135L combination for travel; if I can take a third lens, then that is either the 21ZE or the 35ZE depending on the main focus of the trip).
p.1 #13 · Traveling to Bangkok. 35L or 135L to complement my 24-70?
Lars Johnsson wrote:
Take a look here what lenses you like and need for your trip. I have thousends of photos from Thailand and Laos on my website. From all parts and shot with at least 30 different lenses. You will find exif for all pics here so you can see what they are shot with. And bring fast lenses if you like to shoot in the temples, and for people shots http://www.pbase.com/larsjohnsson
Wow thank you all for all the wonderful feedback!
For those who've owned both the 135L and the 24-200 would you think it would be wise on my part to sell the 24-70L and use my money for the 135L to get a 70-200? Or do you think I'm better suited to keep the 24-70L and get a 135L? Just as a fyi I am about to trade my 50 1.8 for a 50 1.4 and will be bringing a 580EXII as flash and this is still a hobby so I can't afford both 24-70 and 70-200 lol.
Lars, love your photos man! I noticed that the lens you used ranged from 35mm to 200. What do you think is most useful to have when you're shooting in Thailand? I only want to carry at most 3 lens with me because I don't want to keep switching.
Apr 14, 2012 at 12:47 AM
Lars Johnsson Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #14 · Traveling to Bangkok. 35L or 135L to complement my 24-70?
The 24-70 is a very usefull lens. Add two fast prime lenses like you wrote in your post. One wide angle like the 24L or 35L. And one tele, either the 85L or 135L.
And remember that it can be a lot of rain when you are going. It also depends on where you travel. But the rainy season start when you travel
p.1 #15 · Traveling to Bangkok. 35L or 135L to complement my 24-70?
Lars Johnsson wrote:
The 24-70 is a very usefull lens. Add two fast prime lenses like you wrote in your post. One wide angle like the 24L or 35L. And one tele, either the 85L or 135L.
And remember that it can be a lot of rain when you are going. It also depends on where you travel. But the rainy season start when you travel
Cool thank you. Do you think a 35L is necessary, will a 50 1.4 suffice?
Apr 14, 2012 at 04:49 AM
Lars Johnsson Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #16 · Traveling to Bangkok. 35L or 135L to complement my 24-70?
p.1 #17 · Traveling to Bangkok. 35L or 135L to complement my 24-70?
This was a useful post. I'm heading to Bangkok in couple weeks and am planning on taking 5Dii and 24-70. I would love to take more lenses but then I'll end up spending more time lugging everything and switching lenses than actually enjoying the city.
p.1 #18 · Traveling to Bangkok. 35L or 135L to complement my 24-70?
So much of this rests on personal preference with focal lengths and subjects.
Personally, I'd take the 24L or 35L first, some kind of fast prime in the 50 to 135 length second, and leave the heavy zoom at home.
I'd also skip the 85L for this kind of trip.
Yes, Lars does nice work with it, but he has spent years in aggregate in SEA... he also shoots with superteles there. And he's quite talented with fast-mid-tele portraiture in the region-- which not only requires a certain photographic skill, but also the kind of socio-cultural knowledge one is unlikely to get during the first five trips, or many months, in the region.
An 85mm f/1.8 is a cheap, light, fantastic lens in the focal length if that's what you like. So is a 50 f/1.4. A fast wide prime is incredibly versatile for everything from shooting the dark, cramped alleys and street scenes, to environmental portraits, to temple/home interiors.
In SEA, it's going to be hot and wet. It's a good place to go relatively light.
p.1 #19 · Traveling to Bangkok. 35L or 135L to complement my 24-70?
I use a sigma 35 1.4 as my main travel lens and for street photography. Far better than the 35 L.
For the telephoto end of things I would use the 85 1.8 or a 100mm f2 or 100 L. The 85 1.2 is great but focusing is slow. I personally use the 100 2.8 L, super fast focus, ridiculously sharp, has IS, and doubles as a macro!
