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Review: My Best Travel Lenses

Extensive traveling in the past 8 years has resulted in thousands of images that populate the ‘Life Extract’ world map galleries. During this time my digital cameras have evolved from the Fujifilm Finepix 6900Zoom (2001-2004), Canon Powershot S1 IS (2004-2005) to Canon EOS 350D (From July 2005). I have no regrets moving from point and shoot to DSLR. The only regret is having to find means to feed my ‘lens addition’! LOL At the moment, I have the following lenses in the order of acquisition:

Sigma 18-200mm
Canon EFS 60mm F/2.8 Macro
Canon EFS 10-22mm
Sigma 30mm F/1.4
Canon EF 85mm F/1.8

How may lenses?
So, how many lenses do you think I take with me when I go on holiday? My camera bag (Crumpler Ben's Pizza XXXL) has enough space for my 350D plus 5 lenses but I have never taken more than 3 at any one time as it become very crowded and heavy! Taking 3 lenses will leave enough room for batteries/memory cards, wallet, sunglasses and a 1L bottle of water. I find this combination works well most of the time during sightseeing. One complain I have is the weight of the bag as it can be a bit tiring on my shoulder at the end of a long day out. During the trip, some days I only take one lens (on the camera) or two and leave the remaining lens(es) in the hotel to lighten the bag load. The choice depends on whether it is day or night and the type of places you are going to visit (more on this below).

Which lenses?
This is dilemma I will always face when ever I go on holiday. It depends on many factors: my mood ;) type of destinations, weather/climate, season, etc. I will elaborate on each of these factors with supporting images below. So which are my must have lenses?  The Sigma 18-200mm has been my main priority lens due to its extremely useful zoom range. It is very useful only during day time with the Sun shining! The image below was taken using this lens while I was on a bus to Shangri-La (a small town near Tibet, South West China). As it was very sunny there is no problem with camera shake as this lens version do not have OS. Even though it has OS, it would not have helped in this situation as I was on a moving bus. To get good images from this lens heavily depends on the lighting to keep shutter speed high throughout the zoom range to avoid motion blur if you are constantly on the move.My experience is that this lens is strictly a ‘day time’ lens only. ISO1600 will allow you to use the lens until dusk but not beyond.

If lighting is not a problem, the Sigma 18-200mm has a fantastic zoom range which is perfect for traveling to all sorts of places where you do not know what to expect and do not have time to swap lenses. One main problem I have is that after taking photos using high ISO for example in dark temples or low light places, forgetting to lower the ISO when you return outdoor results in the images below - overexposure!! Ugh!! But better than no photos at all. Actually this problem is not restricted to the this lens but I tend to suffer more with this lens as boosting ISO is a must with this lens in low light.

If all goes well, one can take fantastic photos with this lens! It is sharp at the centre of the frame. Overall, it is not my favourite lens but very useful only in situations when you have little time to change lenses. It would be great if Canon make an EFS 18-200mm IS USM - this lens will certainly focus faster than the Sigma.

My next must-have travel lens is the Canon EFS 10-22mm! This is truly a fantastic lens for street photography/candid at close range, indoor interior and environmental/landscape subjects. It is also surprisingly good for emergency closeups/macro. Images below are some examples taken during my last trip to Marrakech (Morocco; June 2008) illustrating its uses for street photography, interior and macro. Because of its ultra-wide angle, I often use it for candid photography at close range without using the view finder - there is no time to compose during such situation when you are walking past some interesting subjects but do not want to draw attention by lifting my camera to my eye to take a photo. This photo directly below was captured in such a way.

So which is my 3rd must-have travel lens? This is definitely my new favourite prime lens Canon EF 85mm F1.8! This is a fantastic portrait, low light and street photography lens. If I go out at night, this is the only lens I will take with me. Alternatively, it would be the Sigma 30mm F1.4 which is also a fantastic lens but less so for street photography as images are not as interesting as the 85mm focal length in my opinion. I have also used it during the day in bright sunlight without problem. If it is too bright, I will stop down to around F2.8 to avoid blown highlights. It is light, small and discreet which is great for street photography. Below are some examples taken in Marrakech.

    

Summary
In conclusion, in the order of preference, the Canon EFS 10-22mm, Canon EF 85mm F1.8 and Sigma 18-200mm are the three lenses I would take with me when I go on traveling. The 10-22mm is mainly for the street, interior and landscape; 85mm for street, low light and portrait; 18-200mm for ‘bread & butter’ all purpose and fast moving day-time trips when lens changing is a problem. I would replace the Sigma 18-200mm with a Canon EFS 18-200 IS USM without any hesitation at all. Nothing against Sigma but my experience after owning two Sigma lenses, I feel that the autofocus is not as good as Canon lenses. If money is not a problem, I would definitely consider the Canon EF 24-70mm L F2.8. It would be great if Canon upgrade this lens to IS version!