One lens for Turkey

[JeremyS]

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Understood Erl. Thanks. Sorry if I misunderstood your post.

 

Jeremy

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[earleygallery]

Adding a 25mm Skopar would be my advice and taking all 3.

 

In the overall scheme of things the lens is cheap and you could sell it for much the same after the trip if you wanted!

[MarkP]

I think everyone agrees that a wider lens, and a wider choice of lenses is ideal.

 

Take both the 35 & 50 if you can.

 

Bu, if lens changing will slow you down, or your wife & kids are going to get the shits waiting for you:mad: (can I say that here?), and you only want on lens, make it the 35.

I often found that travelling with the family (especially when the kids were younger and needed two adults for supervision) I needed to compromise with what I photographic gear I used. For a while I travelled with a Contax T3 film camera (P&S, with manual override, and a jewel of a 35mm lens) and was delighted with the results.

Good luck:D

 

Mark

[NZDavid]

I've been to Istanbul and Cappadoccia (Goreme and also did the underground city tour -- freaky!), but not Ephesus. Went to Pamukkale and its limestone terraces (amazing) and Aphrodisias.

 

Very friendly people all over, but step away from main tourist streets in Instanbul to avoid being harassed by carpet sellers. Brilliant food. Train is a good way to go, long-distance buses are exhausting. We flew to Goreme.

 

Sites and sights: Istanbul. Mosques including Hagia Sophia, Sultanahmet (Blue Mosque), Topkapi palace, spice markets and grand bazaar, underground cistern, Roman museum, the Bosphorus and Golden Horn.

 

Cappadoccia: Byzantine churches, rock formations.

 

Lenses? My take is different to Erl's and others. I think you can use just one lens and get great pictures. After all, HCB did. So did Brian Brake (I have his book of China pictures from the 50s, using an M3, 50mm 'cron collapsible, and Kodachrome, and they are crackers). A challenge, but a test of skill.

 

For details, people scenes and even some of the mosques, inside and out, there is enough space to get away with a 50. In any case it is often impossible to get everything in, and being selective with a slightly longer lens can be effective.

 

However, W/A is often indispensable. A D-Lux 5 with its 24-90 could be useful as a backup. I wonder why you are restricting yourself to just one lens, though? As others have pointed, both lenses (or even a third as well) are hardly heavy or bulky.

[stuny]

It struck me that Barbara's trip notes for Turkey are very thorough, and cover those three venues. Quite a number of friends, collleagues and friends of theirs found the notes to be most helpful. I encourage you to go to our site and read them.

[erl]

NZDavid, I agree with you up to a point about HCB and Brian Brake and even others and the work they captured with just a 50mm lens. My point would be: we will never see what they missed because of the lack of other lenses! I would never want that to happen to me because I may never 'be there' again.

 

Qualification: I travel for the purpose of photography. I travel alone to permit that.

[bocaburger]

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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.

 

Thanks and appreciate your advise!

Udit

 

Some of what I think agrees with what Erl said.

 

I've traveled extensively, and I'm serious about the photography although I don't try to sell it. Therefore I temper my desire to have the most flexible and extensive outfit, with the desire to still enjoy my trip. For this reason I have a selection of the full range of focal lengths available for a Leica, 12mm on up to 400mm, but limit myself to a maximum of 4 lenses at a time. With the double rear end caps, I can fit 4 lenses and the body and a small flash in a little Domke J5XB bag, that is neither too bulky or weighty for comfort. There have been occasions when I take only one lens, but not an expensive trip to an exotic and highly-photogenic location. The whole point of owning a system camera IMHO, is being able to have a variety of lenses.

 

After all these years it's not difficult for me to choose which lenses to take where. Without the experience, and knowing your own "style", it's not so easy. I'm not the kind who feels comfortable getting in strangers' faces, so I tend to gravitate toward longer lenses. For me a "street" lens is a 90 or 135 (and better, a 180 if I can). Likewise, wide-angles can be very tricky to use. They can produce some funky distortion (even a rectilinear lens will do this if tilted). And the notion that a wide lens is better for scenics because it takes in more area has to be tempered with the knowledge that these lenses tend also to diminish the size of background objects, and make images look somewhat 2-dimensional as well. A 21mm shot of a mountain range lacks the splendor we experience seeing it live, even though the horizontal coverage might be similar.

 

If I were going on your trip to Turkey, I would bring a 15mm, 21mm, 50mm and 135mm. That's based on my knowledge of the place, combined with my photographic goals.

 

However, if I had only a 35 and a 50 I would certainly bring just the 35. I've never carried 35 and 50 together, and certainly given the file quality of the M9, the minor crop involved in garnering a 50mm view from a 35mm shot would not IMO pose a significant IQ issue.

[wizard]

Having visited Istanbul just a few weeks ago with my M7 and Tri-Elmar 28-35-50, I would suggest go with the 35mm lens if you really want to take only one lens. However, I did use all three focal lengths offered by the Tri extensively (28 is perfect for indoor shots of e.g. the mosques or the Gran Bazaar, 28 or 35 is well suited for street shots and 50 is useful for detail and scenery shots), so I would encourage you to take your 50mm lens along as well. After all, it is not a particularly big and heavy lens, and since you own it, you might as well use it. I used two lenses as well, my other lens was a 90mm Elmarit.

 

Regards,

 

Andy

[NZDavid]

The 35 is probably then ideal travel lens, the 50 requires more discipline but is surprisingly versatile. If you are thinking of going and getting a wider lens, I would recommend the 24/2.8 Elmarit ASPH. It's excellent for interiors, wide landscapes, and street scenes.

[Guest BigSplash]

I agree with Brett and with deep regret I have to agree with Bill also (who is saying the same thing!).

It used to be according to the books that you could travel the world with just two lenses 35mm and 90mm and I sort of agree with that.

 

In days gone past I would show "the story" as a slide show and would be able with just these two lenes to show different perspectives and different fields of view /depth. In a sequence of images they look great and tell a story. I have found that this works well to a point but the few images with my 21mm just adds so much to the story.

 

Today we look at stuff on a monitor and maybe make some prints...and Leica have told us that 35mm is THE universal lens as per X1. They tell us that with that single lens you can achieve most of what you may wish to photograph. I guess I agree with that assessment...howeve to achieve different perspectives I think using more than one lens is a benefit.

 

Frankly if you have BOTH a 35mm and a 50mm I could not imagine any scenario why I would not take both, especially since the two lenses are reasonable in size and weight.

 

I also think that you need to achieve a partnership with any lens so if the "love -in" has not yet happened I would strongly suggest taking both and using one per day at a time!

 

Good Luck...my wife is Turkish and I love the country you are going to. I am sure you will come back with happy memories and excellent images ...maybe we can see them here!?

[andybarton]

Qualification: I travel for the purpose of photography. I travel alone to permit that.

 

That's the big difference between doing that and travelling somewhere with wife and children.

[andybarton]

... with deep regret I have to agree with Bill also.

 

Why?

[MarkP]

That's the big difference between doing that and travelling somewhere with wife and children.

 

Thank you! Exactly the point I made in my earlier post.

 

We are about to leave for Europe and England for 6 weeks. I will need to find a compromise between touring, family, and photography that does not try the family's patience. I plan to travel with 21 Lux, 35 Lux, and 75 Cron (although the 50 Lux is strongly tempting me to be taken)

 

Mark

[erl]

Thank you! Exactly the point I made in my earlier post.

 

We are about to leave for Europe and England for 6 weeks. I will need to find a compromise between touring, family, and photography that does not try the family's patience. I plan to travel with 21 Lux, 35 Lux, and 75 Cron (although the 50 Lux is strongly tempting me to be taken)

 

Mark

 

I would take the extra lens on a 6 week trip, despite the wife and children. Consider the bulk of that tiny lens relative to the rest of your combined luggage. There is nothing that says you must carry every lens every day. When venturing out of your accommodation, make an informed choice on the spot about 'today's' lenses.

 

In times gone by, I carried a full Nikon outfit everyday for 3 months touring the UK & Europe with my wife. It nearly killed me but I got better pics as a result. Oh how I wish I had been using Leica then.

[NZDavid]

...We are about to leave for Europe and England....

 

...touring the UK & Europe....

 

I thought England/Britain/UK was actually part of Europe now? Well, the EC anyway, united by centuries of warfare, rivalry and the Eurovision Song Contest...

[MarkP]

NZDavid:

UK (England)/Europe unity: politically maybe (unlikely), but geographically (if you recall) there is a small stream separating the two!

 

Erl:

I unloaded the hefty Nikon F3/T system to travel lighter...

but my 50 Lux thanks you for the opportunity of overseas travel.. I will take it after all!

 

Regards all,

Mark

[erl]

Mark, you will be eternally pleased you took it, I know.

 

You could even get your wife or children involved by asking them to carry your camera bag. That will definitely lighten your load.

[Bo_Lorentzen]

Udit,

 

If traveling light, take the 35mm 2.0 it is a great lens. it is wide enough to get group shots of family members as you travel and high enough quality that everybody still will look great.

 

.

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Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Driver8]

I am planning to visit Istanbul, Cappadocia and Ephesis later this month...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? Udit

Alex Webb shot his Turkey project entirely with a Leica M6 and 35mm lens. See here for samples:

Istanbul on Edge Zoom In @ National Geographic Magazine

[MarkP]

Thanks Erl. I think I'd be told where to stick the bag!

 

Nevertheless, as Bo and driver8 stated, if it was a choice of taking only one lens it would be a fast 35mm.

 

Regards,

Mark