Yosemite - What lenses to bring?

Jeff_Milo

Hello all,

My family is preparing to take a couple of trips this summer first to Sequoia and Yosemite the last week in June. Then to the Grand Canyon and Senoma in mid July. Being a wedding and portrait photographer I have never realy shot landscapes. I would really like to take advantage of these trips and hopefully capture some beautiful images.

So here is my question...... If you could bring any lenses you wanted to shoot these two locatios what would they be?

I shoot canon and will have my 30D & 40D bodies with me. I also have a 24-70 f2.8 L and 70-200 L f2.8 IS. We have a local shop that rents just about any canon lens you could want and I wanted to find out from you the experts what my best choices would be.

I very much appreciate any feedback or advice you can provide.

Thanks!!

gus

You will need wide in my opinion thus i would hire a canon 10-22mm. That or if you have a good stitching programme such as CS3...use the 24-70 on 24 for landscapes & stitch the photos to get wide/panorama.

schmoo

Sounds like fun. Yosemite!

A lot of people will tell you wide angle and there's truth in that, but there are different views on landscape photography equipment. Whenever I'm heading out someplace with the real intent of shooting I like to have a wide, a zoom, and a good all-purpose. So, typically 17-40, 70-200 and the 24-105 or comparable.

Over the last year I've stuck with Marc's habit of getting creative with a 24mm tilt-shift. It's not terribly wide on its own but you can build great compositions with it with a little bit of practice and patience.

Lots of folks love the panorama thing (and it's fun!) but personally I prefer to see what details the land presents to me in terms of light, unique weather and circumstance, rather than jumping right to the game of stitching together every image I can take. I tell ya, I've never come across a beautiful vista with tons of godbeams and said, "Man I wish I'd taken a 20-frame pano of that!"

Hikin' Mike

I've been to Yosemite once or twice before...

I have a 5D with a 17-40 f/4L, 70-200 f/4L & 300 f/4L IS and I use all of them.

CatOne

FlashPhotoBoy wrote:

Hello all,

I shoot canon and will have my 30D & 40D bodies with me. I also have a 24-70 f2.8 L and 70-200 L f2.8 IS. We have a local shop that rents just about any canon lens you could want and I wanted to find out from you the experts what my best choices would be.

Bring both of those; you'll use them plenty.

I'd say also rent a 17-40 f4L, or the 10-22, or (here's what I'd REALLY get if I could find it for rent) the Canon 14mm f2.8L II

Pezpix

Without a doubt, the 10-22 would be your best choice given the crop factor of your cameras and the loss of super-wide angles. Dont forget to bring a macro lens as well. There will be lots of blooms when you go! Have a great trip

Jeff_Milo

Thank you all for the great advice. I have been wanting to buy the 10-22 for a while but could not justify it, this give me the excuse I have been waiting for :ivar .

Schmoo...... thanks for the tip on the 24mm tilt-shift. I started reading Marc's posts and found them very benificial.

Hikin' Mike wrote:

I've been to Yosemite once or twice before...

Mike, I went and checked out your galleries, your images of Yosemite are amazing. Wonderful shots!!!!!

Foochar

CatOne wrote:

(here's what I'd REALLY get if I could find it for rent) the Canon 14mm f2.8L II

While it is about 2.5 times the price of the 10-22 to rent, both lensrentals.com and borrowlenses.com offer the Canon 14mm f2.8L II for rent.

Mikko

In Yosemite I usually use a 12-24mm and 18-200mm. They will work great for all shots unless you are trying to shoot people climbing El Capitan.

MIK

Nikolai

I second others saying 10-22 is your best bet.
Actually, if you want to stop by on your way up I'll be happy to lend it to you for your trip. I'm currently not in a landscape mode, so it just sits in my backpack.