If you were traveling to either Prague or Istanbul for one week, what gear would YOU take with YOU? The images you'd be capturing would be street shots, interior shots, cityscapes, and zero wildlife.
I don't have any immediate plans on visiting these two places anytime soon. This is just a gear-related topic. And no; taking "whatever gear I (me, the OP) have available" is not an option; this topic is about what gear would YOU take if YOU were visiting any of those places.
We visited Prague last year
Utterly beautiful
I couldn’t face the weight of FF and the bigger lenses
So took M50 + 18-150 + 11-22 + 50/1.8
For me it worked great, the weather was warm and sunny
I had to get up at 4:30 and be out in the old town for 5am, had a few hours shooting. Believe me, it is so busy during the day you will not get clear shots.
If I go back I’ll take aps-c again.
The 18-150 was by far the most used lens.
I don’t print, only view on screens. I’ll probably create a photo book in which case the smaller format will be fine.
Prague is incredible, it is so so stunningly beautiful.
The smallest 28+40mm pair possible. Body doesn't matter. Everything would go into a tiny shoulder bag. At the moment, this translates to the Nikon Zf + 28mm f/2.8 SE + 40mm f/2 SE.
When low light performance is needed, and autofocus is not, I swap them for the corresponding Voigtlander Noktons.
If you were traveling to either Prague or Istanbul for one week, what gear would YOU take with YOU? The images you'd be capturing would be street shots, interior shots, cityscapes, and zero wildlife.
I don't have any immediate plans on visiting these two places anytime soon. This is just a gear-related topic. And no; taking "whatever gear I (me, the OP) have available" is not an option; this topic is about what gear would YOU take if YOU were visiting any of those places.
You posted in the Sony forum, so assume you want Sony answers. Just understand almost anything reasonably current camera and lenses from any manufacturer can be a great choice, so you'll possibly get as many different answers as people answering, and none of them will be "wrong..." For size vs quality of image convenience, I would do full-frame, but understand the allure of the slightly smaller APSC cameras. MF digital is too big for me to consider traveling with, and anything smaller than APSC I would probably go all the way small and just use my cell phone. So that out of the way, here's my "Sony" answer:
Body: any relatively current body is going to be excellent, obviously I choose from what I own. In my case either the A7R6 or slightly more compact and somewhat stealthier A7CR. In reality the A7R6 isn't all that much bigger and only about 4 oz heavier, but it looks a bit more "pro" and as such probably attracts more attention.
Lenses: Any of the versatile zooms are a good choice, but size matters to me for travel. So again choosing from what I own, I would probably take the 20-70/4 do-it-all -- relatively small with great optics and really versatile range for travel. I like to take wide shots too so would also carry my Tamron 12-20. I don't typically do many longer shots in most travel, so would probably leave the 70-200 at home; or maybe bring it and leave it in the hotel room just in case. I would carry my pancake Viltrox 26mm/2.8 EVO for a really small walk-around combo; and I might take my 55/1.8 as well as an alternative walking around street/people focal. Both these primes are small enough to not bother in the bag. This entire kit fits easily in my messenger style Domke PJ bag.
Jack Flesher wrote:
You posted in the Sony forum, so assume you want Sony answers. Just understand almost anything reasonably current camera and lenses from any manufacturer can be a great choice, so you'll possibly get as many different answers as people answering, and none of them will be "wrong..." For size vs quality of image convenience, I would do full-frame, but understand the allure of the slightly smaller APSC cameras. MF digital is too big for me to consider traveling with, and anything smaller than APSC I would probably go all the way small and just use my cell phone. So that out of the way, here's my "Sony" answer:
Body: any relatively current body is going to be excellent, obviously I choose from what I own. In my case either the A7R6 or slightly more compact and somewhat stealthier A7CR. In reality the A7R6 isn't all that much bigger and only about 4 oz heavier, but it looks a bit more "pro" and as such probably attracts more attention.
Lenses: Any of the versatile zooms are a good choice, but size matters to me for travel. So again choosing from what I own, I would probably take the 20-70/4 do-it-all -- relatively small with great optics and really versatile range for travel. I like to take wide shots too so would also carry my Tamron 12-20. I don't typically do many longer shots in most travel, so would probably leave the 70-200 at home; or maybe bring it and leave it in the hotel room just in case. I would carry my pancake Viltrox 26mm/2.8 EVO for a really small walk-around combo; and I might take my 55/1.8 as well as an alternative walking around street/people focal. Both these primes are small enough to not bother in the bag. This entire kit fits easily in my messenger style Domke PJ bag.
I would look to covering 20mm to 200mm, assuming some research doesn't suggest anything specific otherwise. So, the Sigma 20-200 is the convenience winner if perhaps not the optimal quality or wider/longer/faster sets of choices. In Sony, there isn't a comparable single lens aps-c kit.
I happen to think the 28-200 and similar size lenses are large enough that I would not make the "features" trades to go to the A7C series.
If you were traveling to either Prague or Istanbul for one week, what gear would YOU take with YOU? The images you'd be capturing would be street shots, interior shots, cityscapes, and zero wildlife.
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Canon R6II with Canon RF 24mm 1.4 L VCM + Canon RF 70-200mm 2.8 L Z
I would take the 24-50/2.8 which pretty much goes with me everywhere. Prague is a great walk-around city so having a single light lens is enough, and f2.8 is wide enough for night shots using modern Sony sensors. Can be cropped to circa. 100mm equivalent if needed.
Istanbul has more open vistas, especially for shots across the Bosphorus or even details on the ceiling of the Haggia Sophia so I might add a long lens. In my case the Batis 135mm.
I’ve done a lot of traveling in Europe, and I would view an ultra wide as essential.
For me I’d take:
R6II
14-35/4L
24-105/4L
45/1.2
No real need for a longer telephoto (or its weight) and it’s nice to have a wide or normal prime in addition to the general purpose work. My last trip to Europe (Italy) I was shooting Nikon but took a very similar kit (Zf, 14-24, 24-120, 40/2)
20-70/4 and 35/1.4GM. I can make do for just about everything with that in a fabulous medieval city like that. Anything approaching 150-200mm starts to get unwieldily for me with big urban travel.
If you were traveling to either Prague or Istanbul for one week, what gear would YOU take with YOU? The images you'd be capturing would be street shots, interior shots, cityscapes, and zero wildlife.
I don't have any immediate plans on visiting these two places anytime soon. This is just a gear-related topic. And no; taking "whatever gear I (me, the OP) have available" is not an option; this topic is about what gear would YOU take if YOU were visiting any of those places.
Those two cities---I'll definitely do a model shoot on the streets. Thus A6700 + Sigma 17-40/1.8 DN ART + Sonnar 55/1.8 (for head and shoulders portraits) + Godox iT30S. Backup: Fuji X100VI + Godox iT30F. However, if there is a beach I want to do a swimsuit shoot as well--then I will just bring the A7V + OEM vertical grip + Sigma 28-105/2.8 DG DN ART + Godox V1midS.
The kit I've settled on for travel is a 16-35/2.8 gmii, 55/1.8 za and a short prime with an a7r4 or a7r2. Recently I've favoured a Zuiko 100/2.8, with adaptor to E mount, for size/weight and sheer image quality. I mainly shoot architecture/interiors rather than people when travelling so the zoom does almost all of the work.
The 20-70/4 is a brilliant lens but often it's not wide enough for architecture/interiors. For me it's a significant compromise which I don't like to make.
I would take an all manual focus kit with Voigtlander lenses. With what I have right now I would take the 21 f/3.5 Leica M mount lens, the 40 f/1.2 RF mount lens, and the 75 f/1.5 Leica M mount lens. In the next little while I am likely to get the Canon 14-35 f/4L and the Voigtlander 75 f/2.8 APO Leica M mount lens. When I do I would probably substitute the Canon ultra wide zoom for the Voigtlander 21 and the smaller Voigtlander 75 f/2.8 APO for the faster Voigtlander 75 f/1.5. That new kit will be almost as light as my current kit (just 160g heavier), but would be better suited for the trip you mention as I think I would want to shoot a lot of architecture on such a trip and would appreciate being able to shoot wider than 21mm.
I’m sorry, but you’re not planning to travel to those cities. So, is this the beginning of a series where every week you ask us what gear we would take to any combination of two cities you’re not planning to travel to?
johnvanr wrote:
I’m sorry, but you’re not planning to travel to those cities. So, is this the beginning of a series where every week you ask us what gear we would take to any combination of two cities you’re not planning to travel to?
He says in his original post it's hypothetical - what does it matter? It's a discussion forum. And if someone wants to get a feel for the experience of forum members for European travel kits, that's not a bad thing to discuss, regardless of whether it is an immediate need for help or not. I actually appreciate that this is open ended, rather than 'I have these 5 lenses, which 3 should I take.'
