[CrazyNuts]

We're off on a holiday to Canada next year (Sep/Oct 2013) and I've got a pre-determined list of lenses I will take with me.

I've will be taking the following with me:

Sigma 10-20mm f3.5
Tamron 70-200 f2.8
Pentax PK-A 28mm f2.8 prime
Pentax DA 70mm f2.4 Limited

I'm not 100% sure that the lenses I have will be enough, especially around the "rockies" etc for landscape photography.

Could do with a few recommendations from those who have done some landscape photography in Canada.

P.S. I did a search but couldn't really find anything that specifically applies to the location. Apologies in advance for my lack of search power

[choychoy]

We're off on a holiday to Canada next year (Sep/Oct 2013) and I've got a pre-determined list of lenses I will take with me.

I've will be taking the following with me:

Sigma 10-20mm f3.5
Tamron 70-200 f2.8
Pentax PK-A 28mm f2.8 prime
Pentax DA 70mm f2.4 Limited

I'm not 100% sure that the lenses I have will be enough, especially around the "rockies" etc for landscape photography.

Could do with a few recommendations from those who have done some landscape photography in Canada.

P.S. I did a search but couldn't really find anything that specifically applies to the location. Apologies in advance for my lack of search power

i think the sigma is a must for landscape，and i am not sure how often u will use the tamron one as i dont when i travel

[CrazyNuts]

Wife wants to take the 70-200 to take pictures of animals etc. Since we're taking two DSLR's with us, I won't be the one using it anyway

So the Sigma won't be too wide for landscape? I thought the perfect FL for landscape was around the 28mm, hence why I'm taking my prime with me.

[adpo]

depends on the type of landscape you want to capture. The wider the lens, the less compression and more distortion you get. Because of this, I have a buddy who shoots landscapes entirely with a 70-200 and then stitches the images together

[CrazyNuts]

Suppose that's always an option

Hard to say what type of landscape I want to capture as I've never been to Canada before, hence I was hoping to get some recommendations here

[panoguy]

Hard to say what type of landscape I want to capture as I've never been to Canada before, hence I was hoping to get some recommendations here

Well, like Australia, Canada is pretty big and has varied landscapes. (Here's a Canadian landscape photographer's interpretation of some of it.) If you're going to Western Canada (Rockies? Sounds like it...) then you might see everything from rolling plains and badlands, to gigantic snow-capped mountains with alpine lakes... and animals you aren't likely to see down south. Bring lots of SD cards and don't be shy about snapping the locals!

My travel lens recommendation (for wherever) is to pack light with mostly DA Limited primes, but bring your favorite "can hang it from my neck all day" zoom. If that's your 70-200, then you're set. Personally, I travel with the ultralight 55-300, then add either the 15mm or 10-17mm, but always the 35mm Macro. It all fits in a holster bag while my tripod becomes a walking stick, or my walking stick becomes a monopod.

**Humorous anecdote: prior to moving to Canada, I lived in semi-rural France. My neighbours thought I was the luckiest guy around to move to (what they thought to be) "a gigantic national park, where you can drive from the Pacific to the Rockies and then to Greenland." Well, you could drive that circuit, but it'll take a month or more!

[CrazyNuts]

Our time will be spent between Vancouver, Victoria Island and the Rockies.

Don't mind taking more lenses if necessary as we'll have a hire car. With kids in tow, we won't be doing a lot of "walking around" per se.

I was contempaling purchasing a 24-70mm of some sort to cover up the gap I have between my 10-20mm and 70-200mm, not sure if it will get much use though.

[interested_observer]

Suppose that's always an option

Hard to say what type of landscape I want to capture as I've never been to Canada before, hence I was hoping to get some recommendations here

I have come to the conclusion that there are two types of landscapes - one with interesting foregrounds and ones without interesting foregrounds. You can use the Sigma 10-20 on the ones with interesting foregrounds, and then depending on what you need to shoot over for the uninteresting foregrounds the most appropriate lenses - the 28 or the 70 or something longer. Also, remember you can stitch with anything you have....

[seneca]

I've vacationed from the Atlantic to the Pacific in Canada. The lenses you propose to use will be more than enough to cover the majority of situations you'll meet in the Rockies. I'm assuming you won't be doing heavy duty hiking so the Sigma should capture vistas of mountains for you when looking down valleys and with the Tamron you'll be able to pluck out points of interest in the vistas. The Pentaxes will be useful around lakes and rivers. In the Rockies you're right on top of what you want to take a picture or very far away (requiring hours or a day or more of hiking).
In Vancouver and along the coast of Victoria Island your short lenses will get a lot of use.

[CrazyNuts]

Unfortunatley we won't be doing any extensive hicking as we will have our little girls with us who will be 5 and 7 years old by the time we go. Kids can run all days long but ask them to walk 2km and after 500m they want you to carry them, go figure

Well, I'm glad my current lens lineup is going to be more than enough. Now to go and guy a set of ND-400 filters in 49mm and 82mm sizes

[dadipentak]

If you want to use the trip as an excuse to pick up a new lens, go for it but the kit you describe sounds pretty good to me.

[CrazyNuts]

Nah, not interested in wasting money on acquiring lenses that I don't need. I just wanted to make sure that the selection I already had in my possession was going to be sufficient.

[hjkimbrian]

Hello,

First of all, welcome to Canada! I am from Vancouver myself, and when I visited Vancouver Island (stayed in Nanaimo and drove down to Victoria on a day trip), I used my K 30mm f/2.8 lens almost exclusively. I had brought a 10-20mm f/4-5.6 as well, but I don't think I once pulled it out of my bag because it was heavy. One time when I was hiking in West Vancouver, I saw a spotted owl, and my F 70-210mm came in very handy. I ran into a black bear cub once too, but I only had my 30mm then. I think you're fairly well covered.

[Lowell Goudge]

You might want a 50mm get any manual focus one. As for the kids and hiking. Get a GPS and go geocaching. It gets the kids involved, and also gives them a sense of mission. Needless to point out you can download the track data and geotag your images too

[Kerrowdown]

So the Sigma won't be too wide for landscape?

For me it's always to walk a bit nearer if need be, I don't do backwards walking very well, I tend to fall over.

Have a great trip, I'm really quite envious.