[Closed] What DSLR upgrades for my holiday to Egypt?

Tripod and remote release for night shots?

check the foreign office advice for egypt? Not sure where youre going but they have increased the threat level as there is intel AQ are planning an attack against western targets in sharm-el-sheikh.

Not being a paranoid billy or raining on your plans just worth staying up to date.

Yeah, I checked before booking. Foreign office is advising against travel to the Sinai. I'm not interested in the Red Sea resorts so not heading to Sharm. Instead I'll be taking advantage of winter to visit Temples and the desert.

Hi,

This is not really advice, so much as what I find I use most on a nice holiday:
1) A good, fast, every day lens that = 35mm in full frame, so I can get low light, candids, evening shots when wide open, + also super sharp landscape shots stopped down a bit. (24mm f1.4 for the D80)
2) Cheap fisheye for cool/interesting stuff (but can be a bit gimmicky)

I don't use a tripod much, not that kind of photographer.

A really fast lens at shortish focal length opens up a hell of a lot of possibilities, and also allows subject isolation with a relatively short focal lenght.

I find a 50mm really boring on full frame, and on a crop will be 75mm, and so even if fast (f1.8) is of kind of limited usability (vibration at slow shutter speeds), so your current rather good lens will cover most of that.

Just my thoughts!

Kev

1) A good, fast, every day lens that = 35mm in full frame, so I can get low light, candids, evening shots when wide open, + also super sharp landscape shots stopped down a bit. (24mm f1.4 for the D80)
2) Cheap fisheye for cool/interesting stuff (but can be a bit gimmicky)

Thanks Kev, that's exactly the kind of advice I was looking for.

I'm probably like you in that I don't know if I would use a tripod. Thought I might start playing around with HDR so I guess I'd need a tripod for that.

tw

I bought a tripod and use it very rarely. Main reason for getting it was long exposure shots at Le Mans, which it was brilliant for but that was 4 years ago now and I'm not sure if I've used it since.

Fisheyes are a bit weird and gimmicky IMO.

I only have two lenses but the more expensive is a 70-300 and is absolutely fantastic. The difference in quality between that and the 18-55 that came with the body is incredible. If I were to buy another lens I'd probably get something shorter but expensive. As you can tell I don't really know much about cameras!

I find a 50mm really boring on full frame

I find the opposite, it makes think about composition and where you stand relative to the subject much more than with a zoom lens. I've done whole trips just using a 50mm.

I bought a 35mm F1.8 lens last year, i don't use anything else now.

The vast majority of my photography is with a 50mm and a 28mm on a crop sensor camera. They get swapped over depending on my mood. The 50mm can feel limiting sometimes for a walkabout lens, but I love it all the same. Great for portraits and stuff. The 28mm is a little more versatile, in that it's fairly standard, no extremes either way and good for wandering about with. The standard kit lens has sat in the box since I bought these two.

I'd go for a wide angle lens. Fish eye (IMO) gets a bit boring quite quickly, its a very specific effect and can be fun, but I wouldn't be spending money on one unless it was very cheap.

I think tamron do a 10-20mm?

Tamron 10-24mm. Could be interesting...

footflaps - Member
I find a 50mm really boring on full frame
I find the opposite, it makes think about composition and where you stand relative to the subject much more than with a zoom lens. I've done whole trips just using a 50mm.

fully agree, i just meant that 50mm I find a boring FL to choose. I would go for 35mm and an 85mm.

Primes FTW!

Kev

I'd get a fast prime personally, I love them.

I have a 24mm 1.4, 50mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.4 😀

And nowt wrong with 50mm on full frame IMO. I'd happily shoot with just that for most things.

Whilst all well and good, none of that stuff is really specific to Egypt, I'd say.

Re tripods - you have to be specifically going out to do photos, really. If you are on a sight seeing trip your family/companions will soon get pissed off with you stopping to fanny about with a tripod for ten minutes all the time. And it's not like you'll be short of light, unless you want to do your fannying about in a pyramid.

The fast primes are best for when you are hanging out with a bunch of people, you will get great portraits. Otherwise, if you are out in wide open spaces, they are of limited use. I have one, it gets used for people.

A wide angle would be most useful I suppose. But all those things you mention would be (and are, in fact) part of a general setup.

On the subject of fisheyes - at first you take a few photos and think 'oh'. But it takes a good bit of thought to begin to understand what it can do for you. You don't just take pictures 'of' stuff, you use the lens to paint cool pictures with the stuff around you.

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