[GlennG]

Hi, all,

In February 2017 I plan to hike with my daughter (age 23, fit, and rugged from living in AZ for 5 years) from the rim to the Colorado River at the Grand Canyon, and then back out - 2 days total. I want to know about lenses to take, but also if more than one zoom is practical. I gained a lot of information from this link here:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/328672-look...r+grand+canyon

So for me, the questions are:

- 16-50 vs DA 17-70 - any preference? My gut inclination is 16-50, for weather sealed.
- DA 55-300 vs 50-135, or do I even take a long option at all?
- The link above recommends a tripod - should I take it?

At some point, I would like to gain your best advice on the entire hiking trip - the hike out will be strenuous I believe. The elevation change is about a mile over about a 7 mile hike, I think, so that is a steep grade. It has become a balancing question in my mind - photo gear vs hiking demands vs potential weather issues vs clothing vs weight vs (what else?). I am age 60, but fit. Sea level, and flat lander fit, however. Thanks, Glenn

[lithedreamer]

Are you going to be photographing at night? If so, I'd take the 16-50. Sounds like a fun trip.

[C_Jones]

16-50 seems like a good choice. Depending on the reach you want would decide the telephoto factor. Without the 50-70 reach of the 17-70, you could bring one of the two longer lenses just to know you can cover all or most of it. The tripod would be great to have for low light or night situations where you could use long exposure shutter speeds to give your images enough light with a nice Aperture and ISO.

[bigdavephoto]

Here are a couple of sites you should look at before going.


Hiking Tips - Hike Smart - Grand Canyon National Park (U.S. National Park Service)


82 Tips on Grand Canyon Warnings or Dangers - Stay Safe!


I for one can not say enough about taking a lot of water with you. Also in your case GlennG, cold weather gear.


For the lens, I would say the 17-70. I spent a couple of days at the Grand Canyon and I had on my camera a 28-200. If I remember right, most of the pictures were taken between 28 and 100.

[Mr. Ed]

Sounds like a nice challenge. At that time of year you are likely to encounter snow, ice but not too many tourist. We went that time of year and really enjoyed it. We only hiked down about a mile and a half and I had my small Tamrac shoulder bag. I wished I hadn't carried so much. We had purchased inexpensive gadgets to go over our boots that looked like springs and they really worked well on the trail dealing with the ice. Really improved the footing. One day down, one day up would have been a pretty good pace for us, especially being from the gulf coast. Needing to carry water and food as well, with your camera gear you will have a pretty good load. Sounds like there will be some fantastic memories to share for a lifetime.

[SpecialK]

I assume you are staying over at the Phantom Ranch. The hike up will take all day. I did the "3-mile house" hike and that was 6-plus hours down and back, with about 20 minutes loiter. The mule option is not good for photographers as you have to have both hands free, as well as a 200 lb weight limit, and high price.



I used a K-5 for these.

120mm.


24mm.


33mm. Note the 3-mile house is on the point up the little trail just above the bottom right trees. You still have a long way after that :-)


50mm. I just turned away as he passed by.


31mm.


29mm. 3 miles to that rest house.


31mm.


I think you could get by with the 16-50.

[Tako Kichi]

Investigate hiking poles that double up as camera monopods, they will help you both up and down on the trail and can steady a camera too when needed. That way you won't have to carry a tripod as well as all the other gear.

I have this one Telescoping Hiking Stick - Lee Valley Tools as my regular walking cane and it comes with a replacement rubber foot and a snow basket for winter conditions. The rubber foot unscrews to reveal a tungsten carbide tip for icy conditions. The ball on the top unscrews to reveal a 1/4"-20 stud which will fit the tripod socket on cameras. It is also 'sprung' (lockable) which helps take out some of the shocks on the descent. The listing is for a single pole but I would highly recommend getting two for the trip you are planning, you don't want to take a tumble in that gorge!

I have also been looking at these for a long time .... Monopods | B&H Photo Video ... they can carry a lot more weight in terms of camera capacity but you lose out on the snow basket, tungsten tip and shock loading. They are also more expensive but I have a Vanguard tripod and absolutely love it as it is very rugged and well made.

Manfrotto make these .... Manfrotto Off road Aluminum Walking Sticks (Red) MMOFFROADR B&H ... which come as a pair (one of which can have a camera attached) and include snow baskets and tungsten tips but no shock loading. They don't extend as far as the Lee Valley one either and having the poles longer on the way down is an advantage plus they are more expensive than buying two of the Lee Valley ones.

There are other brands too if you care to search 'hiking poles' on Google but not all have the 1/4"x 20 thread for a camera.

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Last edited by Tako Kichi; 12-02-2016 at 07:23 PM.

[kjphilippona]

I took a road trip with my daughter and granddaughter from Alabama to the Grand Canyon and back. My DA*16-50 never came off my K30, taking 95% of my pictures.

[Dlanor Sekao]

First off....SKIP the Tripod (trust me on this) ! 16-50 all the way. A single monopod , or a set of hiking sticks will be your friend ! hope YOU are in very good shape because 2 days (Down and Back) is still very very very strenuous work.

[mikesbike]

You might consider the newer DA 16-85mm WR lens. It has a rep for very good edge-to-edge performance, and is very versatile. It is only about one stop off the DA* 16-50mm f/2.8 in that zoom range. A fast prime lens for low light situations might also be of value- perhaps the FA 35mm f/2.

[UncleVanya]

I am a prisoner of gravity. When I was at the Grand Canyon I took the Kaibab rather than Bright Angel option and went only part way down to the Ooh-aah point. So my experience is more than zero but less than many others. I would suggest the 16-50. Most of the pictures are going to be wide vistas not telephoto shots. I would also suggest a small travel tripod or bean bag for use for astrophotography at night at least one shot or two. The stars will be irrational.

One more thing. Because of the reputation for SDM failure if I were going with that lens I might convert it to screw drive for the trip - that way there is no way the SDM could let me down. But I convert these lenses all the time and it would be very easy for me to do so.

With my current gear I would be tempted to take M43 gear or my LX-7 for weight and size and range. But the vast landscape of the Grand Canyon cries out for a bigger sensor so I might just bring the K-3 and DA 20-40 LTD. Tough call.

[Canada_Rockies]

Having lived with manual focus for most of the photographic life, I decided years ago that I wouldn't bother switching the 16-50 to screw drive if it failed. f/8 and be there is good enough, and I have TrueDoF-Pro on my phone for the tricky hyper focus challenges. However, given my kit, I would probably take the 12-24 for a canyon trip. Sometimes those extra 4 mm mean a lot of wide. Suspenders and belt- FA 100 macro. Weight is about the same as the whole camera with 12-24, but sometimes ...

[Davidparis]

You might consider the newer DA 16-85mm WR lens. It has a rep for very good edge-to-edge performance, and is very versatile. It is only about one stop off the DA* 16-50mm f/2.8 in that zoom range. A fast prime lens for low light situations might also be of value- perhaps the FA 35mm f/2.

I did that trip a few years back, along with other parks in Utah. The 55-300 would be just be extra weight IMHO. I got along perfectly with a 12-24 and an 18-135 and did not want for more at any time. Didn't have the 16-85 at that time, but now I think it could reasonably replace the 18-135. Anyway, you need WA to capture what you'll be seeing and there is some walking to do...

[UncleVanya]

Having lived with manual focus for most of the photographic life, I decided years ago that I wouldn't bother switching the 16-50 to screw drive if it failed. f/8 and be there is good enough, and I have TrueDoF-Pro on my phone for the tricky hyper focus challenges. However, given my kit, I would probably take the 12-24 for a canyon trip. Sometimes those extra 4 mm mean a lot of wide. Suspenders and belt- FA 100 macro. Weight is about the same as the whole camera with 12-24, but sometimes ...

I find the manual focus option reasonable as well - particularly for landscapes on many DA lenses. I do wish the focusing was more dampened and had a bit more drag to give finer focus. The 12-24 is another good option.

[JohnX]

I won't suggest lenses, but offer a thought.

If the IQ of the photos you shoot is very important on this upcoming trip, then clearly the choice is Pentax, but it seems to me that (a) time is of the essence (2 days for the return trip appears to be tight), and (b) you should travel light.

When I visited New Zealand a few years ago I decided to buy a (then) high-end bridge camera (Canon S3is) instead of taking all my Pentax gear, which negated the need to think about which lenses to take, just allowing me to enjoy the trip without worrying about my gear, travel light(er), and bring back plenty of photos/videos/memories. Added advantage was the camera took readily available AA batteries.

I still have that Canon camera, plus others from Fuji (X20) and Panasonic (Lumix LX100) which together with my Pentax kit (too many bodies and lenses to mention) means I am prepared for just about any eventually.