Best lens/kit for a round the world trip?

[overflow]

Hi all,

Fist of all I been reading the forum and articles for the past couple of years and it's my favourite source of information! The reason for this post is that I am planning a round the world trip in the next couple of months and I'll be travelling with a very light 55 litre backpack. I am a bit concerned about finding the best mix of lenses without packing too much. Which lenses/kit do you recommend taking on for a year trip? I sold most my AF lenses sometime ago and I haven't missed them! Here's my collection and marked with a + the ones I think would be taking on the trip:

+Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 20 f2.8 red mc (for landscapes)
+Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35 f2.4 red mc (for landscape with focus on a portrait)
+Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50 f.18 red mc (primarily for portraits)
+Helios 44-2m f2 modified *I sandpapered the back ring so it wouldn't hit the mirror of my Canon 5d2 (primarily for portraits)
Helios 44m
+Jupiter 9 85mm f2 (for portraits)
+Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135 f4 (zoom lens but only for daytime)
+Carl Zeiss Jena 180 f2.8 red mc /massive pentacon six (zoom lens for night pics)

Automatic
Yongnuo 35 f2
Canon 50mm f1.8 MKII
Canon 50mm f1.4

On top of that I'll be taking some neutral density filters and zhiyun crane v2. I am also considering complementing my Canon 5d2 with a more dedicated camera for video, I am very tempted with the Sony A7SII. Would it work well with the M42 lenses already adapted to Canon? Ideally I would like to keep the canon adaptor so I only have one adaptor permanent on the Sony camera, I think it would work fine but couldn't find much information about vintage lenses and focus to infinity etc. Does it work?

What's would you take?

Thanks!

[wolan]

A 180mm lens for night pics?

[overflow]

[jamaeolus]

E mount to canon adapter is all you will need for all of your lenses to work on the sony. I look forward to seeing what you shoot!

[wolan]

[miran]

[visualopsins]

I would take 50/1.4, 20/2.8, 135/2.8, maybe 35/2, maybe 85/2...

[overflow]

[willy35]

I would take

20
35
50
135

A polarizer filter and tripod

No more

[Pete]

[kansalliskalaCafe]

Olympus 707 is absolutely the best kit for round the world trip, I can sell you one for $1000 dollars.

[thebbm]

i surely wouldn't take all this old heavy lens with me on a backpack sorry.
take a little mirroles like sony a6000 with a nice wide angle (samyang 12mm f2) + a zoom like 18-105mm will be far far far litter and give you better result or just take a nice compact like the sony rx100 or sony rx10 with prime zoom class.

or a 16-35mm + 85mm will be perfect for your canon body and cover pretty much anything

[luisalegria]

Having flown around too much in my time, the kit above seems rather complex and heavy. The logistics of travel can get overwhelming. And unless you have a great deal of freedom in your schedule, its not likely to

have the time to use it all.

When I was a road warrior I did like my dad, and carried just his little Rollei 35.

Recently in digital days I carried my Pentax DSLR (whichever was the current version) with 18-55 kit lens. On our Asian trip this summer I took the K3 with an 18-200 Sigma and 10-20 Sigma, and I might as well have left the 10-20 home, as the 18-200 was brilliant for everything. I could have used a smaller camera though.

Granted, this is a matter of taste and circumstance. This much equipment would be appropriate if you have planned specific occasions for photos, or can take the time to arrange them on the spot. Its great to be able to stay a week someplace, explore, inquire, and plan.

But it would not really be suitable for wandering around looking for targets of opportunity on a day trip, or while going about with other people - its annoying waiting for the photographer to be done! Its hard to make art when pressed for time.

For that I want something light, versatile, quick to use and suitable for social occasions - that is, unobtrusive. Its one reason I got a Nex 7.

[D1N0]

Limit yourself. Take only the Flektogon 35mm and the 135mm

[cooltouch]

Back in the day when I shot lots of film, I also did a lot of walking with my gear. My camera of choice was a Canon original F-1, hardly a lightweight. I learned pretty much the hard way that I was most effective when I had pared my kit down to bare minimums. In my case, I carried the sharpest zooms I owned that spanned wide-to-short-tele and short-tele-to-long-tele, plus one ultra wide lens and a very good teleconverter. And that was it. The actual lenses were:

Canon FL 19mm f/3.5
Vivitar S1 28-90mm f/2.8-3.5
Tamron SP 60-300mm f/3.8-5.4
Vivitar macro-focusing 2x teleconverter.

If I were to do it all over again, I'd take a Tokina or Tamron 17mm f/3.5 instead of the (excellent) FL 19mm f/3.5, and either the Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8 LD or the Tokina AT-X 100-300mm f/4 SD. Probably. The old Tamron 60-300 is actually a very sharp zoom, but both the Tamron 80-200 and Tokina 100-300 are sharper, although they also weigh about twice as much as the 60-300. So there's that to think about. I would probably just suck it up and deal with the extra weight.

Now, if we're gonna transfer this over to something like a 5D2, I'd suck it up and use Canon AF "L" glass. Like a 24-105 L and a 100-400 L. And a Samyang or equivalent ultra-wide. But if it were an absolute requirement that I use MF glass, then I'd get a suitable lens mount adapter for my 5d2, like Nikon or Pentax, and I'd still go with the Vivitar S1 28-90 and either the Tamron 80-200 LD or the Tokina 100-300 SD in either Nikon or Pentax mount -- or whatever. As for the added weight, suck it up. Or, as they used to say when I worked in the "awl patch," Butch up, Sally!

Really, though, having to juggle that many primes would cause me a fair amount of frustration in pretty short order. And I'd probably settle in to using just a couple of the focal lengths, or maybe even fewer, telling myself I would be able to crop the images, if needed, in post. Not the best approach by any means. But something that I have to remind myself about in this sort of situation is this: I want to enjoy myself in the around-the-world tour and I think that the kit I pack should be designed such that I can both have fun and come back with rewarding shots of the experience. So if I have to make a few compromises to improve my enjoyment of this possible once-in-a-lifetime experience, then that's what I'll do.

[jamaeolus]

[visualopsins]

Try a dry run for a day. Bring your entire traveling rig along for a day trip to the nearest local city (or park). You'll sort it out quickly I think.

[folderholder]

For what it is worth, I travel from the USA to Asia 8-9 times a year and my work involves photos. My kit contains a Canon M6 mirrorless and four lenses: a superwide, a 24mm, a 50mm and a 100mm. Multiply focal length by 1.6 to get 35mm equivalents. This covers every situation for me except some wildlife photos. I favor lighter weight lenses over faster ones. All this fits in the bottom half of a daypack and is light enough to tote everywhere. Good luck and take the minimum.

[dnas]

For OS trips, I use a Sony A7, a Minolta AF 24-105mm, or a 28-200mm, plus an old Minolta MD 16mm fisheye, a Canon FD 20mm.
It's relatively small, but very flexible set-up.

[uddhava]

When I travel back to the states I carry a 28mm,50mm and a 135mm. I have a small 200mm that I took
instead of the 135 once. Now I have a Minolta MD 28-85mm so I will take that and a 50 and..? I wonder if a good
2x converter would be good to take also?

[visualopsins]

[overflow]

Massive thanks to everyone for replying. I've been traveling in Thailand for the past four weeks as part of a short trip and had the opportunity of testing my gear in the field. I carried the following lens:

+Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 20 f2.8 red mc (for landscapes)
+Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35 f2.4 red mc (for landscape with focus on a portrait)
+Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50 f.18 red mc (primarily for portraits)
+Helios 44-2m f2 modified *I sandpapered the back ring so it wouldn't hit the mirror of my Canon 5d2 (primarily for portraits)
Helios 44m
+Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135 f4 (zoom lens but only for daytime)

I was a bit scared of leaving this gear in the hostel, as I was staying in shared dorms, so I carried at all times with me along with a 13 inches macbook pro and a kindle. The first days I felt super tired of carrying the backpack but over the weeks I grew more comfortable, perhaps this was a good gym exercise!! However, I don't think I would do it for a whole year though. Being more conscious about weight, I think I would carry only:

Canon 50mm f1.4 automatic instead of the pancolar as it's way much lighter. (primarily for portraits)
+Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 20 f2.8 red mc (for landscapes)
+Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35 f2.4 red mc (for landscape with focus on a portrait)

The reality of that I never took the Helios even once from the bag, and the Sonnar 135 was only used once for beach shots. I absolutely fell in love with the pancolar 50mm, it was by far the most versatile lens I carried.

I was very upset I had a catastrophic failure of my 5dm2, it stopped working altogether and it wouldn't turn on. I only managed to bring it back to life back home soldering across the f601 fuse. Now it's back to life! however, it got me thinking perhaps I should carry a spare DLSR in case of failure. Here's some shots I made while the camera was working

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[bigship]

I would bring with me a 35mm or a 50mm, or 35/50+135

[visualopsins]

Check dslr prices where you are going.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience!!!

[willy35]

Thanks for sharing, nice pics !