Beginner Best Lens For Travel Photography

Matthew McCubbin

Matthew McCubbin

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Matthew
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Hi Guys,

Thanks for stopping by.

I have quite a few holidays book this year (1 week in Morocco - Feb, 1 week in Croatia - June, 2 weeks in China - October) and am in need of some advise regarding a good all-round lens for my Canon 750D.

I currently have the 15-55mm Kit lens which is great but has its limitation, making me worries that I might miss photographic opportunities.

I have around £350 Max to spend on this lens (I am only a beginner and most my money has been spend on these holiday :( )

Any kind words of advise would be great, and thanks for the help in advance!!

Many Thanks
Matt
 
Matthew McCubbin said:
I currently have the 15-55mm Kit lens which is great but has its limitation, making me worries that I might miss photographic opportunities.
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What kind of limitations? What kind of opportunities?
 
Matthew McCubbin said:
@StewartR - limitations zoom wise - if I spot subject further away and also fstop wise I think I would like something nearer to f2/2.5 if possible
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There will *always* be something too far away..so don't worry about it, instead think about the majority of photographs you want to take. What do they look like? What are they of?
 
When I couldn't decide what to take in a recent trip, I went back to my last trip and analysed the focal lengths of my images and worked out what to take from that. So do you have any similar trips thT you can look back on. Also, I agree with Alastair, whatever you take, you will most likely come across something that you can't capture; c'est la vie! I used to have a compact with a zoom. I changed to a Fuji x100t and just use my feet to zoom when I can. It's soooo light too. Hope that helps.
 
For me the best travel kit is a superzoom (18-200 or similar for your camera) and a fast prime for low light, night markets, that kind of thing.
 
Assuming you have the 17-55mm kit lens I'd be tempted to trade it in for the 15-85mm mainly for the noticeably wider 15mm end I've always found 17mm a bit tighter than I'd like on a crop the 15-85mm also gives you a bit more at the long end combine that with a fast prime and my kit would be complete.
 
a1ex2001 said:
Assuming you have the 17-55mm kit lens I'd be tempted to trade it in for the 15-85mm mainly for the noticeably wider 15mm end I've always found 17mm a bit tighter than I'd like on a crop the 15-85mm also gives you a bit more at the long end combine that with a fast prime and my kit would be complete.
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I'd imagine its the 18-55 rather than the much, much better 17-55 :)

If you can (OP) try and find a good used 18-135 IS. I used this quite a bit on my cropped Canon bodies and its a great, sharp and versatile lens. Unfortunately something has come loose in the lens body (possibly a tiny screw) which keeps jamming the aperture blades, and Canon's repair price is extortionate :(

Its a great travel lens.
 
I don't know anything about canon I didn't know it was such a lens as the 15-85 but that sounds to me a perfect travel lens.
 
Another vote for the 18-135. Ive always avoided kit lens but Ive actually brought both the STM and new Nano version of this lens for traveling light. The Nano is just to replace the STM as i find the STM vertison to be really sharp, but AF a bit slower than I'm used to with my L lenses. I can live with it but as i use that lens a lot on my 80D i thought I'd rest myself to the newer version.

For the budget stated i would (and did) get a 18-135 and 50mm f/1.8 or 24mm f/2.8. Both extremely sharp lenses and will work very well at night. There 18-135 will cover everything else IMO. The whole kit is very light.

The 18-135 STM can be picked up secondhand for around £150 so that leaves quite a bit left for the evening, low light stuff.

I'm off to Florida next month with my 80D and all the above lenses, cant wait.
 
Said it before, 15-85mm all day long for me. That said my wife uses my old 18-135mm Sigma as a walkabout on her 450D and gets some nice shots.
 
dave_bass5 said:
Yeah, the 15-85 is a good lens. I sold my old 17-55 f/2.8 to get one of those. I didn't really miss the 17-55 much, but i did hate the lens creep i got with the 15-85 after a few months.
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Yes, lens creep can be a bit of a nuisance.
 
Another vote for the 15-85. Almost as good as L series lenses but without the weather proofing. Should be available within your budget.
 
Thanks for all your suggestions and great advise!!

Just an update and some closure, I have bought 3 lenses (which wasn't the plan but I got a bit too excited)

- 18-135mm canon lens
- 50mm f1.8 Canon lens
- 10-20mm Sigma lens

Again thanks for all your help.
I will keep you updated with pics from the holiday :)

Matt
 
Matthew McCubbin said:
Thanks for all your suggestions and great advise!!

Just an update and some closure, I have bought 3 lenses (which wasn't the plan but I got a bit too excited)

- 18-135mm canon lens
- 50mm f1.8 Canon lens
- 10-20mm Sigma lens

Again thanks for all your help.
I will keep you updated with pics from the holiday :)

Matt
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The 18-135 STM is a great travel lens as is thw 10-18.

The 15-85 is my favoutite walkabout zoom but it is very heavy and not compacy.

When using my 750D my favourite is the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 Art (c £299). Compact and unobtrusive. The extra speed is useful as well as evening low light moments. I also stick the 24mm STM Pancake in my baf for city trips.

Though I mainly use an EOS M for travel I take the Sigma and 10-18 with the ef-m 22mm pancake.

In essence you are covered with the lens kit you list. The 15-85 will do most of what you need but is less thsn great in low light as it really sits mainly at around f/5.6 once you move off 15-22mm
I got the Sigma for that amd weight reasons.

Steve
 
The Canon 18-135mm is a great all a rounder. it s cheap, light and very capable.
 
Lens you have is fine, save your money.

A lens is like a fast car, no matter how fast it goes you'll always want one with more speed available.... but not often will you actually need it.

Personally I now use a 35mm 1.8 and shoot everything wide when on holiday, main reason is it's light to carry all day.
 
chicmedia said:
Lens you have is fine, save your money.

A lens is like a fast car, no matter how fast it goes you'll always want one with more speed available.... but not often will you actually need it.

Personally I now use a 35mm 1.8 and shoot everything wide when on holiday, main reason is it's light to carry all day.
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I guess you didn't see the last few replies [emoji3]
 
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