Holidaying Equipment..

[Mark_C]

Hey all, this is my first post on this website; I used to be a regular on the old dcmag forums but since that I have lost a lot of interest in the art of photography.

What has rekindled my spirit is the chance of going on a holiday to Iceland during the Summer, and I know what a brilliant opportunity this would be to take some amazing photographs.

I have a Canon 400d along with the kit lens and a sigma 70-300mm lens, a few filters, bag, and and a small shaky tripod. Seeing as I am only working part-time, I was wondering what sort of equipment should I be looking to save up for, for this holiday. Fish eye lens? more filters? It's been a while since the photography bug has had me itching to take photos so I would really appreciate some help on this.

Regards,

Mark.

[wavemachine]

Very tricky one that it really depends what you are planning on photographing and how much equipment you want to carry around.

For example if you want to do some proper landscape the firstly you may want to invest in a more sturdy tripod and a wide angle lens such as the SIgma 10-20mm.

If you want to limit equipment then you may want to consider a travel lens such as the Tamron 18-270mm or Sigma 18-250mm although these are both a compromise because of the wide to zoom coverage.

You may want to upgrade your kit lens to something a bit sharper and with a bigger zoom range.

Are you planning on doing night photography where a more powerful flash will be helpful?

Other considerations are do you have a spare battery, enough memory cards and is your camera bag up to the job for example.

Another considration is your camera strap comfortable for long periods of time.

These are just some ideas but have a think about how much you are going to spend, what you are really going to need or can you get by with what you have got for now and take the holiday as an opportunity to find out what would be helpful in future.

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by wavemachine

Are you planning on doing night photography where a more powerful flash will be helpful?

.

I don't think there is much night in Iceland in the summer!

[wavemachine]

Originally Posted by OldBoy

I don't think there is much night in Iceland in the summer!

Ooooops my bad

Errrrm fill flash then

[Mark_C]

I was thinking perhaps a second hand sigma 10-20mm along with a cokin nd grad set, p holder and cheap (second hand?) sturdy tripod? That's pushing my budget limit a bit but would that be enough?

Mark

[OldBoy]

Second-hand Sigma looks fine and will do a good job. You don't really need the ND grads or tripod, as you can handhold the shots.

[Mark_C]

I suppose the 'midnight sun' has some benefits ... Lens will be first priority anyway, and then the filters as I don't intend on taking a few different exposures for every landscape photo I take along with the added editing; I prefer to get it right first time

Is the sigma 10-20 mm the best lens for that sort of money?

Mark

[jet_kit]

Hi Mark,
If you can find a second-hand Sigma 10-20mm it's a fine lens. But don't expect it to be cheap.
I don't entirely agree with Oldboy, I think you will need a tripod, if only to make you consider your framing. It is a fact that tripod shots are better composed than hand-held. Also, you will find stark contrasts between the skies and the ground in Iceland and unless you want to bracket your shots and HDR them, you will need some ND Grads (even more reason for a tripod!). Have a look for Cokin P series on eBay, there's loads of them.
Finally, you'll need a cable release. You can get very cheap, and perfectly useable ones on the Internet. Amazon have quite a range from a few pounds. Mine hasn't even got a name on it, cost pennies, and is still working flawlessly after 4 years.

[wavemachine]

If you go for P sized filters make sure you get the wideangle adapter otherwise you will get severe vignetting.

I have found Cokin filter (as have others) can cause a nasty magenta colour cast especially if you stack more then one, hitech filters are better they do a full ND Grad Set that will work in a Cokin P adaptor here you need to select 85mm from the dropdown above the price.

With the Cokin filters you can deal with the colour cast by adjusting the white balance/tint in RAW processing software BTW, here is an example I got with a dawn shot:-



The right hand side is the corrected version.

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by jet_kit

I don't entirely agree with Oldboy, I think you will need a tripod, if only to make you consider your framing. It is a fact that tripod shots are better composed than hand-held.

The OP said his budget is tight so to reduce costs suggest he forget the tripod and filters for now. The below shot was taken handheld.