lens rental recommendation

draacor
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · lens rental recommendation

Hi all,

So I am going to death valley in March and my current gear consists of the following:

Canon R5
rf 14-35 f4
rf 50mm f1.8
rf 24-70 f2.8
rf 70-200 f2.8
rf 100-500 f4.5-7.1

My main goal is to shoot landscapes and possibly some stars. I have a star tracker as well. However milky way wont really be in view this time of year so its a long shot to get anything decent. I want to rent a lens to capture my photo buddies in the moment more or less. Maybe documentary style shooting. People walking along the dunes, looking out into vistas etc. I was thinking of maybe renting the 28-70 f2 but not sure how much more ill get with that over my 24-70. And then thinking of the 85 1.2. I am kinda leaning towards that as i think itll produce different enough results to warrant it. However i always wanted to try the legendary 28-70 as well lol, thus my dilemma.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Feb 18, 2024 at 02:54 PM

garyvot
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · lens rental recommendation

draacor wrote:
Hi all,

So I am going to death valley in March and my current gear consists of the following:

Canon R5
rf 14-35 f4
rf 50mm f1.8
rf 24-70 f2.8
rf 70-200 f2.8
rf 100-500 f4.5-7.1

My main goal is to shoot landscapes and possibly some stars. I have a star tracker as well. However milky way wont really be in view this time of year so its a long shot to get anything decent. I want to rent a lens to capture my photo buddies in the moment more or less. Maybe documentary style shooting. People walking along the dunes, looking out into vistas etc. I was...Show more →

I certainly wouldn't stand in the way of anyone renting glass that they are genuinely curious about. That said, your 24-70, 70-200, and 50 are all perfect lenses for documentary style photography. The 14-35 and 100-500 are also fine for general travel photography.

The 28-70 is an amazing lens but you will chiefly notice a difference only when shooting faster than f2.8, IMO. Some people think the RF 24-70 is a bit more clinical by comparison, but I find it produces adequate background blur wide open. And I think it is undoubtedly the better landscape lens as well. For a travel scenario, I don't think I would carry my 28-70.

As for the 85, I think that's really more of a specialized portrait lens than a lens suited for documentary subjects. Unlike in the film era, it's rare to need f/1.2 for shooting in available light nowadays. I think a better reason to use primes for documentary work is to be more discreet and non-threatening, so smaller lighter primes are often a better fit (IMO).

So I think you could achieve your stated photographic goals with your existing gear, but if you want to rent some awesome new glass, then this trip sounds like as good of an excuse as any.

Edit: All this of course comes down to personal style. There's no right or wrong way to pursue any particular photographic discipline.

Cheers.

Edited on Feb 18, 2024 at 04:23 PM · View previous versions

Feb 18, 2024 at 04:02 PM

RoamingScott
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · lens rental recommendation

You will need more reach than you are thinking you will for the types of shots you're talking about.

Keep it simple. You want as few lens changes out there as possible.

24-105/24-70 + 100-500 for dune/desert work. Tripod for darker times.

Pick your fav prime for non-dune-documentary, probably somewhere between a fast 35 and 50.

For astro, I assume you want wide with foreground...plenty of fast, good Sigma options. Something between 14 and 24mm would be the obvious first choice. Combining blue hour + astro shots in post will be your best bet.

Feb 18, 2024 at 04:18 PM

goalerjones
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · lens rental recommendation

Here is the schedule for this region, it's visible, but not as prominent.

my only lens suggestion would be a faster wide angle than f4

Feb 25, 2024 at 10:37 PM

draacor
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · lens rental recommendation

Thank you all so much for taking the time to respond. I probably should have added that I have been to death valley a couple of years ago with mostly the same equipment i have now. I got some great dune shots and even racetrack shots. We are going again this year because some people missed out last time so that was the reason for me to change it up a little. I went ahead and rented the RF 85mm F1.2 because i really wanted a lens i could get some great portrait shots and some docustyle shots of people on the dunes etc. I almost rented the 28-70 but felt it was too close to the 24-70 i already had and my kase filters wouldn't fit it anyway. I do own a star tracker and will probably use my 24-70 f2.8 for that or heck even the 85mm 1.2, we shall see

Here are the images I took last time i was there.

https://adobe.ly/3uayGD8

Feb 26, 2024 at 06:51 PM

Robin Smith
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · lens rental recommendation

You won't need the 50. I'd also leave the 100-500 behind. Not much wildlife in Death Valley, and the 70-200mm will be fine for tele landscape shots. Or, if you must have it, leave the 70-200mm.

Feb 28, 2024 at 02:19 PM


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