Advise on Lens choice for visiting Paris in late August

<p>I'd like to get some advise on the followings about lens choice for Paris in late august:<br>

1) D700 (me) 16-35mm for day time and 70-200mm (f/2.8) for the nights<br>

2) D60 (wife) 18-55mm(DX) for day time and 50mm(1.4) for nights<br>

Love hear from your comments. Just try to avoid changing lens in the middle of day/road.</p>

<p>thanks.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>D700 + 16-35 for day, and D700 + 50 /1.4 for night.<br>

D60, do not use at night.<br>

70-200 would be good for action and candid, but is heavy and large, I would leave it at home, unless you have events in mind that are specific to use this lens quick focusing, VR or longer reach.</p>

<p>I'm in agreement with Frank on leaving the 70-200/2.8 home. Too heavy & not really a low-light lens. For you, a 24-120/4 and a 35/1.4. For your wife, a Tamron 17-50/2.8.</p>

<p>It really all depends upon what you normally shoot with and what you are most comfortable with. You know your shooting style and techniques best - what kinds of pictures you prefer to take and when you prefer to take them. The location, Paris, and the time, late August, will not affect your style or technique.<br>

Personally I would take the 70-200/2.8 - I always take my 80-200/2.8. I use it about 60% of the time and the other 40% is 28-70/2.8 - but that is me shooting my style and techniques.</p>

It all depends on the reason for the trip.

 

Me, I would take only the D60 and 18-55mm VR, and leave the rest at home.

 

It makes no differnce whether you are going to Paris or Pokhara. On my recent trip to Croatia, I just used a point and

shoot and enjoyed the time with my family eventhough I had a D300 and a number of lenses.

<p>For the D 700 I would take a lens around 24-70mm or 28-70mm. I think you will need more reach than your 16-35mm. I would leave the 70-200mm f 2.8 at home. To heavy and too big. I would definitely take a fast prime with you, focal length your choice based on your shooting style: 20mm, 24mm, 35mm or 50mm. My favorite DX travel lens is the 16-85mm VR. Joe Smith</p>

<p>Thanks. All good points. I don't have 24-70mm. I've used 16-35mm a quite bit for traveling but sometime distortion is noticeable. My 70-200mm is new :) so I'd like to bring it with me. Allen, do you also use 80-200mm for street photography?</p>

<p>For night photography you need either to bring a tripod (not my first choice) or just find somewhere solid to place your camera while it takes a long exposure using the delayed action release. Either way the speed of the lens isn't going to matter much.</p>

<p>The 70-200 f2.8 is not an ideal travel lens but you can pick up relatively cheap and small 70-300 lenses such as the Tamron 70-300 VC USD which are far more practical and deliver very good results.</p>

<p>Using a wide angle such as the 16-35 in the city is a little tricky to avoid the tiresome convergence effects. If you want a more restful look remember to keep the camera level. This will keep verticals upright. You may need to crop blank foregrounds or, better, remember to include foreground interest.</p><div></div>

<p>If I were you I would not be content walking around Paris with nothing longer than a 35mm on a full frame camera. Just looking at my last couple of trips there I couldn't have taken mor than 40% of the shots I chose if I'd been limited to 35mm. </p>

<p>That means you need to have the 70-200 along anyway. But if this kind of usage were typical of my photography I would have ( and did) opted to save money and weight and opted for a lighter and wider aperture zoom. I use Canon but I chose the f4 version of my 20-200 L zoom at least partly because at half the weight of your lens, I could carry it all day. </p>

<p> Lots of people change lenses in the middle of cities, or apply/remove filters. I have a shoulder bag configured to allow me to do all that without putting the bag down. I don't even have to look inside the bag. </p>

<p>I'd probably also want something a little nimbler at night than a 1.5kg beast as well. </p>

<p>@Long Zhu, Yes I use my 80-200/2.8 for street type photography. I do not typically shoot street scenes but I do shoot many market scenes and candid portraits of people at work using the lens. I find that using the longer lens allows me to better blend into the background and become less of a distraction. Too often people try to "please" a photographer by "modeling". The extra separation minimizes the motivation to model.</p>

<p>Colin, I also have taken a few pictures for Pisa tower with my d60/18-55mm, which were not bad at all. David, I think I will invest in one of those travel lenses (18-200mm) but not sure if Nikon has anything in that range for full frame body. And Allen, thanks for the reply and I agree with you as I've tried my 70-200mm for taking pictures when kids running around play. Results were great.<br>

thanks all.</p>

<p>I think the best pictures of Paris are taken through the bottom of a just drained wine glass.</p>

<p>John may well be right; however, I just returned from 7 days of shooting in Paris where I shot through the night until about 1:30 a.m. as well. I was curious about my lens choice afterwards, so I went back and looked at the data. Interestingly, at least for me, it broke down almost evenly - 33% 70-200, 33% 24-70, and 33% 16-35. I would certainly have regretted not carrying my 70-200. It was heavy but more than worth it given I am only in Paris every two years. Bring the lenses. (One of many with my 70-200 in Paris.)</p><div></div>

<p>Good to know David! Do you have some pictures in 16-35mm and 70-200mm that we can see?</p>

<p>The one I posted above is 70-200. I will post 3 - one from each lens. </p><div></div>

<p>24-70</p>

<p>24-70 again</p><div></div>

<p>70-200 @ 200mm</p><div></div>

<p>These are beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing David!</p>

<p>Hi David, a quick question for you. Is it safe for you to shoot through night in Paris? thx.</p>

<p>I didn't have the slightest bit of trouble shooting in Paris. That said, I am 6'1" and 250 lbs ... But, seriously, I was never in any situation whatsoever where I felt unsafe. I shot at night all along the Seine between the Eiffel and Notre Dame, along Blvd St. Germain, and as well as up in Montmartre. I did choose to take taxis as I moved as opposed to the metro as the night went on. There is a serious issue regarding pickpockets on the metros, especially at night.<br>

Thank you for the remarks. I wish I was going back as soon as you. Take all of your gear!</p>

<p>And, most importantly, a tri-pod for the night shooting.</p>

<p>Thanks David!</p>

<p>Great photos and advice from everyone. I used my Sony on all of my trips, but now that I have a D7000, I am wanting to repeat my travels. A good excuse I think and the lens suggestions are what I need. I am going to Coastal Turkey and Istanbul in the spring. I think these will be useful for there too. I like night shots. Here is a photo I took with my Sony Cyber shot at night. </p><div></div>

<p>David your pictures are great, thank you for sharing them and your advice</p>