Eden project

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thesmileyone

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Hi i am going to the eden project for the first time this saturday, i was wondering what the best lens to take is ? I am going to hire one as all I have is a 50mm prime.

Ideally something that will cover all the focal length i need as i dont want to be taking the lens off whilst in a subtropic dome!

Im wondering if the 24-70 (36-105 on my camera) would be ideal ? Camera is a D300s.

Thanks!
 
I'd actually go a little wider, one of the 18-55 f2.8's would be best.

The 24-70 on a crop body isn't wide enough in a lot of situations and that would certainly be one of them.

Your lens btw will fog up in the tropical dome, nothing you can do other than to wipe and wait for the temperatures to even out.

Make sure you are dressed for a rain forest though, its very easy to overheat when you come in from November in the UK!
 
The 18-70 should work well for the Eden project I would have thought. It is a well regarded lens and if you are going during the day, the aperture should not be a problem as you should have enough light. It should also be sharper than the 50mm f/1.8 is wide open.
Not sure why you would want to use f/1.8 all the time unless you want the limited DOF, the lens is not at its best sharpness wise until you stop down to about f/2.2 in my experience.
 
It's a lovely place and I hope that you enjoy it.

When shooting outside I wanted a wider lens than what I'd taken with me (started at 28mm... on a Canon APS-C) and I suppose a macro would be nice inside but in the tropical area my camera just misted up and I gave up.

If I was going back I think I'd take my tamron 17-50mm f2.8 as it's wide and long enough and can focus quite close.
 
Last time I was there I had a 17-40. Worked fine although more range is always a benefit.
 
Depends what you want to take photos of......... a macro lens for flowers and a wide angle on a tripod for wide shots with a long zoom for some of the wild life in the tropical biome ;)
 
i wouldn't worry about changing lens in the biome - your mirror , lens , sensor - everything going to be running with water due to condensation due to the temp difference - i usually go straight into the tropical biome - leaving the camera in my backpack for 20 Min's ish when i get in there - it still fogs at this time of year.
 
Just a warning here... When going into the sphere's (Tropical areas) you will find that your lens will get loads of condensation on it so be prepared to wait for the lens to warm up!
 
and another tip.... if you go into the tropical Biome you can also book to go up the steps to the viewing platform at the very top. A new feature for 2010. You can take your gear up there. It is very very warm though... in the 40's! You will only want to spend 10 mins up there and you come down dripping wet through. Take a bottle of water; I swear you will be wishing you had if you don't.

Lens wise I took my 24-105. I would have also taken a macro if I had one.

Enjoy
 
I went there in May this year and my lens just misted up in the tropical biosphere, almost as soon as I went in as it was so humid. :(

Strangely though my Panasonic TZ-3 did not :thinking:

Some great flowers in the Mediterranean biosphere though
 
Heed the warnings about misting up! Get the camera warmed up in the car, then put it in a plastic bag and keep it warm under your jacket until you're in the humid zone. It'll still mist up, but you'll be fine after a couple of minutes ;)

Edit: 17-55 2.8 sounds perfect, but a macro is also a good plan. Maybe just a short extension tube, or something like a +3 close-up lens will save you taking the lens off. I'd also take a flash gun if I was going again as there are a few shady spots and the light won't be great at this time of year.
 
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When I went 2 years ago I went straight into the tropical biosphere and started shooting (Nikon D50 with 18-55) with no misting problems. It was summer, so maybe there was not such a large temperature difference.

It might be an idea to go into the other biosphere first, coming from outside, before going to the tropical side to allow some temperature equalisation.
 
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