The kit I have assembled...

<p>James - if you really want a macro lens in Hawaii then the 100mm is far better than the 60mm for close work. It allows you to keep your distance and use flash - even the in-built camera flash.<br>

Beware of getting too involved with all the kit! What you want is photos. If I was going to Hawaii I would take my 70-200mm IS f4 plus the 1.4TC. The IQ of the 2.8 lens may not be as good as the f4. This would give me 448mm of reach on the 7D, hand held and with excellent results even at 3500 ISO. <br>

I would add the 400mm f5.6 prime with maybe a monopod and a gimbal head. The 400mm becomes a 640mm on the 7D and can be hand held - it is not happy with extenders. I would maybe just use my 17-85mm IS zoom for wide angle work and I may not take the macro because I could do quite good macro with the 17-85mm. The 580EX flash could be useful. Even that set up is quite a lot of kit to lug around! Have a good time.</p>

 

<p>I see a monopod and a ball head, but I don't see a tripod. Maybe the ball head is attached to a tripod...not sure. It never fails that when I don't take a tripod, I need one.</p>

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<p>Is there anything glaringly missing from my list</p>

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<p>Yes, a sherpa. Leave all that junk at home, take one body with no grip and a normal range lens, a backup point and shoot in the pocket, and try to enjoy your trip instead of spending it digging a strap dent into your shoulder.</p>

<p>Hugh J is making a very good point. Many men get over involved in the gear and forget the photos! I recall touring Africa with a Ricoh film camera shoved in my shirt pocket and I did fairly well. I have a couple of large photo albums and many of the photos were the result of my speed of response when I saw something happening. If I had been changing lenses I would have missed the shot. The shot you do get with a maybe not very good camera is a lot better than the shot you don't get with an excellent camera! Everyone who has viewed my albums thought they were very good and wanted to know what camera I was using. They were surprised when I showed them my pocket Ricoh!</p>

<p>James,<br>

12 months ago I went on holidays to Japan for 2 weeks and took everything I owned (10-22, 17-85, 50, 70-200, shutter release, laptop, tripod, etc.) and it was painful (weight as well as being a slave to the gear).<br>

Leave as much as you can at home and enjoy the holiday. Definitely leave the grip, monopod & ballhead (instead take a bean bag like the Cam-Pod or a flexible Gorilla tripod), extender and lumiquest.<br>

I'd also try to leave one of those lenses at home. However, all my best photos were with the 10-22 and 70-200 and I now have the 17-55 and its definitely my favourite lens so I couldn't leave it behind.<br>

Something like the Canon M80 for a storage device is also a great idea for backing up. Lightweight, easy to use, priceless if you lose a card or have a card failure.</p>

<p>This may come as a shock to everybody due to the prevalent presumption that a prime will always outperform a zoom. According to SLR Gears testing the 17-55mm (at 55mm) will outperform the 50mm 1.8 at F2.8 from there going up the f stop scale they are very very close. The 50mm 1.8 does have two faster stops but the circle of sharpnees is very small and thus a negligible advantage.<br>

I own the 50mm 1.4 and an EFS 17-85mm IS, after processing through DXO, ACR and Photoshop there is a difference in output but it is not mindblowing. I print 17 x 22 sometimes, so this small difference is important to me.<br>

Another suggestion for James is to get a set of extension tubes and play around with them before investing a lot of money in a true macro lens. I use the Pro Optic three piece set available from Adorama. Macro is cool for about a week then the novelty wears off and you're stuck with the question of what to do with all of those macro shots. One could say at least he would have a good 60mm prime lens even if macro no longer interested him. At 70mm his existing 70-200mm F2.8 will match or outperform the 60mm macro prime, again according to SLR Gears testing.<br>

Finally, if it was me, I would consider swapping the 17-55 for the new 15 - 85. You would gain on both ends of the zoom but give up some speed. Check them out at SLR Gear and decide on your own. And, no I do not work for SLR Gear, but I do rely on them heavily because I value my money and don't like experimenting.<br>

Art</p>

Best advice after several decades of traveling and photography. Carry as little as possible. Depends what you intend to photograph of course, but I usually only bring a 35-105 and 70-200 lens (Canon), batteries, and a photobank or small netbook to store the pictures, and a small solar panel to charge batteries (if I go to places with mo electricity). More gear does not mean better pictures. I have two backpacks, one small which can carry the camera and the lens plus some other gear (it is called Safrotto), and a bigger one made by Ospey. The Osprey is not intended to be used for photo gear, but I made an interior out of plastic foam sheets and hot glue. It works fine, and I got my clothes in there as well. The advantage is that you can either wheel it behind you as a suitcase, or carry it as a backpack. We all know how heavy photo gear is. Backup camera, fine if you don't care about weight and space, but in 40 years plus of photography and traveling, I only had a camera malfunction once, and I managed to borrow one in three minutes. It is a bit like having a parachute ready for every flight, you just might need it one day.

<p>I am asking for an opinion. I need to cover a distance from 17mm till <400mm on 2 bodies. Is a 17-40mm on 5D Mk 2 and 28-300mm on 1D MK 4 a good combination. Both lenses will be permanently on it all the time. I am using Lowepro AW 75 to carry the 1D and hang the 5D with a necklace all the time for my expedition to India, Nepal, Bhutan & China in May this year.</p>

<p>I am asking for an opinion. I need to cover a distance from 17mm till <400mm on 2 bodies. Is a 17-40mm on 5D Mk 2 and 28-300mm on 1D MK 4 a good combination. Both lenses will be permanently on it all the time. I am using Lowepro AW 75 to carry the 1D and hang the 5D with a necklace all the time for my expedition to India, Nepal, Bhutan & China in May this year.</p><div></div>