Going to Scotland next month. Is 100mm long enough to capture the Highlands or is longer better? If the latter, how long is still reasonable?
I tend to shoot longer rather than wider, but have no clue about the scale of the views in the Highlands. I'm not really interested in capturing the wide views of a lake in between mountains, but also don't want to zoom into details too much.
johnvanr wrote:
Going to Scotland next month. Is 100mm long enough to capture the Highlands or is longer better? If the latter, how long is still reasonable?
I tend to shoot longer rather than wider, but have no clue about the scale of the views in the Highlands. I'm not really interested in capturing the wide views of a lake in between mountains, but also don't want to zoom into details too much.
Thanks
I will be there next month also, probably cross paths..
johnvanr wrote:
Going to Scotland next month. Is 100mm long enough to capture the Highlands or is longer better? If the latter, how long is still reasonable?
I tend to shoot longer rather than wider, but have no clue about the scale of the views in the Highlands. I'm not really interested in capturing the wide views of a lake in between mountains, but also don't want to zoom into details too much.
Thanks
It so happens that I just returned two days ago from a 6+week visit to the UK, two weeks of which was in northwest Scotland including the Isle of Skye and a big chunk of the NC500 (north coast) area.
For those long views I’d recommend something longer than the 100mm lens. You _could_ get by with that if you are really trying to minimize gear bulk and weight, sometimes an important goal. But in my view something like a 70-200mm zoom, ideally with a 1.4x TC, will come in quite handy, both for subjects that are a bit farther away and to get constrained views of closer subjects.
I used the rough equivalent of a 24-70 a lot, but there were certainly some significant subjects that really wanted the longer lens.
(If you’ll spend time in cities, it can also be useful to carry a small prime — a slightly wide pancake lens works for me.)
Beyond that… Scotland is really wonderful. We’ve been a couple of times now — a total of probably about a month — and we love the landscape, the culture, and the people. The weather may or may not please you quite as much, depending on your preferences.
Oh, and you are going during “midge season.” If you don’t know about that, look into it. Seriously. Really. Believe me.
gdanmitchell wrote:
It so happens that I just returned two days ago from a 6+week visit to the UK, two weeks of which was in northwest Scotland including the Isle of Skye and a big chunk of the NC500 (north coast) area.
For those long views I’d recommend something longer than the 100mm lens. You _could_ get by with that if you are really trying to minimize gear bulk and weight, sometimes an important goal. But in my view something like a 70-200mm zoom, ideally with a 1.4x TC, will come in quite handy, both for subjects that are a bit farther away and to get constrained views of closer subjects.
I used the rough equivalent of a 24-70 a lot, but there were certainly some significant subjects that really wanted the longer lens.
(If you’ll spend time in cities, it can also be useful to carry a small prime — a slightly wide pancake lens works for me.)
Beyond that… Scotland is really wonderful. We’ve been a couple of times now — a total of probably about a month — and we love the landscape, the culture, and the people. The weather may or may not please you quite as much, depending on your preferences.
Oh, and you are going during “midge season.” If you don’t know about that, look into it. Seriously. Really. Believe me....Show more →
Creative Edge wrote:
what did you do to help with the midges?
Go before or after midge season. ;-)
Actually, that’s what we’ve done both times we were there. We went in May and the very beginning of June.
However, in all seriousness, I have heard that people use a product called “Smidge.” I imagine that it is also good to wear long sleeves and long pants.
gdanmitchell wrote:
Go before or after midge season. ;-)
Actually, that’s what we’ve done both times we were there. We went in May and the very beginning of June.
However, in all seriousness, I have heard that people use a product called “Smidge.” I imagine that it is also good to wear long sleeves and long pants.
obviously we would not go during midge season. I never travel in the summer but my youngest son wanted to join us so July is the only time that he can go.
I have been out on Highland moors many times (flying peregrines) and the only true answer for midges is to be doing something you love sufficiently to just ignore them and suffer - one gillie (gamekeeper/guide) did have an interesting, and I think unique, treatment when my wife was suffering badly he produced his hip flask and with polite apologies mopped her face with a kerchief soaked in the whisky.
She said that it helped but I am not sure if it reduced the biting or if she inhaled enough fumes to not care so much ... she also became noticeably more attractive for male company for the rest of that day.
Creative Edge wrote:
obviously we would not go during midge season. I never travel in the summer but my youngest son wanted to join us so July is the only time that he can go.
I hear you on the “youngest son wanted to join you” point!
A few years ago, we had a plan to be in Croatia with our “European family” Then my youngest son said he’d be in the EU during a couple of early stages of the Tour de France, and would we like to meet up. The idea of two trips across the pond in one summer seemed excessive — especially since flights are the biggest expense — so we recalculated and ended up doing a ten-week trip that included both meet-ups! Hey, if your kid will travel with you, do it!
(We also avoid serious travel during the summer season, mostly sticking to the mountains of California at that time of year.)
I was there twice last year, first time was late summer and the second time was mid-to-late fall. I had a 70-200 or m4/3 equivalent lens with me on both trips. Just checking some metadata, the longer focal lengths got a reasonable amount of use so I'd recommend bringing something that goes longer than 100mm.
WRT midges, we thought we came prepared, especially during our late summer trip. Sadly, we never encountered one.
