[freerider]

I'll be traveling to Spain and Morocco in the next few months, and wanted to get some opinions on a travel kit. I'l likely be shooting landscape, architecture, and street. My current gear includes:

• K5IIs and K10D bodies
• Sigma 8-16
• DA* 16-50
• DA* 60-250
• DA 21, FA 31, FA 43, and FA 77

I use a Domke F-4AF bag and I'm thinking about getting a Sirui T-005X to bring along. Would you go all zooms, all primes, or a combination of both? Thanks in advance for any input.

[Adam]

I'll be traveling to Spain and Morocco in the next few months, and wanted to get some opinions on a travel kit. I'l likely be shooting landscape, architecture, and street. My current gear includes:

• K5IIs and K10D bodies
• Sigma 8-16
• DA* 16-50
• DA* 60-250
• DA 21, FA 31, FA 43, and FA 77

I use a Domke F-4AF bag and I'm thinking about getting a Sirui T-005X to bring along. Would you go all zooms, all primes, or a combination of both? Thanks in advance for any input.

For travel I usually take a walkaround zoom and a fast prime for low-light shots, or when I really need the extra sharpness. If I were you I'd take the 16-50mm + 60-250mm + FA 31mm and the K-5.

[OregonJim]

I would choose the K-5, FA31, FA77.

My shots seem to be more creative with a minimal kit like that. Too many choices make me think rather than see...

[OzzRod]

I've just returned from 4 weeks in the UK and Helsinki, exploring a mix of city and rural environments. Once again my DA*16-50 has proved a worthy workhorse, used for the majority of my pictures. My DA 55-300 justified its presence but this time my DA 15 Ltd wasn't used once and my DA 10-17mm only got a short workout. In short, I could have satisfied my needs with just the first two lenses.

[NZ_Ross]

If you are wanting a reasonably light WR kit then take the K5, 16-50 and chuck in a 55-300WR. Perhaps one or two of the primes - I would take the 21 and 43 as they are both small and light weight.

That would cover the full range nicely and also give you some creative options with the primes if you want them.

[Na Horuk]

Sounds like an interesting trip! Don't forget your lens hoods! It will be sunny And you have a nice selection of lenses to begin with!
For travel, I do it similarly to Adam. Its great to have a WR zoom and a high quality prime. I decide whether i want the zoom to be on the wide angle or on the tele side, and then take the prime from the opposite side. But I usually have the prime as "walkaround" and the zoom for when the prime's focal length cannot get me a shot I want
For example, 35mm f2.4 and 50-200mm. Lately I carry around three lenses, at least two of which are primes. I almost always have the Samyang 14mm with me (great lens, very useful, but its so wide it simply cannot be used for "everything") and then 35mm, 40mm or 50mm prime (for low light, fast AF, walkaround and places where a big lens would be "too professional"), along with the 50-200mm zoom (I don't do tele often, but its a good idea to have it with you).

From your kit, I would take Sigma 8-16mm and DA* 60-250mm, and then one of the primes in between whichever you feel most comfortable with. The ones you have are all high-quality so it comes down to FoV, aperture, and personal choice
About the tripod.. I always have a mini tripod in the bag, but only take a bigger tripod with me if I don't have too much other stuff to carry. Tripods are unwieldy, but sometimes its the only way to get perfectly sharp photos..
Have fun on your trip! I hope you post some photos on the forum.

[DarCam]

I say travel light. Go with the 16-50 and the 77mm. From my experience, the wider the better as you'll likely be taking pictures of the spaces around you rather than minute details that Tele zooms would give you. If you need something more of a portrait lens the 77mm should cover you there. On top of that, in the case of theft or losing your bag of equipment, you won't have a total loss.


For me, I like to carry one camera and one lens and let the challenges of that set up develop my creativity. It's a hassle carrying a lot of equipment, and if I know that I only have that one lens to chose from, I don't need to think about if I should change lenses. I just shoot.

[mike.hiran]

There is some amazing architecture that you will see, so I would definately want the 8-16. I would want a WR lens for just in case and a good walk around lens - da 16-50. I'd want a fast lens (or two) for candids and low light - I'd bring the 31 and 77 to give you range depending on if you're on the street or indoors. I'd probaby get a close up filter to use w/ these like a raynox 150 for macro-like shots. I personally don't shoot long much, especially in urban environments. If I do use them, it's usually for the occasional architectural detail up high - So for a rarely used lens, I'd want light weight - so I usually end up bringing the 55-300 or 50-200 is space is really tight. Depending on the list of sights that I'd be going to, I'd probably leave one or two of these lenses locked up in the room safe. But I'd always have the superwide, one fast lens, and the 16-50 with me.

My main travel bag is the Slingshot 200aw and I'd be able to fit all this along with some polorizing filters, graduated neutral density filters, and a 10 stop ND filter for ocean blur or if you want to filter crowds out with long exposures. And of course a monopod or tripod - the new folding travelpods are quite light and small while not sacrificing too much sturdiness - mephoto, manfrotto, and costco sells another brand that seem to get decent reviews.

This is the basic kit I took with me when I went to SE Asia recently and it served me well. The two body idea was great at times, so having a different focal length was a quick and easy without holding up the significant other.

One thing that I ended up using more than I thought I would was the Q with either the 02 or 06 lens - it's great to have a single handed camera that people don't notice - so for outdoor markets or street shots, I found this camera very valuable. And now that I have the 08 super wide, I would use it even more on travel photography. And since Q's can be had for so little outlay and it takes up so little room, the penalty is minimal. add a k to q converter, and now with your 77, you have an aps-c equivalent of a 300mm f1.8 compact tele...

Sounds like a great trip! hope all goes smoothly!

[H. Sapiens]

I am actually in Morocco now :-) This will be short. Honestly I am not sure any of our suggestions are of much use - individual preferences and all that. What I can say is, I have my 21mm on at least 80% of the times. I also have the 12-24mm with me but mostly stick to the prime and work from there. I don't have a tele lens with me - the 77mm is as long as I can go. It doesn't get much use, but the images it does make are good and have a completely different look and feel than the wider stuff.

Forget about a portrait lens - Moroccan's hate to have their photo taken. If you just shoot away you will not make many friends... Seriously, people are photogenic but you have to establish a report first. If you don't speak French (or Arab or one the Berber languages) that is tough, as you'll mostly be limited to interacting with people in the tourist trade.

Enjoy your trip. Morocco have been a good experience for me.

[Driline]

I say travel light. Go with the 16-50 and the 77mm. From my experience, the wider the better as you'll likely be taking pictures of the spaces around you rather than minute details that Tele zooms would give you. If you need something more of a portrait lens the 77mm should cover you there. On top of that, in the case of theft or losing your bag of equipment, you won't have a total loss.


For me, I like to carry one camera and one lens and let the challenges of that set up develop my creativity. It's a hassle carrying a lot of equipment, and if I know that I only have that one lens to chose from, I don't need to think about if I should change lenses. I just shoot.

I agree with Dar Cam on this one......

[Clicker]

I would take the k5 21,43 and 77 but would most likely only shoot with the 21 and use the tripod for night/cityscape/landscape especially if I would be using low ISO 100-400 at night.

[freerider]

Thanks for the thoughtful comments everyone. The different perspectives are interesting and very helpful to me in figuring out my kit. A special thanks to H. Sapiens for taking the time to chime in from Morocco! It's a hard decision for me because I really like all of my lenses and could see myself using all of them at some point. A big factor for me is the weight of my bag since I'll likely be wearing it all day. And it's a single strap bag so it'll be resting on one shoulder. The 16-50mm is pretty much a lock just because it's so versatile. Plus my CP and ND filters are 77mm. I agree with vagrant10 that the 8-16mm would be great for the architecture that will be there. After that I'm thinking one or two primes as lightweight alternatives used mainly for street shooting. Regrettably, I will likely have to leave the 60-250mm at home. It's just so heavy, I can't image carrying it all day. The problem is that the images coming from it are so amazing that it makes me think that bringing it will be worth it, even if it stays in the hotel most of the time. I'm thinking the tripod would come out only at night or for planned shots during the day.

Do any of you bring flashes on vacation? Do you think buying a separate storage device would worth it? Thanks again everyone!

[Checking...jono]

While in Norway and London last summer the 18-135WR ended up being used 95% of the time. Also, I brought along the FA50 1.4 and DA 55-300, but rarely used them. Mostly shooting street and scenery.

[OzzRod]

Thanks for the thoughtful comments everyone. .....Do any of you bring flashes on vacation? Do you think buying a separate storage device would worth it?

Flashes no. Separate storage yes. I download each day to my Macbook Air and backup to a USB flash drive as well.

[tuco]

A buddy just got back from Saint Petersburg where he shot lots of architecture both inside and out. His most used lens on that trip was the Tokina 11-16/2.8. FYI.