Travel photography – but with only one lens choice

Going away to Tuscany in Sept and for various ‘fast and light’ reasons if I take my Fuji X-T1 with me I will only be able to take one prime lenses.

Don’t want to buy any more lenses just for the trip. So if you had a choice between either a 28mm (equiv) or a 50mm (equiv) prime and could only take 1. Which one would you take?

I would almost certainly take the 28mm but I massively tend towards shooting wider. Plus you can always crop to get a 50mm equiv.

Which do you shoot most often?

50mm personally. Defintely can’t take a zoom?

I’d take the 50 (or leave one pair of socks at home and take both).

50,but how much landscape will you be shooting ?

Personally I think you’ll miss not having something longer. Ideal for ‘one lens for all’ would be something like a 20-200.

To be honest, I’m struggling to decide between the two, but probably leaning more towards the 28

I’m usually a landscape man and the only zoom lens I have is a 10-24mm – but it’s big and heavy.

But the scenery is going to be lovely in Tuscany(which says wide – 28mm) but a 50mm is so useful, makes you think more about composition and it’s also f1.4 for portraits and night time

I really can’t take two lenses, too heavy and too much bulk. I leave a pair of socks at home, that would mean I wouldn’t have any socks at all. I’m traveling that light!

Sounds like a prime (hoho) excuse to buy a new lens.

But the scenery is going to be lovely in Tuscany(which says wide – 28mm) but a 50mm is so useful

Yeah, the 50 is more useful and cropping a 28 isn’t ideal, but you can always stitch panoramas which negates the lack of the 28 without much in the way of compromise (for landscapes at least).

We need photo proof of how light you’re really travelling

My one lens choice would be an 18-200 – jack of all trades, master of none

Take 50mm and stitch together Landscapes if you need to.

Stitched this from about 30 shots using 50mm

Positano Pano by brf[/url], on Flickr

50 without doubt. Thats a serious camera and no need for a zoom as you’ll be able to crop. Assuming you mean 50mm equivalent and not an actual 50mm. That Fuji lens is suburb.

Yep 50mm equiv its a 35mm f1.4

speed and size and relative IQ being equal: 28mm for sure

ppl in scenes and landscapes should be ok and you have the MPX for a bit of cropping. If your beyond arms length +1 distortion of faces may not be such a problem..

Which is the larger physically?

50mm equiv is probably sharper/faster on Fuji though?

I reckon you already have a preference – I have a lens I love and a lens I use. Not necessarily same!

I’m reminded of the inimitable Ken Rockwell 🙂

For Intimate Travel

The 50mm lens is ideal for photographing one subject at a time. One subject at a time results in the best photos.

For instance, when the LEICAMAN enjoys a ski holiday in Chamonix with his wife and children, it is the 50mm lens which receives the distinction his accompaniment.

The 50mm lens is ideal for recording everything from the radiant beauty of his lovely wife, his children’s glee enjoying the slopes, the alpenglow on L’aiguille Verte, as well documenting his acquisitions of sculpture and painting from the local galleries. For all this, a single 50mm lens is more than sufficient.

*If* I had a Leica + Lens and took t’ family to Chamonix for an extra holiday every year – I would happily shoot 50mm every where as well 🙂

I wonder if he really means it’s a great reccomendation to shoot kids skiing with a manual focus rangefinder (Leica?) and 50mm lens. Honestly?

I guess a sunny day on snow might give just the light for zone with f8, f16 though..

I’m just not sure if I’d be congratulating myself or cursing at blurred and blown shots of kids – “why won’t they just stand still-grrr” 😉

50. You can always stitch panoramas to get wider.

I’m traveling super light on the bike in Tuscany. I was going to take my Ricoh compact which is dslr size aps-c sensor and 28mm fixed. Awesome results (properly good) and small but no feeling/joy when taking the photos as no viewfinder. So was considering my
Fuji X-T1 with just 1 small prime which is a 35mm (50mm equiv) f1.4. Larger but not massive but a joy to use and wonderful sharp lens

funny you say that – I get the same feeling with my GR.. Can’t fault it, but somehow it is not satisfying..

I had the x100, s110, rx100 – enjoyed all-great results possible, but somehow they stayed at home in the end.. Small and mirrorless mostly now. Always have the wrong lens with me though.

Decisions, decisons

Just had the 28mm Ricoh lcd and the Fuji 50mm lcd on top of each other. Forgot what the actual difference was in field of view!!!!!

Sounds like a good excuse to buy a Fujifilm 27mm XF f2.8 41mm equivalent pancake lens.

Bonchance, I can’t read anything by Ken Rockwell without suspecting it’s largely tongue in cheek.

As a user of a 60 year old rangefinder and 50mm lens, taking photos of kids is like herding kittens…

Another 50 and stitch.

Although I would almost be inclined to go 80-90 and stitch myself! Short tele gives wonderful portraits and also compresses perspective which makes pano landscapes a little more dramatic 😉

I use the 45mm Olympus a lot for that reason (90mm equivalent)

I travel with a 22mm f2 pancake on my EOSM.bwirks for many situations for me.

It does depend on you

But 28mm every time for me. I’d still be stitching for wide shots

Portraits don’t need many pixels so they can easily be cropped out of a more distant shot

The ideal compromise for me would be 35mm equivalant. But its easy to crop to that from 28mm

i find composing with 50mm very tough for anything landscapey where your trying to get a forground and back ground

as were playing ‘what lens for’- I couldn’t help looking at the xf range

xf35 seems a possibly better lens than xf14, so all things may not be equal.

The one you don’t have: xf23 would be my first choice.

If I was going on your trip (I wish!). I would take GR I think. Solely size<>quality can’t be beat.

Also because I can wear it on belt, or use the velcro to lash it bars – ever-ready..

Our own field of view is around 35mm, I’d go for the wider lens.

If you want a nice photo of a landscape when you’re touring, far better to buy a postcard and post it home.

“Ken Rockwell”

Yeah, I’d pretty much do the opposite of most of what he says.

Fwiw, I’d take a 35mm as an ideal prime, so would err towards the 28 in your situation.

The one you don’t have: xf23 would be my first choice.

Yep, I’ve got one on my XE-2. The Zoom hasn’t been on since its arrival. Awesome lens.

Which focal length do you naturally default to? That will be the right lens to take.

Alternatively perhaps you should trade both the 18mm and 35mm in and acquire an XF23mm 1.4 which is a better lens anyway.

I’m naturally a wide angle man, hence owning the 10-24mm and 14mm before that.

But the XF35mm 1.4 is such an amazing lens – I’ve been blown away how sharp across the frame it is even at 1.4, it’s got a 3d quality to the photos that make them pop out. Yet it’s relatively cheap, small and light. The XF23 might be a ‘better’ lens but I think that will only be at the pixel zoomed 300%. The XF35 is that good – hence me even thinking about it.

I could even spend £200 and get the wide angle kit for the Ricoh and have a 28/21mm combo in a tiny lightweight package.

But I’m drawn back to the Fuji, as good as the photos are from the Ricoh, the lack of a proper big bright viewfinder means the experience of actually framing and taking the photos is lost.

gr + ovf?

starts to eat away at the small.pocketable USP of GR

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ricoh-GV1-External-Viewfinder-For-GR-Digital-Cameras-/371304281342?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item567375b4fe

Looked at the ovf before but unless you only use the camera in auto then you can’t see any of the camera settings without taking your eye off the ovf and look at the lcd which defeats the point a bit.

This is all a bit mad really

Take the Ricoh. “No joy…” I thought you were going light weight

If you take XT do not choose the lens on the basis of how sharp it is. Shakes his head.

Not really that odd.

Just choosing between two awesome cameras – nice position to be in

With all this ummmming and aaaaahing over the appropriate lens, I am reminded that this is why I like zoom lenses for taking on holiday travel photography.

Every prime lens is also a zoom lens. It’s a unique system called legs.

geetee1972 – Member
Every prime lens is also a zoom lens. It’s a unique system called legs.

It doesn’t achieve the same thing though (foreshortening with a telephoto or distortion caused by a wide angle etc.).

and rather you than me trying to get close enough to take this with a 35mm prime:

13-06-29 DSC_6806 by STW stumpy01[/url], on Flickr