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Traveling to Iceland, lens suggestions


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Greetings, I am going to Iceland next week for a few days (never been) and welcome suggestions on lens(es) to bring. I am going to play in an ice hockey tourney and will have a little down time. I was thinking to bring along 35lux FLE and ND filter. Carrying my Nocti seems overkill (or will I regret it?) or should I take 50 lux instead? Thanks for suggestions.

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Sounds like this isn't mainly a photographing trip, and the camera will be out of your hands a significant amount of the time.  Personally I would take just the 35 of the ones you mention, and content myself to crop as needed later on.  M240's files can take a lot of cropping and still hold up to decent print sizes.  If you have a small 21 such as the CV, you might consider packing it too, or else you could always stich images from the 35. 

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The 35 with a ND filter and a tripod for all the waterfalls.  I have been there twice and waterfalls are everywhere.  Also, with 12 hours of darkness on March 21, there is still a chance to get the Northern Lights if you can get out of the city.  One camera with one lens to keep things simple.

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To get the flowing motion of a waterfall, have the camera on a tripod and expose for one half second or longer.  Even at ISO 200, a neutral density filter is needed.  If you want to see the different effects of shutter speeds, do a couple exposures say at 1/500th or 1/1000th of a second and also at 1/4 or 1/2 second.

 

I suspect you will like the results of the longer exposures better but that is my taste.  

 

And if you get a clear night and are away from city lights, a two to 10 minute exposure might bring home the Northern Lights.  

 

I really enjoyed the country but expensive.

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You want fast shutter to capture sparkles and droplets. The slow shutter pictures make water look weird.

 

Waterfall photography is often difficult to assess because it can so easily stray into cliché territory (a whole can of worms of a different order) but I don't think there is anything "weird" about the slower shutter speed photographs. They seem no more weird to me than the fast shutter speed photographs (which look equally 'unnatural').

 

The whole point of a photograph is surely an act of expression and part of that is choosing how to express yourself. Looking weird is often the sign of a decent photograph.

 

Personal taste re shutter speed. And not all waterfalls, and lighting/weather conditions, are created equally. But look at the end of this article for pics showing varying shutter speeds...

 

https://blog.sigmaphoto.com/2011/shutter-speeds-for-waterfall-photography-by-david-fitzsimmons/

 

 

Yes, those end photos are a nice simple illustration of the different visual effects.

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Greetings, I am going to Iceland next week for a few days (never been) and welcome suggestions on lens(es) to bring. I am going to play in an ice hockey tourney and will have a little down time. I was thinking to bring along 35lux FLE and ND filter. Carrying my Nocti seems overkill (or will I regret it?) or should I take 50 lux instead? Thanks for suggestions.

Hi!

 

Having been to Iceland a fair bit I can give you one bit of advice... take a long lens... I used an 85mm lens almost hourly. Lots of the stunning landscapes along the roadside were a fair distance away so I would definitely take a long 75-90 ish lens. Along with a 21, 24, 28, 35, 50, 65 and 135 ; )

 

In all seriousness, if you take three lenses, a 21 35 and 75 or 35 50 90 would be great... Its a diverse place, some things are in your face and some are at a distance.

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Carryng ice hockey equipment for a tourney so I am limited (self-imposed)-- KISS (keep is simple stupid) to 1 lens, 2 ND's and tripod and ball head.....hope that works, but as I live in Europe and thinking about returning for 'serious visit' in the summer....thanks for your thoughts-- I would not have thought about the 90EM to bring along.  I have found that my 'tendency' is to use the Nocti most of the time and then I put the 35FLE and realize how small and innocuous it is and say, heck-- why carry the Nocti?....but then I see the lush bokeh of the Nocti and revert back.  Many thanks and hopefully will get some decent shots.

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Anything 35mm or wider will suit you perfectly. Living in Iceland and having owned both Leica Q with the wonderful 28mm Summilux and now MP (Typ 240) with a 35mm Summicron I can confirm with you you will do just perfect with 35mm and wider.

 

You can have a look at my photos from Iceland shot with the Q and 35mm Summucron here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/126184405@N08/ (just scroll past the Brightonm/Berlin/Athens shots).

 

You'll have a fantastic time here in this very picturesque country. 

 

All the best from Iceland, Adalsteinn

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Hi, I hiked for a few days in Iceland a couple of years ago and just took an M8 with a 28mm elmarit (so approx equiv 36mm) and found this a very good length for these big landscapes (mountains, gorges and waterfalls). I'd say a single prime anything from 24 to 35 would deliver wonderful shots. Have fun! J

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