Take camera or not?

Iren

Iren

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Name
Irina
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I am planning solo trip to Florence in March and still thinking if i should take my camera or not.
I have canon 6D and 2 lenses - 50mm and 85mm.
Would 50mm be enough to take photos of architecture and people (if i dare to do it wothout zoom)?

Thanks
 
If you're on your own I would most definitely take a camera. Pretty limited with the lenses though. Can you stretch to a used 17-40?
 
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Why ever not take a camera. Having to walk backwards or forwards to compose the shot is not such a penalty. I believe Cartier-Bresson used a 50mm for a lot of his famous shots.
 
I went to Florence in 2015. If you don't take a camera you will seriously regret it. The view from the Piazza Michelangelo in the evening is wonderful (medium long lens best), excellent views from the top of the Duomo Campanile (well worth the climb). A wide angle lens would be useful to have.
 
Chalklers said:
I went to Florence in 2015. If you don't take a camera you will seriously regret it. The view from the Piazza Michelangelo in the evening is wonderful (medium long lens best), excellent views from the top of the Duomo Campanile (well worth the climb). A wide angle lens would be useful to have.
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Thank you!
I am really into portraits, therefore dont have ant long/wide lenses, but i'll see if i can borrow or rent one
 
BrynBoru said:
Why ever not take a camera. Having to walk backwards or forwards to compose the shot is not such a penalty. I believe Cartier-Bresson used a 50mm for a lot of his famous shots.
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I am still thinking as its not very portable, plus ill be alone, so not sure about safety and finally i have only "portrait" lenses, so not sure if i get any use of them there.
I'll check out the work you mdntioned, thank you
 
If you are worried about safety could you perhaps get insurance for your camera gear? Or does it tend to be little use?

If you don't fancy risking your expensive DSLR you could always join the dark side and pick up a cheap film SLR with wide angle, standard and portrait lens kit. Probably not much chance of being mugged with that and you get the excitement of having to wait for processing when you return home.

In all seriousness though there is nothing worse than having a golden photo opportunity in front of you and no camera to take advantage of it. Try taking a regular bag/ backpack that looks as boring and uninviting as possible and wrap your camera up inside that so it isn't obvious that you're lugging around something worth stealing.
 
Iren said:
finally i have only "portrait" lenses
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A lens is whatever you want it to be or do, not just a portrait lens. You'll get memorable shots if you use what you have inventively. And of course, you can use a mob. phone if you're stuck. (Forget the selfie stick!)
 
There's something to be said about just shooting with the 50mm, learn to love it, learn to use it, learn to see the shot and no where to stand before you even put it to your eye. Personally I'd just go with the 50mm, if that's all I had
 
A decent compact would be more portable and would deliver better than "snap" quality. Shouldn't cost the earth and would be less "mugger bait" (although that sounds like it shouldn't be a real problem in Florence) than an SLR.
 
mdjchat said:
If you are worried about safety could you perhaps get insurance for your camera gear? Or does it tend to be little use?

If you don't fancy risking your expensive DSLR you could always join the dark side and pick up a cheap film SLR with wide angle, standard and portrait lens kit. Probably not much chance of being mugged with that and you get the excitement of having to wait for processing when you return home.

In all seriousness though there is nothing worse than having a golden photo opportunity in front of you and no camera to take advantage of it. Try taking a regular bag/ backpack that looks as boring and uninviting as possible and wrap your camera up inside that so it isn't obvious that you're lugging around something worth stealing.
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Thank you, thats what I'll be doing , I am taking backpack with me and I have something to wrap up the camera and put it on the bottom, thanks for the idea!
 
Iren said:
thanks everyone, I'll take 50mm with me and share some photos afterwards (hopefully there will be few decent)
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I shoot with a 40mm about 90% of the time. I went out with a zoom last weekend for the first time in a while and i just didn't like it. I'm indecisive at the best of times and with a zoom i just couldn't decide how best to shoot the scenes.
 
Florence/Firenze is a fabulous city, and you'll be really pelased you took a camera. There's so many statues too that there will be plenty of opportunity of 'portrait' work.
 
Then experiment!

Many of the (famous) statues are within touching distance, so you could treat them like portraits. There will likely be lots of people there, many of whom will be photogenic.

Buildings - try to either find interesting details close up or get the whole thing with some space around it by standing back. Use a smallish aperture (f8/11 never did any harm, depending on lens performance) to keep as much sharp as possible and if you can't keep everything in focus then find a focal point & focus on that. look for interesting shapes, lines, colours, structures (lots of those in the Duomo) little cameo scenes in cafes. Use arches to frame, pillars for leading lines etc.

We had a couple of nights there in 2006 when I was on my way to a conference in Siena, and absolutely loved the place (I also got a small fine for trying to drive over the old bridge by mistake :p ).
 
ancient_mariner said:
Then experiment!

Many of the (famous) statues are within touching distance, so you could treat them like portraits. There will likely be lots of people there, many of whom will be photogenic.

Buildings - try to either find interesting details close up or get the whole thing with some space around it by standing back. Use a smallish aperture (f8/11 never did any harm, depending on lens performance) to keep as much sharp as possible and if you can't keep everything in focus then find a focal point & focus on that. look for interesting shapes, lines, colours, structures (lots of those in the Duomo) little cameo scenes in cafes. Use arches to frame, pillars for leading lines etc.

We had a couple of nights there in 2006 when I was on my way to a conference in Siena, and absolutely loved the place (I also got a small fine for trying to drive over the old bridge by mistake :p ).
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Thank you very much for the tips, exactly what I was looking for. Lets see what I will be able to capture in the end :)

Looks like you have great photos and memories from there (hope the fine was not too big)
 
Iren said:
I am still thinking as its not very portable, plus ill be alone, so not sure about safety and finally i have only "portrait" lenses, so not sure if i get any use of them there.
I'll check out the work you mdntioned, thank you
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Take it, its perfectly portable, the 6d is fairly small for a FF body and those lenses are small! Put it in a little messenger bad and you'd barely notice :)
 
Iren said:
Thank you! Do you have any tips for me? I am into portraits only, so have no idea about the settings and focus point for statues or building
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All the same principles apply, though you'd want to use a narrower aperture than you probably would for portraits.
 
Hi Iren, here is another vote for just your camera + the 50mm lens. I have a closet full of gear, and tend to use just a body + 50mm for cities nowadays... it's liberating! When I take too much gear my mindset is on trying to shoot "everything" and usually that ends with lots of mediocre photos. I mean, technically fine and rather aesthetic, but similar from the millions of pictures that already exist and thus rather boring.
Since you have a preferred style (portraits), why not think of doing a little "project" on a theme? Like, "portraits of locals"? Or even, "baristas at work"?
Just my suggestion of course, and I guess all of this says more about what I would do than anything else ;-).
 
Kris_D said:
Hi Iren, here is another vote for just your camera + the 50mm lens. I have a closet full of gear, and tend to use just a body + 50mm for cities nowadays... it's liberating! When I take too much gear my mindset is on trying to shoot "everything" and usually that ends with lots of mediocre photos. I mean, technically fine and rather aesthetic, but similar from the millions of pictures that already exist and thus rather boring.
Since you have a preferred style (portraits), why not think of doing a little "project" on a theme? Like, "portraits of locals"? Or even, "baristas at work"?
Just my suggestion of course, and I guess all of this says more about what I would do than anything else ;-).
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Thats a good advice, thank you! I like the idea of a theme/project and shoot people rather than buildings. I guess I wont look strange as there will be a lot of other people with camera (or at least I hope so).
 
Iren said:
Thank you! Do you have any tips for me? I am into portraits only, so have no idea about the settings and focus point for statues or building
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Take just the 50 and photograph what you're interested in. Either stop people and ask to create portraits or do some candid street photography. Both are challenging, fun and really good practice. And if you want pictures of all the famous sites then buy a book of pictures of the famous sites, then you won't feel that you've missed out on some essential tourist image.
 
If you could borrow an EF 24-105 f/4 that would be ideal as a walkaround lens. The 50 f/1.8 would be great for evening/night/low light shots.

I was in Rome in the fall last year and personally I would have been quite frustrated if I only had 50mm as my shortest focal length. No chance of getting the Coliseum in the frame with that!
 
Chalklers said:
I went to Florence in 2015. If you don't take a camera you will seriously regret it. The view from the Piazza Michelangelo in the evening is wonderful (medium long lens best), excellent views from the top of the Duomo Campanile (well worth the climb). A wide angle lens would be useful to have.
Click to expand...

This. I'm going to Italy in June and a sunset blue hour at the piazza Michelangelo is a planned highlight of the trip!
 
juggler said:
Take just the 50 and photograph what you're interested in. Either stop people and ask to create portraits or do some candid street photography. Both are challenging, fun and really good practice. And if you want pictures of all the famous sites then buy a book of pictures of the famous sites, then you won't feel that you've missed out on some essential tourist image.
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Thank you, thats what i am going to do, 2 days left, so cant wait. I am also packing selfie stick just in case :)
I'll probably will look into interesting details like doors and other parts of the buildings and will try to do some portraits as well. Good advice about book with pictures :) i'll just enjoy the city
 
maarten.dhaese said:
If you could borrow an EF 24-105 f/4 that would be ideal as a walkaround lens. The 50 f/1.8 would be great for evening/night/low light shots.

I was in Rome in the fall last year and personally I would have been quite frustrated if I only had 50mm as my shortest focal length. No chance of getting the Coliseum in the frame with that!
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50mm it is for me. I'll enjoy the city with my eyes and will take photos of locals instead of the buildings :)
 
Iren said:
50mm it is for me. I'll enjoy the city with my eyes and will take photos of locals instead of the buildings :)
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You'll still be able to take photos of the buildings, they'll just be further away [emoji3]
 
Craig_85 said:
This. I'm going to Italy in June and a sunset blue hour at the piazza Michelangelo is a planned highlight of the trip!
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When you go, try first little higher, San Miniato al Monte, beautiful church with breathtaking views and not so crowded as Michelangelo. I'll post few photosof what ive managed to capture when i get home, i am in love with that place!
 
Iren said:
When you go, try first little higher, San Miniato al Monte, beautiful church with breathtaking views and not so crowded as Michelangelo. I'll post few photosof what ive managed to capture when i get home, i am in love with that place!
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Thanks for the tip I will check it out. And I look forward to seeing your shots.
 
If I had a pound for every time I kicked myself because I didn't have a wide angle lens and wanted to take a shot.........For cityscaping a wide angle is a must. We don't often go back to where we visit and places change. If your mobile phone has a semi decent camera in it then maybe you are fine to go.
 
Mintchocs said:
If I had a pound for every time I kicked myself because I didn't have a wide angle lens and wanted to take a shot.........For cityscaping a wide angle is a must. We don't often go back to where we visit and places change. If your mobile phone has a semi decent camera in it then maybe you are fine to go.
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This is true, but the OP would probably regret just using a mobile when you could have taken the 6d!
 
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