Lens advice for a summer of scenic backpacking?

[conrad_stoll1]

I'm starting to plan my summer a little early this year as you can see. So the story is that i'm spending

the summer backpacking and leading trips around north new mexico. This is quite a thrill for me

because i'll get to spend lots of time in the mountains with my camera, and i'll have a base to recharge

batteries and upload pictures every few days (so i'll be using digital, my canon 10D). Its also a thrill

because although now I work doing more journalistic and high level sports photography, I started out

doing scenery and landscapes when I was younger and less experienced. It will be great to finally get a

change to dive back into that.

 

So anyway, i'm looking for some advice about another possible lens to add to my lineup for this

expedition. I'm planning now because i'll probably want to use it for my current work and freetime

shooting.

 

Currently I have a:

 

Canon 10D

Canon 70-200 f4L

Canon 28-135 IS USM

Canon 50 1.8 USM

 

I'm sure the 70-200 will suit me well for most landscapes in the medium to longer range so i'm not

worried about that, but I am a bit more worried about wider angles. What do you guys think? Is a wider

lens a pretty useful tool for serious landscapes? I'll have the opportunity to shoot very wide open

backgrounds and landscapes. There will probably be a lot to see in the frame, so it seems like a wider

lens would be a great help (especially on a crop body like the 10D).

 

I've been looking at the 17-40 f4 for a while and it seems like something of a front runner. It fits the

budget (under 1000 preferably, but I do have the rest of the year to save up, so maybe 1200 or so

would be a max).

 

So I guess i'm just looking for general opinions and advice. Are my current 3 lenses a good enough

setup? Could I do a bit better for what i'm looking to shoot? Any recomendations would be greatly

appreciated.

 

My primary interest in subjects are: mountain ranges, trees, some flora and macro work (I think the 50

will probably be enough, and i'm not really looking to invest in a high dollar macro lens at this time),

stream and river water flows, some wildlife (so maybe a tc for the 70-200, because its a lower priority

for this trip), and finally people and landscape portraits.

 

The other primary interests are star tracks and astro photography.

 

I'm looking to bring back a few thousand images from the entire summer, so I am definetely looking for

a quality lens to bring great returns and produce good images from the lengthy trip. Something else to

consider is that most of my current photo work is with sports (indoor and outdoor) and with journalistic

work with covering local events. Although this isn't the sole purpose of this lens purpose (my 70-200

was purchased exclusively for sports for example) it would be wonderful if whatever I add to my kit was

also useful for either of these applications.

 

Thank you.

[will_webster]

Since you can't use the EF-S 10-22, get the 17-40 for scenics and a film body for astro/star tracks and for when 28mm equivalent isn't wide enough.

[conrad_stoll1]

I have a canon Elan 7NE that has served me well, but I don't know how much I want to put

into film/post processing. But you're right that is also an option.

[louie]

The 17-40mm is the right choice here, and do bring your film body as well. For extended

time in the backcountry, it's a good idea to have a backup available. It's a cheap way to get

really wide angles when you need them. You don't necessarily have to use it a lot, but when

you need it, it'll be the only way to get wider than 28mm.

 

Another way to get wide angles would be to bring a tripod and head, and do panoramas. You

could stitch together shots to get a wider view.

[brucecyr]

Since you're leaning toward the 17-40, that would probably be a good choice. Since you're already a pro, I would remind you that wide-angle shooting fits certain styles and techniques not necessarily used for narrower angle lenses, so I would suggest renewing your acquaintance with these aspects and determine if they fit the way you work and see the world.

[conrad_stoll1]

Yeah it looks like the 17-40 is most likely the answer. The only other 2 I was looking at

were the 24-70 and 24-105 L's. Either would make a good walk around lens, but I already

have a decent one in the 28-135 IS, and what I don't have at all is any sort of wide angle.

 

Is it possible to do a star track with a dslr? Will the battery just simply die after an hour or

so? Will that cause the shutter to close? Whats the consensus on this issue. As much as I

used to love my film slr's it seems like such a hastle these days :(

 

Two other questions:

 

Any use for some of the smaller primes for this sort of application?

 

How well does the 28-135 IS perform for landscape work? Its always worked well for me,

but some people complain its soft. I was wondering what you all thought.