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06-03-2014, 07:59 PM   #1
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Lenses for trip to Bali?

Hello everyone,
I am fairly new to this site and Pentax in general. In August I will be making my first trip to Bali from the US and am looking for some advice on which lenses to bring with on this VERY long distance journey. The gear I have available to me at this moment includes:

Camera bodies:
K5iis
K01
Lumix LX5

Lenses:
Pentax DA 18-135mm
Pentax DA 55-300mm (new version)
Sigma 17-70mm
Tamron 10-24mm
Pentax 15mm limited
Pentax 70mm limited
Pentax 50mm F1.8
Pentax 40mm XS

Accessories:
BG-4 battey grip
FGZ AF-360 flash
tripod and/or monopod

Right now I'm leaning towards the 18-135, the 15mm F4, and maybe the 40XS to keep the size and weight of everything down. Not sure if it's worth bringing the K5 and k01 or just the K5. The BG4 will probably have to come with to allow using AA batteries in more remote locations. Any advice is appreciated, what do you think?

-Wes

06-03-2014, 08:30 PM   #2
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Bali sound wonderful!!! What are you going to do there? You said something about remote and AA batteries. Knowing how you plan to spend your time would help. Are you going to be backpacking, or staying at a hotel and hitting the beaches or ?????

06-03-2014, 08:32 PM   #3
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The 10-24 and Sigma 17-70. I'm guessing you will not need anything longer. Though it is tempting to bring the 15, I would settle on 2 go-to lenses with flexibility. The 17-70 also focuses closely, which could be handy. I don't know the MFD of the 18-135.

Or... the 15/40/70 and give up the really wide angle.
06-03-2014, 09:08 PM   #4
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Wes -

I was just there for a short trip in January - had everything packed and ready w/ the K-30, 18-135, FA 43 and DA 15, but at the last minute found out about weight restrictions on small planes we took for other legs of the trip, so settled on the wife's Nikon 1 w/ kit lens and 50mm f/1.8 to save space/weight. Anyways, I would agree, the combo of the 18-135, 15, 40 and K-5 would have been my preference in the long run. Either way, ended up with some great shots from Ubud and Seminyak - I wished I had the Pentax WR when we were caught in a deluge in the monkey forest in Ubud (which I would highly recommend BTW), but ended up shielding the camera with my hand above it and it was fine

We had zero issues with finding a power source to charge all our batteries, just bring a wall adapter and power strip that's OK w/ 240V (this worked great and is super compact) - the Pentax chargers/adapters (and phone/tablet for that matter) you have are good for 100-240V so no worries about a converter (or grip unless your sole purpose is photography). Enjoy your trip - get lots of massages (super cheap), and interact with the locals, they're great! Food is amazing, if you can attend a Balinese dance, do it. Leave the white socks at home and you won't look so American I think we were the only Americans at our resort, mostly Aussies & Europeans.


Last edited by slipdm16; 06-03-2014 at 09:13 PM.
06-03-2014, 09:34 PM   #5
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I'd take the Lumix LX5 for sure. The rest may depend on your shooting style.

The LX5 will free you up by covering your basic needs, so you don't have to worry so much about making a "mistake" by choosing the wrong primes.


For my style the DA15 and DA70 would go (plus they're small).


After that I'd think about the DA55-300, DA18-135, 50/1.8, and Tamron 10-24.
06-03-2014, 10:45 PM   #6
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I was just there last Nov which was start of raining season. DA* 16-50 was all I used 98% of time. Didn't use 15 at all but I did use 50-200 on another island for wild life. So bring 55-300 if you really need it, otherwise I think 18-135 is plenty. But it really depends on your style.
06-03-2014, 11:21 PM   #7
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Like ruggiex says, way too much stuff. I took 10-20, 18-55 and 55-300. Used the 10-20 for one photo of the interior of our room. Used the 55-300 to take a few pictures of squirrels (rats in fur coats) and the funny salamanders and flying lizards they have. Pretty much all other wildlife is either in the zoo, people's kitchens or street dogs or aggressive monkeys (to be avoided - they steal bags and have rabies). 18-55 covered nearly everything. From your set, the 18-135 would be all I would take. Mainly due to the weather sealing. It rains every day and if it's not raining, it's humid enough to fog the lens.

The pocket camera will be even better. It's hard to describe how little personal space you have in Asia: swing an slr around and you're in everyone's way! Even scooters on the 'footpaths' so you have to watch sideways when composing a shot.

06-04-2014, 02:16 PM   #8
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Thanks everyone for the advice. A little more background on the trip, we will be flying from LA to Sydney to Denpasar, Bali. There will be almost 12 hours of ground time in Sydney so we're hoping to get out of the airport for a bit. Once we are there we will spend several days relaxing at a ocean front in Tabanan, followed by the remaining 3 days at a treetop resort in Ubud. We will be doing day hikes and activities around the resorts and as much exploring as possible. This is probably a once in a lifetime trip for me and my wife, and our first time to Asia. We are both really in to photography so I'm not going to get yelled at for bringing too much gear I hope

As for photography, I'm hoping to get some nice beach shots around our resort and some wildlife around Ubud, but as with any new adventure it's hard to predict what we will find. I would really like to bring the K5 if I can fit it, which probably means one zoom and maybe a couple of primes or two zooms and no primes. WR seems like a must, though August doesn't seem like the peak of the rainy season. So with that in mind, the 18-135 seems like a good fit for a general purpose zoom over the 17-70. For landscapes/beachscapes, either the 15mm limited or 10-24. The LX5 will also most likely come in one of our bags. We may pic up another premium compact before the trip too, any suggestions?

That's also good to know about the power situation. I will buy an adapter before we go and bring 2 batteries with but leave the BG-4 at home if that's not necessary. Can you think of anything I don't have that you would recommend, or that those that have been there wished they had?

Thanks again,
-Wes
06-04-2014, 04:46 PM   #9
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I'd suggest taking some p&s camera with underwater case if you are going to dive or snorkel. Though the best diving places are at the North-West part, not sure you have enough time to get there.

In Ubud monkeys are close and even may climb on you sometimes, so long zoom is not necessary.
06-04-2014, 04:50 PM   #10
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The last time I went, I took only my Spotmatic and the 55mm f1.8

Admittedly, that was in 1973 (or thereabouts).
06-05-2014, 02:43 AM   #11
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I'd keep an eye out for the Panasonic LX8 rumored for a July 16 announcement. The Sony RX-10 is also a nice camera (though not so little). It might seem pricy, but they claim it's dust and water resistant, and with a 1" sensor and a 24-200/2.8 (equivalent) lens you could probably get away with it as your only camera. Hopefully it would take photos you really liked - it certainly looked and felt nice in the store!
06-05-2014, 03:49 AM   #12
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Definitely take your DA55-300. And the DA18-135. Don't bother with the grip or tripod. A discrete camera bag that doesn't look like a camera bag is also useful.

As usual, I took the DA18-55WR, DA50-200WR and DA21 because I like to travel light

Take plenty of industrial strength Deet, hire a car+driver for the day to see the nearby sights. Watch out for the temple monkeys and have fun !

This is what my week in Bali in December/January looks like. The DA21 ended up on the camera lots of the time. Otherwise I just seem to crank the zoom to either of the end stops
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Last edited by kh1234567890; 06-05-2014 at 09:17 AM.
06-05-2014, 08:51 AM   #13
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If it were me, I would take the DA 15, DA 40, and the 55-300mm. Most of my shots would likely end up being taken with the DA 15 - that was one of my favorite lenses of all time, so small and yet so awesome.
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