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Archive 2022 · Viking River Cruise lens

  
 
ksmmike
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Viking River Cruise lens


Hello,

I'm heading out on a Viking Cruise this June. I'm looking for advice on a specific tour. I've been on a Viking cruise in the past.
This one starts in Amsterdam and ends in Lucerne Switz.

I have a couple of questions. I'm taking a Nikon Z7II and want to take no more than 2 lenses if possible. I'm choosing
between a 20mm F1.8, the 50mm F1.8, the 24-120 F or the 24-200 F5.6-6.3. My real choices are between the 50mm or the 20mm and then between the 24-120 or the 24-200. All are the lenses designed for the Z system and Nikon lenses. If you know the lenses, then you know the 24-120 is a slightly better lens than the 24-200.

I don't know if the 20mm or the 50mm would be more handy inside of churches and cityscapes in the towns we are heading which are, Amsterdam, Kinderjik (windmills), Cologne, Koblenz, Speyer, Strasburg, Breisach and Lucerne.

I'm asking about those specific towns. I'm not too concerned about the river part and the extra reach of the 200mm, unless if you have been on that specific cruise and realize it's quite important to have the extra reach.

Do I really need the 20mm for those cities or will the 50mm come in handy with the faster speed inside churches? I would imagine the 24-120 would be good for 90% of the time, I'm just curious if anyone knows if the extra reach is more needed than the better lens with the 24-120 - or the 200mm and how often would I need 20mm over 24mm?

One last question, if you have been on that specific tour did you go on the one-day trip offered by Viking called the "Pearls of Switzerland." Is that worth the cost and time for landscape shots?

thanks for reading and responding.

Mike



Apr 09, 2022 at 09:52 AM
Craig Gillette
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Viking River Cruise lens


I asked a similar but more general question a year ago. I got the impression 200mm would likely be long enough. I have Sony with the A7Riv and 28-200/2.8-5.6 so would take that and the 17-28/2.8.

Without specifics about any of those cities/towns, and your two mentioned primes, I'd take the 20mm. It's wider and they are both f1.8. Although "faster" than the zoom, I'd go for the wider angle instead of the duplicated focal length. I also tend to prefer the -200mm focal range over the -70mm or -105mms for my travel. I like the added focal length.



Apr 10, 2022 at 10:15 AM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Viking River Cruise lens


I suspect that I'm not the only person here who could offer some useful perspectives on your questions, but the clarity with which you told us not to respond unless we've been on THAT cruise or in all of those SPECIFIC cities is probably reducing the amount of feedback you'll get.

All I'll say for now is that you can likely extrapolate your more general experience in similar places to come up with an answer.



Apr 10, 2022 at 12:11 PM
elkhornsun
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Viking River Cruise lens


Suggest taking one long range zoom like the Nikon 28-300 and one medium zoom that has a f/2.8 constant aperture. The f/2.8 lens provides a great deal more light (4x a f/5.6 aperture) and this helps with autofocus. For a Z camera the 14-30mm would make for a good lens for interiors.

I have gotten great use from a SB-800 flash bounced off ceilings and walls to add more light in dimly lit interiors and no issues with flash unless there are paintings or tapestries on the wall. Also great to have a little flash fill for people day and night. At the very least a flash that uses 4 AA batteries to provide a shorter recycle time. Take the time to practice with a test subject going outdoors at twilight and going into a hotel lobby so you know before you go how to use it to full effect.



Apr 10, 2022 at 05:22 PM
ksmmike
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Viking River Cruise lens


Thanks Dan,

The reason why I was so specific is because I've been on a different Viking Cruise and been to European cities, however I've been down that river or to those cities. I'm guessing the 24-120 and either the 20mm or the 50m prime will suffice, but I wasn't sure if there was something about Amsterdam or one of the other cities that might lend itself more to a 20mm or even a 200mm.

That was my main reason for asking such a specific question, however I would agree if I was more general, I would get more responses. I do thank you for your attention to the question. I've looked some on google earth and looked on youtube for videos on those towns. There's not much in the way of videos.

In the end, I'll enjoy the trip and if I come away with a few images, even better.

Mike



Apr 10, 2022 at 08:32 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Viking River Cruise lens


ksmmike wrote:
Thanks Dan,

The reason why I was so specific is because I've been on a different Viking Cruise and been to European cities, however I've been down that river or to those cities. I'm guessing the 24-120 and either the 20mm or the 50m prime will suffice, but I wasn't sure if there was something about Amsterdam or one of the other cities that might lend itself more to a 20mm or even a 200mm.


Hi,

I don't have much to offer specifically regarding the other cities (though I"ve been to places where the situation is likely pretty similar), but in Amsterdam I feel like 120mm would likely be long enough for most things you'd want to photograph. 24-120 covers a lot of ground. (I use APS-C for travel, and my widest lens is 14mm, with is angle-of-view equivalent to 21mm on FF, so not much wider. My long focal length is typical 90mm, the AOV equivalent of 135mm on your system.)

The question of which prime to add to the zoom may come down to what kinds of things you think you'll need to shoot at apertures larger than what your zoom provides If you are thinking interiors of places where you can't get a lot of distance, then the 20mm obviously gives you that. On the other hand if you are thinking of the larger aperture lens for things like photographing in the street in low light or at night, 20mm might be wide enough to seem limiting and 50mm might make more sense.

The challenge with travel gear — as I'm sure you already know — is that there are so many trade-offs if you want to keep the weight and bulk down. From my perspective this means that I know that I won't have the ideal lens for everything... however I can usually find a way to make a photograph of a subject with the lenses I have. I expect you might be going through the back and forth internal debate – we've all been there — that goes like this: "I might be photographing inside where I'll need the short focal length and the large aperture. But 20mm might be too wide with some of my other low light subjects!"

If bringing one large aperture prime for low light and carrying a zoom that goes to 24mm, I think I'd probably want the longer focal length for the prime. (My choice would be more like 35mm, but that's just me.) I'm not familiar with the camera and zoom lens you are working with, but I'll assume that it has some kind of image stabilization. If your low light interiors don't generally feature a lot of moving subjects, you may be surprised at what you can do with the zoom at 24mm, wide open, and with IS.

One other thought to consider. Since you'll be on a river cruise, if you plan to photograph things along the banks as they pass by... the added reach of the longer zoom could be useful. Sorry to say that. ;-)

I'm not recommending that you do what I do, but for perspective here's what I carry on similar trips (including my last visit to Amsterdam). As I mentioned, my setup is based on an APS-C camera, so I'll give actual focal lengths followed by the angle-of-vew equivalents for your FF system in parentheses:

14mm (21mm FF) f/2.8
23mm (35mm) f/1.4
27mm (40mm) f/2.8 pancake lens
35mm (53mm) f/1.4
90mm (135mm) f/2

The 27mm is usually on the camera. The 14mm is my wide angle, particularly for interiors. The 90mm is my long lens, and is also useful for some kinds of people photographs. I usually leave the two f/1.4 lenses in my hotel safe during the day, but they become my main lenses for urban night photography in cities.

One reason I mention this is that the 90mm (135mm) lens is nowhere near what I would carry in non-travel situations. I used to worry about that: how many shots would I miss without the longer lens? Not too many, it turns out. If that hold for you, the 120mm lens might just be enough.

Good luck and enjoy your travels. We're really anxious to get back to Europe. We had a six-week trip all set up, including seeing the Paris Opera Wagner "Ring" Cycle for fall 2020, and it all had to be cancelled. We have relatives who live in Germany and we've really missed our visits with them. We're hoping to return this fall. Fingers crossed!

Dan



Apr 10, 2022 at 10:20 PM
ksmmike
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Viking River Cruise lens


Thanks again Dan,

I realize much of it is subjective. I rarely use a 50mm lens because I'm mostly a landscape and portrait guy.
I use my 20mm, 85mm and 24-120 most of the time. I'll occasionally toss on the 105 macro, but I use the other 3 lenses
95% of the time.

Travel is a different animal. The last time I was on a Viking tour, I used my Voigtlander 58mm maybe 90% of the time.
I sold that lens recently since I moved to mirrorless and the Nikon 50mm S lens is an excellent 50mm. I couldn't justify keeping both lenses. It's why I'm leaning towards the 50mm over the 20mm along with either the 24-120 of the 24-200. The last time I took a D750 along with a 28-300, the 58mm and a 300mm prime since my 28-300 has serious vingetting at 300mm. I think I forced myself to put on the 300mm prime once just so it wasn't a total waste of taking it.

Maybe in the end, I'll take the 20mm, 50mm and the 24-200. However, the big advantage of the 24-120 is that its a constant F4 across the spectrum, where the 24-200 if a 5.6-6.3 and is really a 6.3 once you reach not far past 50mm. It won't work in churches at all. So the 50mm F.1.8 would be used for that, even though again, not sure how often I'll be inside of churches.

Thanks again
Mike



Apr 11, 2022 at 09:46 AM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Viking River Cruise lens


ksmmike wrote:
Thanks again Dan,

I realize much of it is subjective. I rarely use a 50mm lens because I'm mostly a landscape and portrait guy.
I use my 20mm, 85mm and 24-120 most of the time. I'll occasionally toss on the 105 macro, but I use the other 3 lenses
95% of the time.

Travel is a different animal. The last time I was on a Viking tour, I used my Voigtlander 58mm maybe 90% of the time.
I sold that lens recently since I moved to mirrorless and the Nikon 50mm S lens is an excellent 50mm. I couldn't justify keeping both lenses. It's
...Show more

I hear you! The compromises are hard, since we always (with good reason) worry about what we won't be able to do if we leave something behind.

I'd be conflicted if I were in your shoes, too. The appeal of the larger FL range of the 24-200 is real, but the pluses of the shorter 24-120 are also real. (You'd probably like a smaller, constant-aperture, 23-200mm with a larger maximum aperture and great image quality, but I digress... ;-) )

I think your 24-120 (for general use and flexibility) and the 50mm for low light could work well for me. The 24mm wide end of the either zoom would probably be wide enough for most situations, and I cold get by with the 120mm long end. But t if you can squeeze that 20mm into your luggage, maybe that is good insurance, too.

Everyone is different, but I think I could live without the longer zoom's added focal length in this case, especially since the aperture on the shorter one will probably be useful in some important cases. But as I often say, "YMMV."

Good luck.

Dan



Apr 11, 2022 at 09:54 AM
macentropist
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Viking River Cruise lens


Ksmmike,

I think you should consider renting a good 14-35 mm equivalent zoom as the vast opportunity’s on your itinerary will offer killer Landscape’s!
I do not think that is a two lens opportunity, and personally would go with three good zoom’s, 15-35, 24-70 and 70-200.

2 pennies.



May 28, 2022 at 07:37 PM
Craig Gillette
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Viking River Cruise lens


Getting close for the OP! Hoping to here and see results! I've been setting out to check my gear in what might approximate that trip (we're looking at it, too.).


May 29, 2022 at 10:06 PM





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