One lens for Turkey

[Udit]

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Hi,

 

I am planning to visit Istanbul, Cappadocia and Ephesis later this month with my wife and two children.

 

I was wondering if I could leverage your experience to decide on one lens to take.

 

I have an m9 with 35mm f2 and 50mm f2. I am more inclined to taking 35mm. Do you think it would be better to carry a wider focal length? I would need to buy or borrow in that case!

 

Thanks and appreciate your advise!

Udit

[lars_bergquist]

I would say that 35mm is the more versatile, especially in an urban environment. But much depends of course on what focal length you feel most at home with.

 

We are all different, which makes life somewhat less boring.

 

The old man from the Age of the 5cm Elmar

[mercan]

For Capadocia and Ephesus, I would prefer at least 28mm lens.

[DM_Neil]

I have the exact same kit as you do, M9 and 35mm and 50mm summicrons. Having visited those exact locations, wider is definitely better.

 

Ephesus in particular has wide expanses of ruins and some magnificent and large structural areas (a temple foundation and a medium-sized amphitheater) that the 50mm focal length may be too narrow to capture completely. The suggestion for a 28mm is a good one; note that if you're trying to limit your kit to just one lens, there will be some opportunities to capture cafe scenes in Istanbul, as well as mosque details, interiors, shops items, textures, and other street subjects that would benefit from a narrower lens so a 28mm might feel slightly wide.

 

The 35mm cron is a good balance and will cover most of your shooting situations. Have a great trip, post some pics when you return.

 

Neil

[juergen]

For Capadocia and Ephesus, I would prefer at least 28mm lens.

 

Doesn't help much if you only have a 35 and a 50 to choose from, does it.

 

Juergen

[stunsworth]

35mm IMHO. When I got my first M the only lenses I had were a Leica 35mm and a Voigtlander 25mm. I've visited Turkey many times and the one lens I would always carry would be the 35mm.

 

Incidentally when you visit Ephesus make sure you visit the museum in nearby Selcuk. It's not big, but it's one of my favourites. You can also get something to eat in the town, and it's a lot quieter than Kusadasi.

[richam]

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By all means, take the 35mm, and I'll add some rationale. I have the poor man's 35 (M8+28mm), and it stays on the camera well over 90% of the time. The only reason I can think of for the 50mm is if you are going to do predominantly people/portrait shots taken at comfortable working distances. Check my Faces of Turkey link below for examples of these type shots taken with 50mm. You can still get such shots with the 35mm by moving in closer and/or post-cropping. For everything else, your 35mm is ideal as a travel lens.

[juergen]

The 35mm has been my one and only lens on my M6 for quite a while and even now, with more lenses to choose from, the 35mm is on the camera for well over 90% of the time.

 

If you want to limit yourself to one lens, it should be the 35mm.

 

Juergen

[erl]

Sorry, I always seem to come out of 'left field.' You have only two lenses. 35mm & 50mm! What's wrong with taking them both? They are probably lighter than anything else you are taking. Frankly, that is an incomplete kit to travel to such destinations and consider you have done it justice, assuming you are serious about photography.

 

If you are on a family jaunt, the appropriate kit is probably a P&S. That will give you no grief to transport and cover pics of you and or the family in front of every monument en route. Definitely the best for that.

 

Serious travel photography demands a serious kit and suffering the burden with no compromise. Remember what you are paying to be there. Why would you compromise the (photographic) result for the sake of carting an extra lens? You have two. Take them. It's not even debatable.

[gravastar]

Doesn't help much if you only have a 35 and a 50 to choose from, does it.

 

Juergen

One possibility for landscapes etc. is for Udit to use the 35mm and take two or more overlapping frames and stitch them together with software to give a wider field of view. As long as you rotate the camera/lens around the lens entrance pupil this works well. The entrance pupil for many Leica lenses is approximately where the aperture setting ring is. Of course this isn't so easy to do if there are very close foreground objects or for crowded street scenes. You must use the same manual exposure setting for all frames for the best results. Photoshop CS5, AutoPano, Hugin, PTGui to name a few are suitable programs.....even CleVR although I haven't tried their system.

 

Udit, if you do decide to do this be sure you can make it work before you travel!

 

Bob.

[stuny]

For those locations go with the wide lens, and have a wonderful time.

[JeremyS]

I refer to Erl's comment, "You have only two lenses. 35mm & 50mm! Frankly, that is an incomplete kit to travel to such destinations and consider you have done it justice, assuming you are serious about photography."

 

How does that comment help anybody?

[pop]

I refer to Erl's comment, "You have only two lenses. 35mm & 50mm! Frankly, that is an incomplete kit to travel to such destinations and consider you have done it justice, assuming you are serious about photography."

 

How does that comment help anybody?

 

The person who would be able to answer that would be the person who started this thread. However, with reference to the original query, I personally would say that Erl's reply was very to the point:

 

 

(...) . I am more inclined to taking 35mm. Do you think it would be better to carry a wider focal length? I would need to buy or borrow in that case!

[JeremyS]

So let me get this right, Pop. A person asks for advice on taking a SINGLE lens and the advice is (a) the two lenses that he currently has are insufficient and ( he needs to take MORE lenses. And that is on the point and helpful?

[pop]

So let me get this right, Pop. A person asks for advice on taking a SINGLE lens and the advice is (a) the two lenses that he currently has are insufficient and ( he needs to take MORE lenses. And that is on the point and helpful?

 

I have several decades' worth of experience in giving advice and trouble shooting. It is a very common case that someone asking for advice already seems to be decided in favor of a solution which does not meet the actual needs or desires. To act in the best interest of the person asking for advice you have to base your advice on the perceived needs and not on the options already considered or discarded.

 

So, yes, it is perfectly possible to give useful and valuable advice which lies outside of the compass of the question actually being asked.

 

With reference to the query at hand: several people have mentioned that - given the subjects you can reasonably expect - that an even shorter lens would probably be preferable. Erl suggests to think again about the first decision, i.e. about the number of lenses to be brought on the trip. That's in my eyes a sensible suggestion because it minimizes the number of occasions where you can not take the best shot just because you happened to leave the tool at home.

[juergen]

So let me get this right, Pop. A person asks for advice on taking a SINGLE lens and the advice is (a) the two lenses that he currently has are insufficient and ( he needs to take MORE lenses. And that is on the point and helpful?

 

Sorry, bur Erl's original comment was "You have only two lenses. 35mm & 50mm! What's wrong with taking them both?"

 

And that in my eyes is an absolute valid question.

 

Juergen

[bill]

Let me put this another way.

 

"I am going to swim the Channel and plan to do so with one arm tied behind my back; should I tie the left or the right?"

 

There are times when taking a single lens is a good option, but not this one. By all means avoid taking an arsenal that will weigh you down and increase the likelihood of a) having the wrong lens on the camera at the wrong time, having no lens on the camera at the wrong time or c) paying your chiropractor large sums of money upon your return but why on Earth, when there is only a binary choice, leave one at home?

 

You only have two lenses. Take them both. Stop agonising about it.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[bybrett]

Take both lenses only use one a day (leave one in the hotel safe).

 

Enjoy the challenge!

Cheers

[neli]

I must chime in.

WIll you be taking pictures of your family as well. If yes, they will look prettier with the 50.

Will you be taking pictures of incredible architecture and landscapes, take the 35.

Better pack them both.

 

Best

 

Epicurus

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[erl]

I refer to Erl's comment, "You have only two lenses. 35mm & 50mm! Frankly, that is an incomplete kit to travel to such destinations and consider you have done it justice, assuming you are serious about photography."

 

How does that comment help anybody?

 

Jeremy, please read my post again, in the full context of what I wrote, in response the original question. Put another way, I was trying to say "you have five fingers on each of your hands. Don't cut any off to lighten your burden because you may feel disadvantaged in your endeavours as a consequence."