What Lenses to Take?

deirdre

Top Veteran
Now that my GAS has continued unabated, I have a problem: what lenses to take with me on our upcoming cruise? We're going to Barcelona, Morocco, Madeira, and the Canary Islands. We'll be doing indoor shots (Alhambra) as well as outdoor ones, so I'll need fast lenses for the dim bits.

We will have a balcony cabin, but there's no real point in tripod shots due to waves and vibration; at night we'll be on the boat, and on tours, only a monopod (at most) is generally permitted.

We'll be gone for 12 days. Excluding the Nikonos, I have:

Cameras:
Panasonic GF1 with 20mm & 45mm macro (40mm and 90mm effective) + Leica M adapter (crop factor 2)

Leica M8 (digital, crop factor 1.33)

Leica CL (film)

Zeiss Super Ikonta III (6x6 medium format folder)

Lenses that can be used on the first 3:
15mm Voigtlander Heliar II (M mount) (20mm on M8, 30mm on GF1) -- definitely going with

28mm Voigtlander Ultron f/1.9 (37mm on M8, 56mm on GF1) -- my everyday lens

35mm Leitz (Canada) early M-mount Summicron f/2 (47mm on M8, 70mm on GF1, prone to flare, lower contrast than 28mm or 40mm)

40mm Voigtlander Nokton f/1.4 (53mm on M8, 80mm on GF1)

50mm Voigtlander Nokton f/1.1 (67mm on M8, 100mm on GF1) -- definitely going with

90mm Leica Elmar-C (came with the CL) f/4 (135mm on M8, 180mm on GF1, have hood)

135mm Leitz Hektor f/4.5 (180mm on M8, 270mm on GF1, no hood, and this lens is prone to flare even with a hood)

The 90mm is a much smaller lens than the 135, though, so I wonder about whether it's really worth that. I'd considered renting a 100-300mm zoom for the GF1. Sometimes you just want to see stuff really far away.

Thoughts?
 
This is really hard and I haven't even looked at your lenses list yet. Do you mean you're taking all four cameras with you on the trip?

I would've said take the Zeiss Super Ikonta III because it's almost a guarantee that you'll have spectacular landscape opportunities. If that was the case, I'd say you could leave your Leica CL behind. That would make space for an extra lens.

I guess you could take the GF1 to complement the Ikonta because of the potential for the telephoto zoom (more so than you'd get with the M8).

But I'm partial to the M8 myself... it's the travel camera after all...
 
This is my pick:

That should be plenty wide on the M8, plenty:
15mm Voigtlander Heliar II (M mount) (20mm on M8, 30mm on GF1) -- definitely going with

This would've been my walkaround standard 50mm(ish):
40mm Voigtlander Nokton f/1.4 (53mm on M8, 80mm on GF1)

Based on the 67mm/100mm length I wouldn't have considered this lens and gone for something closer to 50mm-ish (see above) but the Nokton f/1.1 is such a good lens to have so I am conflicted. But you have said you're definitely taking this so it's a moot point:
50mm Voigtlander Nokton f/1.1 (67mm on M8, 100mm on GF1) -- definitely going with

This would be my last choice, 135mm or 180mm should be ok I think. I mean you're not going to have, say, a 300mm telephoto on a DSLR so a 135mm/180mm is a good deal:
90mm Leica Elmar-C (came with the CL) f/4 (135mm on M8, 180mm on GF1, have hood)


I would have the 40mm or the 50mm Nokton on my M8 all the time as a walkaround lens and only use the wide or telephoto rarely when the opportunity arises. In the past when I used to carry my 7D rig around, I realised I hardly changed the lens all day even though I was carrying all a couple of other lenses in the bag.
 
I love my Micro 4/3 camera, I really do, but...for my next trip (whenever it may be) my number 1 starter will still be my Canon EOS 50D. More than likely with no manual-focus lenses and perhaps only one prime. I don't travel overseas every day so I want something versatile that I can trust absolutely, even if it is big. It sounds like a fantastic itinerary, Deirdre. Very jealous!
 
This is really hard and I haven't even looked at your lenses list yet. Do you mean you're taking all four cameras with you on the trip?

I'm taking three or four. Not sure.

I would've said take the Zeiss Super Ikonta III because it's almost a guarantee that you'll have spectacular landscape opportunities. If that was the case, I'd say you could leave your Leica CL behind. That would make space for an extra lens.

I guess you could take the GF1 to complement the Ikonta because of the potential for the telephoto zoom (more so than you'd get with the M8).

But I'm partial to the M8 myself... it's the travel camera after all...

Yeah, the M8 is great. I should add I'm taking a black-and-white class next term, and I haven't been able to contact the instructor yet. I asked two other profs and they said they liked working with 35 or 120, but I don't know how the instructor for my class feels about it. So that's an open question.

I'd get more looks out of the CL than out of the Zeiss, but there's that frame size thing.
 
Wow, Deirdre, sounds like a fantastic trip and I can't wait to see what you see!

I guess because you're using the cabin as your base, it's not a big deal to carry a lot of gear but each trip out you make you're going to have to narrow it down, I'd think. Less is more and all that, right? But then since you're taking that film class you'll want a film camera... So many choices!;)
 
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