low-end lenses to take to China for 2 weeks

[ceci_wong]

<p>Hello,<br>

I am traveling and visiting in China in January 2011. The itinerary goes from Guangzhou (7 days) to Beijing (3 days) to Huangshan (2 days) to Guangzhou (2 days). The days in Beijing and Huangshan will be with a guided tour. The last time I was in China was 10 years ago, so I am not quite sure what I will be seeing. I am looking for some advice on what to pack. <br>

Here's what I've got:<br>

Nikon D50 body<br>

Nikkor 18-70 DX<br>

Nikkor 70-210 f/4-5.6 D (this thing is ancient)<br>

Sigma 28-80 f/3.5-5.6<br>

35 f/1.8 DX<br>

50 f/1.8<br>

60 f/2.8 macro<br>

Ideally, I'd like to take no more than 1 body and 2 lenses, but I can probably squeeze in a small prime lens somewhere. Any comment is much appreciated. Thank you.<br>

CC</p>

 

[starvy]

<p>I'd recommend the 18-70 and 70-210 and squeeze in the 50mm prime somewhere as well!</p>

[rick_wong]

<p>I just got back from China we kind of did the same thing 7 days in Beijing, 2 days Shanghai, 3 days Huangshan, and 2 days GZ. I was told to travel light If I wanted to go to Huangshan. There are no roads on top of the mountain or trails most of the walkways are steps. to even think of carrying you gear and personal things in a roller suitcase is a joke. People that did not listen to their guides looked like they were ready to cry.<br>

I ended up leaving my laptop extra clothing, roller case at the hotel in town and just carried my camera 20mm, 50mm, and 70-300 5.6. I ended up using my 70-300 80% of the time your most important tool will be your tripod if you want the grand views from the mountain top you need to stop down to get the best depth of field and shoot at your cameras native iso.<br>

<img src="http://riwong.smugmug.com/Landscapes/Huangshan-Yellow-Mountain/DSC4925/973959700_qL3PM-L.jpg" alt="" /><br>

So I would go with the 70-210, 18-70, and the 35. you might find a need for the macro but if you are on a tour they move pretty fast. We did the mountain on our own I was told by people that have been there before and it is true you can't get lost because you are not allowed off the walkways and people are all over the place. the signage is good both in chinese and english. <br>

<img src="http://riwong.smugmug.com/Blog/China-2010/DSC4635/943470147_TStq5-L.jpg" alt="" /><br>

this is a sample of what it is like on top of the mountain we stayed for two nights on top of the mountain at the Beihai Hotel. The hotel is not the best on the mountain but like the agent at the travel agency told me it has the best location for photographers. The others are like 1/2 to 1 mile away frove the prime viewpoints. The hotels need to use porters to bring supplies up to hotel this means food like rice sacks, sodas, fresh food, etc.... These guys told us the cover the 8K trip 4 times a day and it includes bring the garbage dow the mountain.<br>

Link to a blog of this trip: <a href="http://riwong.smugmug.com/Blog/China-2010/12972431_Lc7WJ#939078645_qGPHw">http://riwong.smugmug.com/Blog/China-2010/12972431_Lc7WJ#939078645_qGPHw</a></p>

[richard_crowe4]

<p>I totally agree that a telephoto lens is a great addition to any trip, certainly including China. I did two weeks in China during April and visited: Beijing, Xi'an, Guiling, Yangshuo, the Li River, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hong Kong. I carried 17-55mm f/2.8 IS and 70-200mm f/4L IS lenses on a pair of Canon 1.6x cameras. I would bring your mid-range zoom and your telephoto lens. I never lacked for focal range and used my telephoto about 1/3 of the time and my mid-range zoom about 2/3 of the time...<br /><br />I would definitely recommend bringing a flash with bounce capability along with a reflector/diffuser. I used a Canon 550EX with a Joe Demb Flash Diffuser Pro and love the natural looking light that combination produces. many photographers shy away from flash but, it can be very natural looking...<br /><br />My China galaeries are located at:<br /><a href="http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/">http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/</a><br>

I would be ready to go back to China at the drop of a hat. It has turned out to be one of my favorite photographic spots in the world.</p>

[aaron l]

<p>Take the 18-70, 70-210 and 35mm. This will round your kit out nicely. Bring along a little bean bag as an impromptu tripod. Police don't worry about bean bags, sometimes they'll give you a hard time about a tripod. You can read about my experiences in Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Suzhou, and Guilin:<br>

<a href="http://aaronlinsdau.com/gear/articles/china_oct04_1.html">http://aaronlinsdau.com/gear/articles/china_oct04_1.html</a><br>

I took an 18-70 and my 70-300. I ended up only using the 70-300 once on the Great Wall. It was otherwise useless in the smog of the cities.<br>

You can see my photographs of China here for what to expect:<br>

<a href="http://aaronlinsdau.com/asia/china/">http://aaronlinsdau.com/asia/china/</a></p>

 

[ceci_wong]

<p>Thank you all for the advice. I plan to pack it all in a Lowepro Slingshot 102 AW. The 18-70 and the 35mm are the two lenses that I use most frequently. My only concern about the 70-210 is that it was made for full-frame back in the 1980's. Any ideas on how to cover the gap between 70mm on a DX lens and 70mm on a full-frame lens? </p>