First trip to the Grand Canyon - which lens?

[KeithM]

I am visiting the US canyonlands next month on a walking holiday. Heavy luggage is transported but I have to carry any camera gear on my back, along with tripod, water etc., so I need to keep the weight down. I am not getting any younger! Which lens should I carry: Canon 24 - 70 L or Canon 16 - 35L? Is it a no brainer for the wide angle?

Thanks for any advice

[Mike Buckley]

That really depends on your style of shooting. I've been to the canyon lands several times and I would go with the 24 - 70 regardless of whether I was using a full frame or a crop camera. That's because that range of focal lengths is a better fit with how I "see" desert landscapes.

You will probably receive more helpful advice if you explain which type of camera you are using.

[rtbaum]

As Mike says, it depends on your style. Also keep in mind that terrain may get rough, I would keep weight down as much as possible

[tao2]

First trip to the Grand Canyon - which lens?

This one?....

[Manfred M]

You haven't mentioned the camera body you would be using, but I'm on the same page as Mike. The 24-70mm tends to be my first choice of lenses, regardless of whether I am shooting an APS-C or full-frame body.

My next question would be if the tripod is worth the weight penalty.

[imagemkr]

Definitely as wide as possible. Still...hard to capture what the eye can see.

[Mike Buckley]

My next question would be if the tripod is worth the weight penalty.

Good point! It won't be worth the penalty unless the OP plans to make quite large prints. I've never taken a tripod on my many hikes through the canyon lands of Arizona and Utah.

[rpcrowe]

I was looking through my landscape images of the Desert Southwest and I see that most of those images were shot with a 1.6x camera and a 17-55mm lens. However, a minority were shot using the 70-200mm f/4L IS. However, many, if not most of the images shot using the 17-55mm were shot towards the long end of that lens. Again, a significant minority were shot at the short end.

I would select your 24-70mm lens if I were going to shoot with a single lens. BTW: a good walking stick with a lightweight tripod head could do double duty as walking stick and monopod. However, you would need to take the camera off the stick for low angle shots.

[William W]

When you come back to let us know what camera(s) you are using, please also tell us what are other lenses (if any), from which you have to choose.

WW

[Shadowman]

On my first trip to the Grand Canyon I carried every lens I owned (3 at the time) and a bridge camera. I didn't really do the trails into the canyon, but for a full day of travel the weight of the load was taxing. I feel it's better to have it (the lens) with you when you need it then regret not having it later. If you are shooting with a crop sensor the wide angle won't give you much in the way of spectacular effects, you would need a focal length below 16mm to get the exciting distortion created by the wide angle lens.

[Kris V]

this one?....

[Loose Canon]

Hi KeithM!

Are you going into the field for multiple days on foot? Are you base camping/lodging and doing day trips? Is it possible to stash one lens in the “heavy luggage”?

Reasons for asking? If you are going to be out of a base camp on foot for several days I would definitely take the tripod on my back. You would probably regret not having it to shoot evening/night shots, which can be spectacular in the desert. Further, the desert is a good place for possibly needing exposure brackets. AEB spells “tripod” in my dictionary! So I would suck it up and take one for sure.

Now, if you are doing day trips and base lodging I wouldn’t pack one for the day trips necessarily. But it would be nice if again, you could have one stashed for evenings/nights. Same for the lenses. If you could stash one you could choose one at the start of the day hike and if it didn’t work out for you choose the other next day. Assumedly you have access to the stash gear at least once or twice a day or more. At least you’d have both available.

Could depend also on where you are or where you are going. If in a narrow canyon, the 24-70. Otherwise you are going to get a wide angle shot of a lot of canyon wall. Cool if you are taking shots of canyon walls. But typically the shot is framed by the walls and shot up or down the canyon for depth and the longer lens might be a better choice. If staying to the top of the canyons I would still take the 24-70, but here is where the wider lens might be of interest. I like a 24-105mm f/4.0 L on a full frame for general purpose and find it plenty wide enough for most outdoor scenes and I like the little extra on the long end (and I have a 17-40 L available). My preference is, if anything, to have a longer lens available rather than a wider (than24mm) lens so my 2nd lens (if I take one, and usually do) would be a 70-200mm L. The desert is a big place and sometimes the subject of interest may be a longer ways off than you think or that you can get to. Both of these lenses get about half ‘n half duty in the desert.

Don’t forget the extra batteries (if away from electricity), cards, I’d toss in a flash if it could be in the stash gear, lens cleaning stuff. Careful of swapping out lenses in the desert! Lots of sand/dust out there! If this is your first time out there, wide brim hat is a must, sunglasses (with neck strap), sunscreen, bandannas, good, lightweight hiking boots. Drink lots of water. More than you think you need.

Maybe have a good camera carrier that doesn’t interfere with your backpack. That way you can wear the camera instead of having to stop, take off backpack, dig camera out of backpack, re-pack in backpack, and continue on. You can always pack it all in the backpack if not needing to wear it.

Mostly have a ball! I was just out there on a multi-day canyon boating trip last June and I still envy you your trip!

[rpcrowe]

I modified a Slik Pro 330DX ( http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ped_fragment_= ) tripod which weighs 3.31 pounds in its factory configuration.

I removed the heavy stock Pan tilt head and replaced it with a far lighter but quite sturdy Adorama Flashpoint F-1 ball head which is unfortunately no longer available but, might be found on eBay. The F-1 head weighs just 11 ounces,

I removed the longer stock center column replacing it with the shorter and lighter weight optional Slik center column.

The total weight of this tripod plus head is approximately 2 pounds, yet it will support my 1.6x cameras and 70-200mm f/4L IS lens.



I use a L-bracket on my camera because I can get away with a lighter tripod and head setup when using a L bracket and a Arca compatible quick release system. This is because the weight of the package is always over the center of the tripod, not hanging over the side. Of course in this shot, the tripod collar does that job!


I suspect that there are other tripods on the market which are this light or can be modified to be this light.

IMO a tripod is great for landscape shooting and I would gladly carry a couple of extra pounds to have one to steady my shots and to shoot HDR imagery.

[KeithM]

Thank you all for those very helpful replies. I should have stated I'm taking my 5diii, so full frame. I need to read each post again carefully but I sense that the jury's verdict is slightly in favour of the 24-70 which surprised me at first but I see the logic. Terry raises many good points about the structure of the trip. Mostly they are day walks with a lodge/hotel base at night so I could take both lenses and carry one as the mood takes me. I am not sure what my style of shooting is, it's hard to say before I arrive.

I will take a fairly lightweight tripod in my luggage, although whether I can carry it will depend on how tough the walks are and how hot the weather is - water is heavy but pretty essential. In any case I hope it will be useful at sunrise and sunset before and after the walks.

The trip finishes with a walk into the Grand Canyon, overnight camp and walk out the next day. I am pretty nervous about it and had only planned to take my little lumix compact down with me due to the weight issue.

Thanks again to all for your help.

Keith

[Mike Buckley]

The trip finishes with a walk into the Grand Canyon, overnight camp and walk out the next day. I am pretty nervous about it

Hopefully you have recent significant hiking experience, know the requirements of the hike, have a clear understanding of your physical capability, and, more important, understand how that capability affects your ability to enjoy such a hike. I doubt that you do; otherwise, you wouldn't be nervous about the hike. As an example, I and my wife know we can enjoy a hike that elevates no more than 1000 feet in a mile. Even so, we wouldn't want to take a five-mile hike that elevates 1000 feet every mile.

My guess is that the reason the company has scheduled the hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon at the end of the week is so they and you have an opportunity to learn about your capabilities from the easier hikes taken earlier in the week. If you have a tough time on the easier hikes, your best bet is not to go to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Keep in mind that you can take absolutely dropdead gorgeous photos from the rim of the canyon.

[rpcrowe]

When I visited the South Rim, I took a day tour along the rim. I learned a lot about the canyon and also found some great places to shoot from which I might not have found on my own! I returned to these places on my own later.

Unfortunately, I was shooting film. Sure I could have scanned the slides but, to tell you the truth, I haven't seen any images from slides that were scanned that I like. Perhaps professional scanners might work better, I don't know...

There is a "Skywalk" down the Canyon which is run by the local band of Native Americans. Unfortunately, the last I haerd, photography wasn't allowed from that Skywalk.

[Saorsa]

There are any number of hiking sticks with a 1/4x20 tripod socket mount on them. I would put a lightweight ballhead on one. Hiking, you can usually find a tree or rock or your own leg to brace on and the ballhead lets you keep horizons level and shift to vertical pretty quickly.

A photo monopod won't be designed to carry the weight of a hiking stick and you will be tempted to use it as one.

[barrydoig]

I have hiked in and around the Grand Canyon. You have been given good advice about lenses. I can only add that a monopod is a good compromise between weight and convenience. It is also a good walking stick. Might also help to flick off the odd scorpion, tarantula, or rattlesnake!!! I never saw any. You are going to some incredibly vast and beautiful country. Take plenty of cards and shoot a lot. 'Film is cheap'.

[barrydoig]

But what sort of camera is it? I WANT one
Barry

[barrydoig]

But what sort of camera is it? I just gotta have one
Barry