Which body and lens/es to Montreal?

<p>Hi folks,<br>

I'm heading to Montreal next week for a conference, but plan to spend as much time as possible photographing in (and possibly around) the city. I won't have a car, so will be limited to walking and public transit. I'm not checking any baggage so space is a factor. Will likely be doing mainly street/people/landscape photography (not so much into architecture per se).</p>

<p>I have a Canon 40D and 5D, but can only take one of them.<br>

For lenses, I don't own a mid-range zoom, so it's a choice of: 35 f/2, 50 f/1.8 and 100 f/2.8 macro. I also have a 70-200 f/4, but doubt I could easily make room for it unless I sacrificed a few pairs of underwear, which might not be the best idea.</p>

<p>My tentative plan is the 5D with 35 and 50, but I'm worried that I'll miss the longer end. The crop factor on the 40D would make the 50 act more like an 80, but would also leave me without a true wide-angle. Any thoughts?</p>

<p>Cheers,<br>

Nick</p>

<p>I would take the 5d2 and 35mm because 35mm is like my favorite FL. You? What do you use normally? I would bring that...or buy a travel zoom, something in the 24 to 85mm (135mm equivalent) range...</p>

<p>I'd also take the 35mm f/2 with either body, of the choices you have.</p>

<p>In the future, I'd suggest you think about adding some midrange zoom that can be used on both cameras (say the EF 24-105mm IS L lens). On the 5D, especially, such a lens would be a great travel 'walkabout'.</p>

<p>Take the lenses you like most. Don't listen to what others say. If you like to work with it, it is the lens to take. Period. End of rant.</p>

<p>"I won't have a car, so will be limited to walking and public transit. I'm not checking any baggage . . . "</p>

<p>Sounds like the perfect plan. It's great to arrive at Trudeau International with carry-on only and grab the first cab, because the queue can get quite long if multiple flights arrive at once and you're waiting for luggage. Ask if anybody wants to share a cab downtown, because it's $38 plus tip if you're alone.</p>

<p>Being car-free is ideal in Montreal, a great walking city. If you are staying in a hotel on or near Sherbrooke St., you can easily walk to Old Montreal, the port, the four universities, the Plateau, Mont Royal, Outremont, Westmount, Boulevard St. Denis, the Lachine Canal walkway, and all of downtown. The Jean Talon and Atwater markets might give you some good shots, too. </p>

<p>The Metro will take you almost anywhere else you want in minutes. </p>

<p>Take extra care when walking, because Montreal drivers don't respect pedestrians, and many of the bike riders are just as bad (and they are silent). </p>

<p>Not sure what will catch your eye, but of the gear you mentioned I agree about the 5D plus the 35 and 50. If you are doing street portraits the 70-200 would be handy. If space is tight, you can always "wear" your 5D onto the plane with the zoom on it.</p>

<p>Take the 5D and the 35mm and 50mm primes. But look for a used telephoto lens -- maybe an inexpensive and lightweight 100mm f/2 or 135mm f/2.8 if you think that you will need a longer lens. However, I think that usually you don't need a telephoto this much. Take what you like. However, I'd even look for something shorter if you love wide angle photography -- the 24mm f/2.8 or 20mm f/2.8 USM.</p>

<p>Brent's tips are fine. However, you will only be able to walk to some of the places mentioned (Old Montreal, The Port, Atwater market (a good walk!), 3 of the 4 universities (Univ. de Montréal is farther away), the Plateau area, Mont Royal (a good walk, especially if you want to explore the extensive park on the mountain) and downtown. For the others, you will need to use the rubber tired Metro subway or bus surface transport.</p>

<p>Not as picturesque as Quebec City, but Montreal is still quite varied. It has the greatest number of underground streets and malls of any city, and its Metro stations are mostly unique in interior design (most being different). Ste-Catherine Street (central) and St-Denis (somewhat east of centre) and Crescent (just west of centre) streets are good places for street shooting, the latter two (and also the Old Montreal area) with their sidewalk cafés (maybe starting to close at this time of year). McGill U is a fairly picturesque campus, whereas Concordia U and Univ. de Québec à Montréal are typical city universities. A wide angle (21 through 35mm) will be best, unless you like your street shooting from the light or medium telephoto distance (70 to 135mm).</p>

Thanks for the input and info. I do quite like both the 35 and 50, so that setup sounds like it should work well. I've

been keeping an eye on Craigslist and the local shops that sell used gear but so far no cheap zooms have appeared

and I'm not able to spend much on lenses at the moment.

<p>Nick, the Buy and Sell forum at www.fredmiranda.com is the most trustworthy source of high quality used gear anywhere.</p>

<p><br />Arthur, I'm 68 and have recently walked from McGill to all the places I mentioned, usually carrying a DSLR and a two lenses in a ThinkTank Urban Disguise. Time and weather would be the only limiting factors, and you can always take the Metro back from any destination.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Brent, thanks for the tip, I'll check it out. And although I feel pretty old sometimes, I'm actually just 28 so the legs are still good for a bit of hiking.</p>

<p>Brent,</p>

<p>I admire your energy and interst for 3 to 5 mile or greater hikes in the city. Your average touring person is not always so active, especially when loaded down with photo gear. In fact, for those with the time to go from McGill University (near the centre) to the Jean Talon market in the north or north east, or in the opposite direction to the equally or more distant Lachine Canal, that's great (I have been known to do the same when time was no issue), and such walks really provide lots of opportunity for exploration of the many city burgs and for opportunities for street shooting. Sherbroke Street is one of the longest city streets in North America, at 19 miles from end to end, and one is then still on the island of Montreal.</p>

<p>Montreal is my home town, although I have been living in that other Quebec city (of that name) for three decades now. The nice thing about the capital city of our province is that everything is quite close, within a 1 or 2 mile radius, and much is found within the old city walls, often visible from walking around the upper town on the "remparts" (city walls). But that is another trip for Nick, and perhaps for yourself. Highly recommended, though.</p>

<p>Arthur, I compliment you on your choice of cities, both Montreal and Quebec. I live in BC, but have been a Quebecer wannabe for decades. Now I get to visit Montreal often as our daughter is in her second year at McGill. She chose the city after we did two multi-week home exchanges there, one in NDG and the other on the Plateau.</p>

<p>Nick, I hope you get enough time away from your conference to explore and enjoy a great city, and that the weather is decent while you are there.</p>

<p>Well I have been a wannabe Canadian for quite a while, so I'm excited to check out Montreal. I looked into trains to Quebec City and it seems that for about $100 I could get to QC by about 10:30 am and then leave at around 5 pm to head back to M. Would six hours in QC be worth the cost of the trip and an entire day of skipping out on conference papers? (Ok, so the second part of that is obvious...)</p>

 

<p>Nick, I'll leave to Arthur the question of whether 6 hours is enough in Quebec City, other than to say that we enjoyed the train trip when we took it a couple of years ago.</p>

 

 

<p>Unfortunately QC will have to wait, either way. The one day I thought I could blow off the conference turns out to be the day that a good friend of mine will be presenting her paper, so I'll be limited to Montreal. Mais c'est la vie, n'est-ce pas?</p>

<p>Brent and Nick,</p>

<p>Quebec City was an unnecessary diversion in a post about Montreal, and, like the main subject, it really merits a several day visit. You will be more than satisfied by Montreal, but keep in mind the other for a future visit (I would be happy to partner you both in a Quebec City shoot at any convenient time) and, like many other sites, the two cities are but a fraction of the pleasure of visiting Quebec (Charlevoix region east of Q.C., the Gaspé penninsula, Magdelaine islands, the Eastern Townships (a mini-Vermont style region)) and eastern Canada.</p>

<p>I understand the choices one has to make when attending a conference. I have had the chance to visit so many interesting places in North America during conferences (such as Vancouver, Denver, Toronto, Boston, San Francisco,Chicago, Halifax), but, much like a flight attendant or pilot in between flights, so little time is available to explore. I hope you get a lot of free time in Montreal.</p>

<p>Brent, as someone from the very naturally beautiful and remarkable B.C. to like Quebec is a real compliment. I myself discovered Quebec City while also a 2nd year student at McGill. It was just a day visit during my summer railway track gang job which included Levis, opposite the city, at 17 or 18. That short-lived happy memory of a short visit lived on and triggered a job application to an organissation in that city 15 years later, when I had lost my job in Toronto during a major company cut-back.</p>

<p>Nick: Bon voyage!</p>

<p>Nick... Obviously one of the best solutions to your problem would be the 24-105mm f/4L IS lens. However, this is a fairly expensive lens.<br>

An alternate approach would be the 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens. These lenses can often be picked up rather inexpensively on the used market. Although this lens is not necessarily a stellar performer, it does a lot of things well. I personally would be very happy with the 28-135mm focal length on a full frame camera.</p>

<p>It's been decades since my last visit to Montreal. My most unforgettable moment remains a visit to:</p>

<p>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwartz%27s</p>

<p>I only wish that I had taken a photo of my order, with whatever lens I had with me. Don't leave Montreal without a visit, and don't repeat my mistake.</p>

 

<p>We stayed on the Plateau two blocks from Schwartz's last year. Most days there was a lineup to even get into the place and tie into one of those politically incorrect mountains of smoked meat. </p>

<p>One unexpected delight of my visit there last week was dropping into three camera shops near Notre Dame Cathedral. The first was nothing special; then Simon Camera helped me dislodge a stick polarizer jammed onto a plastic-threadsed lens. The third, a block from the church, was smaller but had the best assortment of prestige cameras I've seen, with a full line of Leicas, Voigtlander SLR lenses in stock and even an Alpa on consignment! That was one of the smaller discoveries that made this my new favorite city anywhere.</p>

<p>Pour moi, I carried a Konica Minolta 7D and a Maxxum 7 film body with four lenses: a 24-85, 100-200 and 50/1.7 Minoltas and a Tamron 10-24 I just bought. I could have done all but 10% of the shots with the zoom...</p>

<p>One unexpected delight of my visit there last week was dropping into three camera shops near Notre Dame Cathedral. The first was nothing special; then Simon Camera helped me dislodge a stick polarizer jammed onto a plastic-threadsed lens. The third, a block from the church, was smaller but had the best assortment of prestige cameras I've seen, with a full line of Leicas, Voigtlander SLR lenses in stock and even an Alpa on consignment! That was one of the smaller discoveries that made this my new favorite city anywhere.</p>

<p>Pour moi, I carried a Konica Minolta 7D and a Maxxum 7 film body with four lenses: a 24-85, 100-200 and 50/1.7 Minoltas and a Tamron 10-24 I just bought. I could have done all but 10% of the shots with the zoom...</p><div></div>

<p>John, just a small correction to the title of your photo. Shown is the upper walled town with the more recent (1890s) Chateau Frontenac hotel. The Old Port is found in the lower town which is down at the St Lawrence river level beyond the Ch.Frontenac, but not seen in this low angle aerial image.</p>

<p>Arthur, your mention of the Old Port in Quebec City brings back memories of Robert Lepage's spectacular projection, The Image Mill, on the grain elevators just after dark every evening two summers ago. The people standing near us, nearly all Quebecois, were moved by his presentation of Francophone history and culture, as were we.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, we were there a week late for Paul McCartney's free concert on the Plains of Abraham. It was fun, though, to stay in an old stone B&B in the shadow of the Chateau Frontenac and walk the Old Town, battlefield, and modern city every day. QC compliments Montreal nicely for photographic opportunities.</p>

<p>Thanks again for all of the earlier input. My trip to Montreal was most interesting. I ended up taking the Canon 40D and 35 f/2 because my 5D started acting up (you may see I also posted in the EOS forum about some noise issues I'm having). All but one day was spent in a conference room in the Hilton near Place Bonaventure. Fortunately those were all of the rainy days. My last day in the city the sun came out and, despite having come down with the flu, I tried to walk around and see what I could. My tour took me from my hotel on Rue Drummond up to Mont Royal park, then down and along Sherbrooke, over to the basilica, Vieux Montréal and part of the nearby waterfront before I had to catch the bus to the airport. No spectacular images, but a few that will serve me as decent reminders of the city and reasons to head back up to Québec when I have more free time. I'll see if the site lets me add a couple examples here.</p>

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<p>And maybe some more that will fit inline...</p><div></div>