Travel Lenses - light topic

[ALScott]

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Headed to London soon and will probably only have a day or two to shoot in between work.  I think I am going to take tri-elmar 16-18-21 but can't decide between 35 lux or 50 cron to go with it.  50 is the way I am leaning.  Last trip, I only had the Q3 so excited to go with options this time.  Just going to be in the city proper walking around.

Edited July 31 by ALScott

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[ALScott]

Meant to say….. Thoughts or suggestions.

[Stephen.s1]

I'd keep it light and just clamp on a 40mm lens.  Enjoy your trip.

FWIW I'm partial to the voightlander 4O/f1.4.Nokton.

Edited July 31 by Stephen.s1

[earleygallery]

Your 35 will probably cover the majority of stuff for general photography but add the tri-elmar to get shots of the buildings and variety I guess. That would be my choice anyway! Enjoy your trip.  

[lct]

35 or 50 is a matter of taste but your WATE is a rather slow lens so you may wish to bring a fast lens to complement it. Plenty of choice at Leica and elsewhere. To match the WATE i would be tempted to bring a Summilux 35 or 50 personally but a Summicron could do it if you dont expect to shoot in low light during your trip. Happy snaps

[ALScott]

6 minutes ago, lct said:

35 or 50 is a matter of taste but your WATE is a rather slow lens so you may wish to bring a fast lens to complement it. Plenty of choice at Leica and elsewhere. To match the WATE i would be tempted to bring a Summilux 35 or 50 personally but a Summicron could do it if you dont expect to shoot in low light during your trip. Happy snaps

That’s what I am thinking.  Last time I was over I shot a lot of low light with the Q3.  Plus, I shoot 21 and 35 lux wide open most of the time even mid-day.  Also, why I am struggling to not sell the 50 cron for a 50 lux but it’s just such a small light, sharp, convenient and cool little lens.

Edited August 1 by ALScott

[Kiwimac]

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I’d probably take the 35 personally and unless I had something specific in mind for the wide angle, leave that at home. 
 

Just a note of caution. I emigrated from the UK over 20 years ago. However I have friends and family still there, of course. We visit periodically too. 
 

London has changed a great deal over the last few years and is very far from what it was. For example, as recently as July a man was stabbed to death so his Rolex could be stolen. You might think he’d wandered into Tower Hamlets (don’t!!) or somewhere else dodgy. 
 

No. He was in Knightsbridge. The home of Harrods. 
 

So just keep your situational awareness up when wandering with nice cameras etc. 

[Olaf_ZG]

Take no lenses so you have an excuse to go to the Leica store?

[WideAround]

I would prefer the 50mm, because this focal length is in clear opposite to the tri-elmar what give you the chance of very different views. 

[espelt]

I was in Stockholm recently. And I had all my gear in my camera bag in my hand luggage. Including the 135mm Elmar M. The result was that the bag stayed in the hotel the whole time, and I traveled exclusively with the 35mm Summicron. It's happened like this before. But as always, before a trip, you spend ages thinking about everything you need to take with you, everything you might need... it's part of the experience, I guess.

Have a nice trip!

[Chris W]

5 hours ago, Kiwimac said:

London has changed a great deal over the last few years and is very far from what it was.

Not really. You always have to be aware of your surroundings in any city, have been for 50 years.

I live outside London and regularly travel up with a Leica M or Hasselblad X1D2. Never had a single issue. I don't think most thieves know what a Leica M is anyway.

I spent a day walking around London last week and not for one moment felt unsafe.

As for lenses, I find it easier to concentrate on potential images with one lens, one camera. I either take a 35 or 50, 35 is my favourite. Yeah, the UK is often low light, so bear that in mind. 

[costa43]

It always depends really and I can only speak for how I do it. I'm really not a fan of switching lenses whilst out so I tend to only ever carry one lens with me when I leave the front door. That is my chosen vision for the day. For such a short trip in a busy city like London, I would naturally veer towards the more flexible (imo) walk around focal lengths of 35mm or 28mm.

On the note of safety, I was born and raised in London and lived there for the best part of 40 years. The only hiccup I had was back in the late 80s when some teenager robbed me for 3 quid in Wood Green. London is as safe, maybe even safer now than it was back then in my opinion, we just did not have the social media side of things to highlight every dodgy event. Take normal precautions like you would in any major capital and you will be fine, unless very unlucky.

2 years ago I went out and got drunk with some friends. I had my M9 Monochrom and a 35mm hung around my neck all night, I ended up falling asleep on the train home and woke up at the last stop on the line with my Leica and lens still hanging there! 

Have a lovely trip and take that 35🙃

Edited August 1 by costa43

[espelt]

The business of stealing expensive watches is a bit of a trend in all major cities. A young woman "accidentally" stumbles into an older gentleman, apologizes profusely, and maybe even hugs him. Naturally, the gentleman is very happy about this. It's not that common these days for young women to throw themselves at you. And then later, you notice that the Rolex is missing... This or something similar has happened several times here in Stuttgart. The girls come here, excellently trained in their trade, often from Romania, for example. There are veritable pickpocketing schools there. Once they're ready, they're distributed among the major cities. Those with computer skills can try their hand at computer crime. Or they try to persuade older people, especially, over the phone to hand over jewelry and cash to a messenger. There's a case like this in the newspaper almost every week. So, a keen eye doesn't hurt. Especially not if you want to take photos. Whether you're traveling in Berlin, London, Paris, or anywhere else, they're being sent out again during peak travel season, when most cities are packed with tourists.

[Chris W]

The main tourist areas have been photographed to death.

I travelled to Chicago and my hotel was in the luxury end of town. I headed out with my camera and found it difficult to get excited about taking any shots. It was just Chanel, Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton stores, identical to what you see in London, Sydney etc..

Knightsbridge for example. Yes, thieves target the tourist hotspots, especially the luxury shopping streets and restaurant districts.

[Ecar]

Walking around for a day or two in London? I'd leave the WATE home and just take the 35. Much more versatile.

[T25UFO]

6 hours ago, Kiwimac said:

I’d probably take the 35 personally and unless I had something specific in mind for the wide angle, leave that at home. 
 

Just a note of caution. I emigrated from the UK over 20 years ago. However I have friends and family still there, of course. We visit periodically too. 
 

London has changed a great deal over the last few years and is very far from what it was. For example, as recently as July a man was stabbed to death so his Rolex could be stolen. You might think he’d wandered into Tower Hamlets (don’t!!) or somewhere else dodgy. 
 

No. He was in Knightsbridge. The home of Harrods. 
 

So just keep your situational awareness up when wandering with nice cameras etc. 

What a ridiculous myopic view from the other side of the planet.  I suggest you stay in your little isolationist universe and never travel anywhere close to Rome, Barcelona, New York, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Nairobi, etc, etc.

London is the greatest city in the world.

[don daniel]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb espelt:

I was in Stockholm recently. And I had all my gear in my camera bag in my hand luggage. Including the 135mm Elmar M. The result was that the bag stayed in the hotel the whole time, and I traveled exclusively with the 35mm Summicron. It's happened like this before. But as always, before a trip, you spend ages thinking about everything you need to take with you, everything you might need... it's part of the experience, I guess.

Have a nice trip!

Same here: I was in Stockholm, too. But I did not bring a bunch of lenses. I had only a Summicron 35mm on my M11. You can shoot with a Summicron also at low light. No problem.

[M11 for me]

vor 20 Minuten schrieb don daniel:

Same here: I was in Stockholm, too. But I did not bring a bunch of lenses. I had only a Summicron 35mm on my M11. You can shoot with a Summicron also at low light. No problem.

I would add the 21mm. I would use 2 lenses.

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[don daniel]

vor 10 Minuten schrieb M11 for me:

I would add the 21mm. I would use 2 lenses.

Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t get much out of using an ultra-wide-angle lens in cities. That’s why I haven’t bought one yet. I tend to miss it more when I’m shooting landscapes.

[espelt]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb don daniel:

Same here: I was in Stockholm, too.

Even less of a problem with the current M models. An old f/2.8 lens works fine. Of course: If you're obsessed with wide apertures and have your aperture set to 1.4... But we actually had a week in Stockholm with 30 degrees and pure sunshine. Wide aperture without an extremely dark filter – no chance. One day we headed out of the city and to Vaxholmen. Just a little swimming and lazing around... pure summer, like in Italy.

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