The best 70-200 lens for travelling

"John Ortt" <johnortt.DeleteThis@noemailsuppliedasdontwantspam.com> wrote in message
news:44fda269$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...
> Just wonderring what the collective think is the best 70-200 (or
> thereabouts) lens for travelling with a Canon 300D.
>
> I am planning a rtw trip with my wife next year and want a light but
> robust lens for shots which my existing 17-85 can't handle.
>
> One of the main reasons I need one is for a safari in Africa but I am
> sure there will be other times when I will need a greater zoom.
>
> My concerns are that we may have to carry our equipment from place to
> place which dictates light weight but equally the equipment may come in
> for some rough treatment which requires good build quality (and usually
> weight)
>
> What lenses would you suggest?
>
>
Sounds like a perfect excuse for the new 70-200 f4 IS lens!!
 >> Stay informed about: The best 70-200 lens for travelling 

"John Ortt" <johnortt RemoveThis @noemailsuppliedasdontwantspam.com> schreef in bericht
news:44fda269$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...
> Just wonderring what the collective think is the best 70-200 (or
> thereabouts) lens for travelling with a Canon 300D.
>
> I am planning a rtw trip with my wife next year and want a light but
> robust lens for shots which my existing 17-85 can't handle.
>
> One of the main reasons I need one is for a safari in Africa but I am
> sure there will be other times when I will need a greater zoom.
>
> My concerns are that we may have to carry our equipment from place to
> place which dictates light weight but equally the equipment may come in
> for some rough treatment which requires good build quality (and usually
> weight)
>
> What lenses would you suggest?

I've got the Sigma 70-300. Nice lens, not supersharp, little plasticly
built, but for the money (around 250 $) it's a good travelling lens.

Rutger


--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zwaarddrager/
 >> Stay informed about: The best 70-200 lens for travelling 

For Safari try a KISS approach.
You already have a 300D + 17-85 lens and I believe you have no complaint
about its quality ?
Hence grab your self the Tamron 28-300 XR Di for cheap [and not so robust]
tele OR Canon 100-400 L IS for a more expensive [and more robust]
alternative.

Capturing the beasts in their natural pose will be more possible with a tele
lens [ or if you want to try doing a sprint vs a cheetah .. be my guest ]



"John Ortt" <johnortt.DeleteThis@noemailsuppliedasdontwantspam.com> wrote in message
news:44fda269$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...
> Just wonderring what the collective think is the best 70-200 (or
> thereabouts) lens for travelling with a Canon 300D.
>
> I am planning a rtw trip with my wife next year and want a light but
> robust lens for shots which my existing 17-85 can't handle.
>
> One of the main reasons I need one is for a safari in Africa but I am
> sure there will be other times when I will need a greater zoom.
>
> My concerns are that we may have to carry our equipment from place to
> place which dictates light weight but equally the equipment may come in
> for some rough treatment which requires good build quality (and usually
> weight)
>
> What lenses would you suggest?
 >> Stay informed about: The best 70-200 lens for travelling 

Bill Hilton <bhilton665.DeleteThis@aol.com> wrote:
>>John Ortt wrote:
>> Just wonderring what the collective think is the best 70-200 (or
>> thereabouts) lens for travelling with a Canon 300D.
>>
>> I am planning a rtw trip with my wife next year and want a light but robust
>> lens for shots which my existing 17-85 can't handle.
>>
>> My concerns are that we may have to carry our equipment from place to place
>> which dictates light weight but equally the equipment may come in for some
>> rough treatment which requires good build quality (and usually weight)
>>
>> What lenses would you suggest?

>With light weight and robust build quality as chief criteria I'd
>recommend in this order ...

>70-200 f/4 L IS (new model just announced)
>70-200 f/4 L
>70-200 f/2.8 L IS (quite a bit heavier than the f/4)
>70-200 f/2.8 L (older model, no IS)

>My wife has the f/4 L and I have the f/2.8 L IS and both are excellent.

>> One of the main reasons I need one is for a safari in Africa but I am sure
>> there will be other times when I will need a greater zoom.

>For Africa safaris you would ideally want something even longer, at
>least 300 mm or 400 mm for mammals and even 500 - 600 mm for the best
>bird photos and tight head shots on the mammals ..
>http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/africa/ for some photos from our two
>trips to Tanzania earlier this year ... most were taken with 500 f/4
>lenses, 70-200's were used on second bodies for landscapes etc. 24-105
>f/4 L IS is also a very handy safari lens.


Having just come back from a trip to the Canadian high Arctic,
I'll second what Bill wrote.

I carried the 70-200 f/2.8 L IS and it *is* heavy, but the
most difficult part of that is that walking on the uneven
hardscrabble or the hummocked surface (the only two kinds of
surface I found) with the camera around your neck means that
it sways from side to side A LOT and tends to bang into things.
I spent more time worried about damage to the lens than anything
else. The new f/4 L IS would probably do the job quite well.

While on that trip I had a chance to borrow another traveller's
24-105 f/4 L IS and if I could carry only one lens, that's the
one I'd chose. It is neither as long as I'd like nor as wide
as I'd like, but for a "keep it on the camera" lens I don't
think it can be beat -- at least not with Canon lenses.

---- Paul J. Gans
 >> Stay informed about: The best 70-200 lens for travelling 

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 >> Stay informed about: The best 70-200 lens for travelling 

"John Ortt" <johnortt DeleteThis @noemailsuppliedasdontwantspam.com> wrote in message
news:44fda269$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...
> Just wonderring what the collective think is the best 70-200 (or
> thereabouts) lens for travelling with a Canon 300D.
>
> I am planning a rtw trip with my wife next year and want a light but
robust
> lens for shots which my existing 17-85 can't handle.
>
> One of the main reasons I need one is for a safari in Africa but I am
sure
> there will be other times when I will need a greater zoom.
>
> My concerns are that we may have to carry our equipment from place to
place
> which dictates light weight but equally the equipment may come in for some
> rough treatment which requires good build quality (and usually weight)
>
> What lenses would you suggest?
>
>
I know it isn't quite the answer to the question you posed but ..

.... I tend to take a Canon 80 - 200 F4.5 - F5.6 with me on most trips where
I do not want the weight and bulk of a 73 - 300 lens.

I also like the way that they're easy to find on the second-hand market (but
I think there are several versions of this lens).
I'm sure someone else will let us know how this lens performs. I'm not too
fussy - it's results are fine for me.

Regards, Ian.
 >> Stay informed about: The best 70-200 lens for travelling 

John Ortt wrote:
> Just wonderring what the collective think is the best 70-200 (or
> thereabouts) lens for travelling with a Canon 300D.
>
> I am planning a rtw trip with my wife next year and want a light but robust
> lens for shots which my existing 17-85 can't handle.
>
> One of the main reasons I need one is for a safari in Africa but I am sure
> there will be other times when I will need a greater zoom.
>
> My concerns are that we may have to carry our equipment from place to place
> which dictates light weight but equally the equipment may come in for some
> rough treatment which requires good build quality (and usually weight)
>
> What lenses would you suggest?

I took a safari in South Africa a couple of years ago. While I can't
speak for all safaris, here are , and here are a couple of observations
from mine.

(1) We took an open 4-wheeled drive type truck thing (roof but no
windows) on the safari, and no one walked on foot. All of our photos
were taken from within the vehicle, and a monopod could be useful in
that situation. (The driver turned off the engine when we found game,
so vibration would not be a problem).

(2) Some animals do come close to the vehicle, but many are far away,
so a good long lens is nice.

(3) There will also be an opportunity for some nice landscape shots -
in some ways I like those better than my game shots. Although if I had
had a longer lens...

(4) The game drives tend to take place at dawn, dusk, or night, which
is when the most interesting animals are active. So it can be
worthwhile to have a lens with a low F-stop.

YMMV.
 >> Stay informed about: The best 70-200 lens for travelling 

You might consider the Canon 70-300 DO IS lens. It's lightweight, reasonably
fast and sharp at least thru 250mm. IMO, it's a bit soft beyond 250mm.

Steve
"John Ortt" <johnortt.DeleteThis@noemailsuppliedasdontwantspam.com> wrote in message
news:44fda269$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...
> Just wonderring what the collective think is the best 70-200 (or
> thereabouts) lens for travelling with a Canon 300D.
>
> I am planning a rtw trip with my wife next year and want a light but
> robust lens for shots which my existing 17-85 can't handle.
>
> One of the main reasons I need one is for a safari in Africa but I am
> sure there will be other times when I will need a greater zoom.
>
> My concerns are that we may have to carry our equipment from place to
> place which dictates light weight but equally the equipment may come in
> for some rough treatment which requires good build quality (and usually
> weight)
>
> What lenses would you suggest?
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: The best 70-200 lens for travelling 

On Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:16:29 -0700, "Steve Dell"
<stevedell.RemoveThis@comcast.net> wrote:

>You might consider the Canon 70-300 DO IS lens. It's lightweight, reasonably
>fast and sharp at least thru 250mm. IMO, it's a bit soft beyond 250mm.

The new EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS lens is lighter, faster, but longer
(5.6" vs 3.9"), and, IMO, a better lens. And it costs much less
($560US vs $1150US at B&H).
--
Bill Funk
replace "g" with "a"
 >> Stay informed about: The best 70-200 lens for travelling