Travelling to Nepal, lens suggestions?

[fursan]

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I have been to Nepal a few times. My wife has been to the last Base camp on Everest.

She just carried her D-Lux4.

 

I had a M8 ( I still have it.. And most of my images were made with the lux 50 asph.

 

Here are 2 that I have posted here long time ago..

 

 

 

I do not subscribe to the view that wide scenes need wa and so on.

One can make images with whatever one has.

 

But, do travel light.

[rirakuma]

Thanks Fursan, I also plan on traveling as light as possible. There's been lots of recommendations for the 21 so now I'm wondering whether I should carry my M8 as well so I can use that combo as a 28. Initially I was going to bring the M and M6 but it would make a lot of sense to have the 21 ready on the M8 and 35 on the M or vice versa. The 90 will be used the least but it will give a nice variation of perspective when needed. I thought about bringing a tripod but I might just carry my portable Joby pod rather than the Benro. With this setup I can carry a very small 5L backpack with a water bottle, the two bodies, 3 lens, filters an oufro and I'll use paracord to tie the small tripod onto the backpack.

 

I've also decided to make a small trip to Varanasi while I'm down there, it just seems too good of an opportunity to pass. So instead of doing the Annapurna circuit I'll go to Varanasi in my first two days and spend the rest of the time trekking around Tamang. Just curious if anyone else here is planning to go there late December? Would love to meet other shooters during the trip

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[Stealth3kpl]

I'm just back from Bhutan, trekking. I took 2 MPs with 21SEM, 35FLE, 50ASPH and 90 Elmar f4. As expected, I used the 35 and 50 mainly, but at one point at a festival, I found I had the 21 and the 90 mounted on the MPs. If I were returning tomorrow, I think I'd take a couple of Voigtlander R4A bodies, and 35 and 50 summicrons rather than Summiluxes, to reduce weight. I considered taking only the 28 summicron and a 50Asph, but I think I would've found the combo too limiting; 35mm is a very natural focal length for me. If I were to leave one lens behind, I think it would be the 90mm, leaving me with the 21/35/50 combo. The 90 Elmar is so small and light, there's no excuse not to take it.

Pete

[paulsydaus]

Cool. What altitude is that?

 

 

I have been to Nepal a few times. My wife has been to the last Base camp on Everest.

She just carried her D-Lux4.

 

I had a M8 ( I still have it.. And most of my images were made with the lux 50 asph.

 

Here are 2 that I have posted here long time ago..

 

 

 

I do not subscribe to the view that wide scenes need wa and so on.

One can make images with whatever one has.

 

But, do travel light.

[paulsydaus]

Well, I think the mini table tripod is a great compromise, good idea.

Make sure you have insurance. Things do get stolen in Nepal...

I'm considering going back but not sure when. I'm not sure if December is the best time to go because of the freezing weather. Usually October and March are the peak seasons. The middle of summer should also be avoided because of the monsoons.

[fursan]

Thanks. Around 3500 mts.

 

Cool. What altitude is that?

[Herr Barnack]

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In September, I spent two weeks in Mongolia. I took the 21/3.4 ASPH, 28/2 ASPH,, 50/1.4. non-ASPH, 50/1.0 Noctilux and the 90/2 ASPH. I didn't use the 21/3.4 but I did use the other four lenses. The 28/2, 50/1.4 and 90/2 were the lenses I used most.

 

The 50/1.4 and 28/2 are far and away my most used lenses - at home or abroad; that having been said, the 90mm optic is an absolute must have if you plan on photographing in Buddhist temples while prayers & chanting are being conducted. It is the only way you can get portrait type photos of the monks without disrupting their ceremonies and being a jackass.

 

The 50/1.0 Noctilux was not used much, but I did use it to create some truly outstanding (I'm told) images of candle lit supplicants at Gandan Monastery in Ulaanbaatar, images that I could not have made using the 50/1.4. It is a big, bulky lens but I'm glad I took it.

 

If you are more comfortable with a 35 than a 28, then take the 35. If you are adamant about taking only three lenses, I would say take the 28 (or 35), the 50 and the 90.

 

But then again... the 21 and 35 are so light and small that you might as well stick them in a pocket and take them, too.

Edited October 23, 2014 by Carlos Danger

[Rick]

Don't hold yourself to some set number of lenses like the Leica Trinity. Bring what you want. If, you aren't sure, bring less. If, you really want to travel light and enjoy the experience, bring only a 28 or 35 Summicron with a polarizer. This way you will concentrate on the people and story shots that are really the most intense and interesting and forget the mountain shots that have been taken a million times... if you have to, just shove the little Macro Elmar in your pocket and get a little of both.

 

Traditional answer:

 

If, you are a bugs and birds shooter - bring macro and long lenses.

If, you are a people shooter - bring a 75mm

If, you are a street scene shooter - bring a 28-35.

If, you like perspective - bring a WATE-21mm

If, you are confused - bring a Nocti or an 50 APO and every othe lens you own.

 

Rick

Edited October 23, 2014 by RickLeica

[bocaburger]

I have to say (not meaning this as a callout to anyone!) I am amazed by people traveling with more than one lens of the same focal length. I get that some people are very...um...discriminating when it comes to the particular optical characteristics of lenses. Rick Steves says he's never heard anyone say "every year I pack a little heavier", but quite evidently he's not a Leica man

[algrove]

If, you are confused - bring a Nocti or an 50 APO and every othe lens you own.

 

Rick

 

This is getting into cherpa territory.

[ynp]

We were traveling in Nepal two years ago and I had the m9 with my Konica 21-35 Dual and 75mm Summarit. I also shoot film and we had a Fuji GA645zi with roll film. I missed a 135mm or longer lenses for some shots, but the 75mm. was better than nothing on the longer end.

Edited October 23, 2014 by ynp

[Herr Barnack]

I have to say (not meaning this as a callout to anyone!) I am amazed by people traveling with more than one lens of the same focal length. I get that some people are very...um...discriminating when it comes to the particular optical characteristics of lenses. Rick Steves says he's never heard anyone say "every year I pack a little heavier", but quite evidently he's not a Leica man

Better to carry a Leica M and five lenses than a Mamiya RZ67 and five lenses!

[Rick]

I have to say (not meaning this as a callout to anyone!) I am amazed by people traveling with more than one lens of the same focal length. I get that some people are very...um...discriminating when it comes to the particular optical characteristics of lenses. Rick Steves says he's never heard anyone say "every year I pack a little heavier", but quite evidently he's not a Leica man

 

Rick Steves is from our home town and he carries a consumer grade DSLR and a kit zoom lens last time I saw him. He suggests not bringing a big camera and a bunch of gear (as you probably know).

 

We went on one of his tours to Italy. In our group was a family with the father carrying a camcorder. Every morning we would meet outside our hotel and there he would be with the screen flipped out, holding it in front of him with huge bag slung around his shoulder. He spent every waking moment of the trip staring at the LCD screen. We figured he was going to enjoy the trip once he got home - on his 24" TV.:roll eyes:

 

I had my new M8 with a 28 Summicron. That was it. Back then, no laptop, no smart phone, back-up drive, other lenses, no Gitzo traveller tripod or other accessories. How did I ever manage?

 

Those were the good old days... 2009!

[algrove]

Those were the good old days... 2009!

 

Heck, the old days ended in late 2008! We just didn't realize it then.

[bocaburger]

Rick Steves is from our home town and he carries a consumer grade DSLR and a kit zoom lens last time I saw him. He suggests not bringing a big camera and a bunch of gear (as you probably know).

 

We went on one of his tours to Italy. In our group was a family with the father carrying a camcorder. Every morning we would meet outside our hotel and there he would be with the screen flipped out, holding it in front of him with huge bag slung around his shoulder. He spent every waking moment of the trip staring at the LCD screen. We figured he was going to enjoy the trip once he got home - on his 24" TV.:roll eyes:

 

I had my new M8 with a 28 Summicron. That was it. Back then, no laptop, no smart phone, back-up drive, other lenses, no Gitzo traveller tripod or other accessories. How did I ever manage?

 

Those were the good old days... 2009!

 

RS and I are a few months apart in age and both us began traveling in the hitchhike-and-sell-your-Levi's-along-the-way days of the early 70s. In the beginning I went with an M4 and a 50 Cron, a K-Mart-brand electronic flash, and a sack of Ektachrome-X. Over the next few years I added 3 or more lenses and a second body to the kit. At one point I was into the R system and traveled with 2 bodies, 4-5 lenses, and of course a sturdy enough Bogen tripod to hold it steady because after all, what serious photographer would hand-hold, right ? Reached a crescendo and an epiphany the time in the 90s I went to Bryce and Zion Parks with 2 Pentax 67 bodies and several lenses and a Gitzo 3-series. I also had an M4 and 35-50-90 with me, for what reason I still don't recall. After one morning hiking up to catch the sunrise with the 67 kit, I used the Leica the rest of the trip. Sold the Pentaxes when I got home. Been back with an M and 3-4 smallish lenses ever since. The quality of my travel photos has gone up, as has my enjoyment of traveling. And others' enjoyment of having me as a traveling companion

[Rick]

RS and I are a few months apart in age and both us began traveling in the hitchhike-and-sell-your-Levi's-along-the-way days of the early 70s. In the beginning I went with an M4 and a 50 Cron, a K-Mart-brand electronic flash, and a sack of Ektachrome-X. Over the next few years I added 3 or more lenses and a second body to the kit. At one point I was into the R system and traveled with 2 bodies, 4-5 lenses, and of course a sturdy enough Bogen tripod to hold it steady because after all, what serious photographer would hand-hold, right ? Reached a crescendo and an epiphany the time in the 90s I went to Bryce and Zion Parks with 2 Pentax 67 bodies and several lenses and a Gitzo 3-series. I also had an M4 and 35-50-90 with me, for what reason I still don't recall. After one morning hiking up to catch the sunrise with the 67 kit, I used the Leica the rest of the trip. Sold the Pentaxes when I got home. Been back with an M and 3-4 smallish lenses ever since. The quality of my travel photos has gone up, as has my enjoyment of traveling. And others' enjoyment of having me as a traveling companion

 

 

I'm a little younger than you, probably, not much, but have a similar story. Shot a Miranda SLR in the late 70's in high school. Moved to Nikon in the late 80's. But, finally got fed up carrying my Nikon F5 and N90s, 3 flash speed light system (I mean everything that goes with it) and half dozen lens system with, of course, heavy tripod on a trip to Kawaii. Shot beach model shots. Couldn't leave it in the car or hotel and just got sick of carrying it around. My system had its own 2 suitcases. And, I traveled in a mode I called "Third person travel." I wasn't actually there with everyone else. I was the photographer watching the trip through the pentaprism. I felt it had become a sort of sickness; OCCD - Obsessive Compulsive Camera Disease.

 

When I got home from that trip (some of my best model shots ever) I put it all in the closet and never touched it again. I only took my Olympus XA-4 with me from then on. The XA4 must have started my predilection for 28mm and no flash. Unlike you, I didn't know Leica made cameras. I pretty much dropped out of serious photography until 2007 when I read about the M8 on DPReview in the Ricoh forum section. (I had a Ricoh GR, another 28mm perspective.)

 

I bought an M8 in 2007 sight unseen and settled on a 28mm Summicron (I had information the FF M9 was coming) and have been smitten ever since.

 

 

ps Have you ever met Rick Steves?

Edited October 25, 2014 by RickLeica

[IkarusJohn]

Went to the Meiji Shrine yesterday - changing lenses, dropped my T. Twice ! Onto concrete. Two small scrapes on the baseplate, otherwise it seems okay (I guess it's mine, now).

 

After my clumsy fumblings, I finally mounted my 75 Summilux to find I couldn't focus it anywhere near infinity. In my travels, it seems to have moved well out of alignment. Luckily, I had my Noctilux and 21 Summilux.

 

I was reminded of a NY photographer I met on the Niger River about 25 years ago. We both had Nikons. He'd rushed out of his flat with one camera and one lens. When he got to Africa, he realised it was a 17mm!

 

By all means travel light, but it is worth having some redundancy if you're going somewhere like Nepal. You'll struggle if your back up is your phone (how will you charge it?).

[algrove]

John

Are you saying you dropped your T with the 75 attached? Is it the camera that's out, the lens or both? Rereading your post it sounds like it's the lens only. Is the dropping due to it being out?

 

I found when handling the T that I needed something more than the nude body. Not thick enough for my hands and the leather Leica case was not yet available to try. I do not like cases, but for this body in my hands it might be necessary.

Edited October 25, 2014 by algrove

[IkarusJohn]

Hi Lou,

 

No, it was even more stupid than that. I'm so used to have a strap over my shoulder, I took the lens off and let go the camera.

 

Unfortunately, I had a wrist strap on the camera and it wasn't around my wrist!!

 

Lenses in my hands, thankfully. The 75 was way out on the Monochrom. Off to Wetzlar.

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Hallo,

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[henning]

About 17 years ago we went to Nepal trekking around Annapurna and walking around Kathmandu. I used to carry more equipment so for the trek I had a couple of Leicas (film, of course) with 21/2.8, 35/2 and 90/2 as well as a Mamiya 6 with 50, 75 and 150 and a Noblex 150. All got used a fair bit. The heaviest and bulkiest part of it all was the film. I like SD cards.

 

Today, for Leica I would take a slow 21 and 90, and a faster 35 such as the 21/3.4, the 35/2 and the 90 macro-Elmar. A light, very versatile and high performance set. The 35 would get used the most, in any case. During trekking the 21 would probably get used the least, but in cities the 21 would get used more and the 90 less.

 

My opinion only, but that's the way I shoot.

 

Henning