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Trip to London, gear selection, places worth visiting

karimh
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Trip to London, gear selection, places worth visiting

We have a family trip planned to London this summer, and I am trying to balance my (photographic) needs with reality

I am thinking going light: Nikon Z6, 14-30, 24-70 and maybe a gorillapod

I love wide-angle photography, but haven't really done city photography before. Does it make sense to take the 14-30? Should I be considering other lens combinations?

Normally, I would put everything in a Kata DR 467i backpack, but reading that backpacks might not be the best option in crowded cities. What a shoulder bag would be suitable (something to carry camera gear, water and a jacket)?

Any must-photograph places in London that I should add to my (touristy) itinerary?

May 07, 2022 at 04:53 PM

gdanmitchell
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Trip to London, gear selection, places worth visiting

As to locations, there are really far too many to recount Odds are that as you travel about with your family you will simply run into a good number of them — so perhaps it would be sufficient to plan the things that you and the family want to see/experience, and then build your photography around that.

It is also perhaps worth just looking at a whole bunch of online photographs of London — of which there are tons! — and picking out some of the "must-photograph" places from what you find there.

I think you can cover most of what you'll likely see with those lenses. The wide angle will let you photograph constricted interior spaces and the longer zoom should work for many other subjects. Keeping it to a couple of lenses is useful.

If you want to either lighten things more or expand your coverage there are some other things you could consider, though I though these out as "ideas," and not necessarily as recommendations for you:

1. Since 24mm is already pretty wide — wide enough for most subjects in my experience — maybe you want to augment with a smaller and lighter wide angle prime instead of the zoom? It could be something with a smaller maximum aperture, which will decrease bulk, weight, and price. (The widest lens that I've used in London is the equivalent of 21mm on your full frame system, and that has been plenty wide for my purposes.)

2. 70mm isn't all that long on a full frame system. You might be perfectly fine with that, but I would find something a bit longer to also be useful. Of course, if you start adding too many lenses you do get into a trade-off that I think you are trying to avoid...

Dan

May 08, 2022 at 12:24 PM

Craig Gillette
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Trip to London, gear selection, places worth visiting

I'm a Sony user so the lens offerings don't match up exactly. I want to go London, and elsewhere in Great Britain. But I don't have, that I can think of, any place that rises to the "I have to go to London to photograph the..." But a lot of places I want to see.

I'll likely take my 17-28/2.8 and 28-200/2.8-5.6. I do want the longer than 70mm focal length capacity and the wider, too.

I'll probably use a backpack for the weight distribution over the easier access of a shoulder pack.

May 08, 2022 at 04:36 PM

Craig Gillette
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Trip to London, gear selection, places worth visiting

Just to be clear, I want to see "Big Ben," or more accurately the Elizabeth Tower of the Palace of Westminster, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace and the Guards, there's a lot I want to see and will take pictures of. I see photos of the great European train stations and all of the tracks switching in and out and they seem so complex compared to what I'm used to and would enjoy seeing and photographing if I could find an appropriate spot, etc. I'd like to see some restored or continuous use little quirky medieval little road - shopping alley, and the great (or small) churches and their interiors, so would anticipate using a broad range of focal lengths.

But my goal would be more seeing and enjoying London, what I don't have is any sort of insight or anticipation that I have to photograph a particular "something" to make my trip.

May 12, 2022 at 01:17 PM

elkhornsun
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Trip to London, gear selection, places worth visiting

I always look at where small tour groups go and start with their itinerary. I say "small" as a group of 20 or more people is going to be very limited on which restaurants and which hotels can accommodate a large number of people.

May 16, 2022 at 05:49 PM

scottsoutter
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Trip to London, gear selection, places worth visiting

Borough Market is super fun to photograph, the Photographers Gallery often has an excellent exhibition, and the museum at Greenwich is a hoot.

It’s an amazing city. Enjoy.

May 17, 2022 at 03:34 PM

BlueRidge
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Trip to London, gear selection, places worth visiting

1) Tower of London, get tx in advance 2) Westminster Abbey, 3) St Pauls and take stairs to top 4) Temple Church near Inns of Court on the Strand, 5) London Bridge, which is near the Tower, 6) Parliament and Big Ben, Parliament Square with statues of Lincoln, Churchill, and Mandela, near the Abbey, 7) Cavalry Museum where mounted horsemen stand guard, 8) Whitehall Palace where Charles I was executed, 9) Trafalgar Square. The Portrait Gallery and Imperial War Museums are fabulous, depending on your interests. The Strand is my favorite street along with Whitehall, which intersects the Strand. Good street photography with red double-decker buses passing incredible architecture.

May 19, 2022 at 11:44 AM

gdanmitchell
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Trip to London, gear selection, places worth visiting

Lots of good suggestions here. On the tourist trail, we also think that the Churchill War Rooms tour is worthwhile if you are a history buff. If you are a fan of modern and contemporary art, the Tate Modern usually has great stuff. (Oddly we saw one of the best Georgia O'Keeffe exhibits that we have seen at the Tate — and we've been to some pretty good ones in the US.)

There's obviously ton of stuff to do in a city like London, so consider tailoring some of the visit to your particular tastes. For example, music is a big part of our lives so we've made it a point of attending various concerts. If you are there during the "Proms," they are a quintessentially London thing and fun... or serious, depending which one you go to.

Do the obvious stuff, too. Walk across the Millennium Bridge. Go to a pub — preferably one off the main path somewhere, a place where the locals go. Wander through a park or two.

Have a good visit!

May 19, 2022 at 04:28 PM

elkhornsun
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Trip to London, gear selection, places worth visiting

For interiors the 14-30mm will be more useful than the 24-70mm lens. The advantage of having a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens is having better autofocus in low light, whether indoors or outdside at night.

Best kit overall for cities is the S 24-120mm that is small enough to be relatively inconspicuous for street shooting. The 70-120mm focal lengths options are great for people and for scenes where you want a more normal perspective.

I would also take a speedlight that can swivel and that is powered by 4 AA batteries. This allows for adding light with bounce off a ceiling or wall (inside and outside) and for adding fill with faces to have catchlights in the eyes.

The Nissin i40 flash includes a video light which can be used for video and also to help with autofocusing in dim lighting. Unfortunately their customer service is terrible so any problems means adding the flash to the e-waste.

The Nikon SB-500 also has a video light but this flash is only powered by 2 AA batteries and so recycle time is going to be very long.

May 24, 2022 at 01:52 PM

karimh
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Trip to London, gear selection, places worth visiting

Thank you everyone for the ideas and suggestions....Really appreciate the ideas

May 24, 2022 at 11:30 PM

Norm Shapiro
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Trip to London, gear selection, places worth visiting

As far as bags go look into the Tenba Fulton series. I started with the largest 16L. In the camera part it will easily carry a Z6 and two good size lenses like the 14-30 and 24-70. Very good side pouches for water bottle and tripod. Roll top is great for more. Gear, jacket, etc. And back pouch for tablet or small laptop. Then I wanted to go for smaller and lighter loads and picked up the 10L version. Camera compartment is perfect for Z6 with Z85 attached and Z28mm pancake.
And I especially like the flat profile of these bags-they do not hang off your back taking up a lot of room. They are also very well made.

May 26, 2022 at 08:54 PM

mfenske
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Trip to London, gear selection, places worth visiting

Take the wide lens. Just got back from London, Paris, and Bordeaux where the widest was my 16-35 and found that I wanted to have a wider lens more than a few times. Enjoy the touristy stuff and if you find yourself in the Pimlico neighborhood I'd suggest the Constitution pub.

May 27, 2022 at 12:03 AM


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