Kit Question for China - Beijing

[levon_b]

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I posted a similar question in the Nikon forum, but wanted to check here as well. I'll be going to Beijing for a month this summer, and the kit that I am set on taking with me is:<br>

Nikon D700<br>

20-35 2.8<br>

50 1.4</p>

<p>I tend to do a lot of landscape and people photography while traveling, and will be in school, so I won't have the time to travel too far out of the city.</p>

<p>My question has to do with zooms - I was planning on taking a zoom lens for convenience, especially on hiking outings, and my final choice is down to three lenses. I own all three, so I won't be buying a new lens, and wanted to know everyone's opinion as to the most useful:</p>

<p>Nikkor 24-85 3.5-4.5 AF-S<br>

Nikkor 28-105 3.5-4.5<br>

Tokina 28-70 2.6 (the old Angeniuex design)</p>

<p>I'm also leaving my 80-200 2.8 at home; it's just too heavy for me to take along with me!</p>

<p>Any help is greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>Best regards,<br>

Levon</p>

[Dieter Schaefer]

<p>Not quite clear on your question - would the zoom in question be the only lens you take on these outings or would the 20-35 be along as well?<br>

If the only lens - then I would take the 24-85 because it is the widest for landscape shooting. I owned one and it hasn't been the most confidence inspiring lens in terms of mechanical stability.<br>

If in combination with the 20-35, then I would choose the 28-105 - the additional range at the long end could be handy, and so might the macro function (though not really convenient).<br>

The Tokina isn't exactly a lightweight and of the three listed has the most limited range. Most certainly the sturdiest of the three and probably the best match for the 20-35 optically. I would only take this one if you are positive of not missing the longer focal lengths of the other two and/or if you need the f/2.8 at the long end a lot.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>Whatever else yo do, you need a longer lens than 50mm in Beijing. On a recent trip to China, 45% of my photographs were taken with a 70-200 zoom, the remainder with a 24-105. I didn'tuse the 17-40 at all on my FF Canon. If in doubt, take the longest. You need somewhere to pick out details in places like the forbidden City otherwise you'll end up with a lot of shots or red buildings that all look the same.</p>

<p>I don't know quite qhere you plane to take landscape photographs in Beijing, but its a big (19m population) densely packed city that takes a while to get out of by car. The Great Wall in clearly an option but if you intend to photograph then take advice on where and when to go to avoid the countless tour buses. We found Mutianyu better than Badaling and surprisingly, afternoon much better than morning. </p><div></div>

[david_henderson]

<p>And the sort of thing you just can't do without a long lens</p><div></div>

[levon_b]

Hi All,

 

Thank you for the feedback!

 

The zoom lens will complement my 20-35; I seem to use my wides or ultrawides the most.

 

I won't have any time to leave the city outside of scheduled trips with the school, but may add q few days onto the end to

tour around.

 

Sounds like it would be a good idea to take my 80-200 as well; has anyone experienced problems with local authorities

and having a lens that big there? I know when I pulled it out of the bag at several churches in Rome I was asked to put it

away or leave.

 

Thank you!

Levon

[evan_c1]

<p>Well, I'll be trekking around Asia for 5 weeks starting in early May, but I'm taking my D200 with a 12-24 4, 28-85 3.5-4.5, 50 1.8, and 80-200 2.8 as well as a medium format and a full size tripod so you can tell I don't pack light.</p>

<p>That said, I'm not sure why you don't want to take the 80-200 though, it doesn't weigh *that* much. With it you can photograph people more discreetly (read: from a distance) than you could with any of the others. If you brought any of the zooms you mentioned, I would leave the 20-35 behind, and vice versa. In other words, I would take the 20-35, the 50, and the 80-200. I think that would provide you with the greatest flexibility.</p>

[dave_hutchinson1]

<p>I second Evan's response. Take the 80-200mm. You will need it for the stealth people shots.</p>

[dustin_turin]

<p>I recommend taking the 80-200 if you can bear carrying a little extra weight. If you're going to be in the city most of the time, I think you will probably want the extra distance and nice lens too. Be prepared for people everywhere, so you need some way to pick them out.<br>

When you visit the great wall, look up information about Simatai -- it took us the entire morning to get there, but by the time we arrived in the afternoon, we literally had the entire place to ourselves and it was stunning (we saw one or two other people -- THAT, is a miracle in China). You won't find many uncrowded shots at Badaling.<br>

Have fun!</p>

[Jim_Tardio]

<p>You might consider picking up a 75-150/3.5 E lens. You lose the AF but you gain a savings in bulk and weight.</p>

[richard_crowe4]

<p>I have just returned from two weeks in China which included several days in Beijing. My kit was a pair of 1.5x Canon DSLR cameras and a 17-55mm f/2.8 IS and 70-200mm f/4L IS lenses. I also brought a 12-24mm f/4 Tokina but, never used it.<br>

I shot about 50% of my images with each of the first two lenses. The 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens with its comparative 17-88mm focal range and steady f/2.8 aperture was a great multi-purpose lens which could be pressed into service as a darn respectable low light glass.<br>

I could not have worked without my 70-200mm f/4L IS lens which allowed me to seperate individual portions of the scenery and to compress distances. Isolating images worked for portraits of people. The 70-200mm f/4L IS is a relatively lightweight lens (26 ounces) which due to its IS capability can be used hand-held in some fairly low light levels. I can shoot down to 1/30 second which with the relatively high ISO capability of my cameras, freed me from needing higher light levels.<br>

The urban Chinese are quite agreeable to having their images shot but, will pose for the images. This is especially true with the younger folks. Many of my images have young Chinese students posing with their fingers in "V" signs. The longer lens allowed me to shoot from a distance and not impose on the persons whom I was shooting. I was able to grab shots without the subjects being aware of my camera.<br>

The longer focal length also allowed me to isolate portions of architecture such as the dragons and phoenix birds on roof lines as well as shooting tea pickers on moutainside tea plantations as well as farmers on water buffaloes plowing fields. However, generally, rural scenes are located a long way from Central Beijing.<br>

Long focal lengths compress distances effectively showing the traffic congestion and human congestion in the cities. It also allows the use of selective focus to isolate individuals and portions of scenery.<br>

I would definitely bring a long lens anywhere in China. It was indispensible.<br>

BTW... I have two definite recommendations for walking anywhere in China. Look down at where you are walking. The pavement is very erratic and there are many steps up and down where you would not expect them - including the requirement to step over the elevated door jams of older houses. These jams are used to prevent the ghosts from entering homes since ghosts are said not to have knees and cannot walk over the jams. We had several people fall, not just on the Great wall but also in various cities. One tour member broke his Nikon by falling which is a great incentive for bringing a back-up camera. I almost fell a couple of times when I was looking for a shot but, not looking where I placed my feet. I was lucky to not go down anywhere.<br>

A secondary but, equally important suggestion is to have some powerful anti diarrheal meds. We had several members of our group fall victim to Mao's Revenge. Just some Immodium is not at all effective, relatively powerful prescription meds are sometimes needed. We used ours one time during the trip and this allowed us not to miss a day of photography anywhere.</p>