Which lens to rent for hawaii vacation

[kalendae]

Hi all,

I have a T1I body, it is a cropped sensor dslr, and not having gone on vacations much before, I've just been getting around with a 50mm 1.4 for mostly indoor shots of people. Now I am thinking that I would like to get some wide shots of the beach of Oahu and the mountains and so on (mostly with people in it not really landscape shots), I am thinking about renting a lens for the trip.

My personal requirement is that the lens have a relatively large aperture as I really like to blur the background (on a side note does that even make sense for travel photos?) I've rented the 17-50mm 2.8 tamron before and it was kind of OK and really cheap, would like to try maybe some other options, some that I am looking at are:

1) Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
2) Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
3) Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X 116 Pro DX for Canon
4) Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L USM
the Canon EF 17-35mm f/2.8L is out of stock so not an option

they are all about the same price

I would love to get some thoughts on what you would take and some pros and cons.

thanks

[kalendae]

thought i put this in the canon gear forum, but not sure how to move it there.

[natek313]

Wow. That's not an easy decision. You have some good glass listed. Personally, I would go for either the 24-70mm f/2.8L USM or 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM.

And I'm very jealous that you're going to Hawaii!

Also, I don't think you have the ability to move a thread once you post it. A moderator can do that, however.

[Murtasma]

If you want a wide angle the 10-22 will be your best bet. I think a 70-200 F2.8 IS would work really well here as well. Congrats on your trip I've never been yet, eventaully I'll get out there.

[Photoboothguy]

I love the 50mm f1.4. It's my favorite. It rarely leaves my camera.

However, for Hawaii, and scenic trips in general, I'd go wide angle. The 17-55 sounds like a good choice. It will allow you to take nice portraits, while still getting a lot of the background in the scene. I'd be tempted by the 11-16, but that might almost be too wide.

Try this (it goes against conventional wisdom): Set your focal length to 17mm, and take a nice portrait of someone. It'll seem goofy...you'll only be a couple of feet from their face, but you'll get a beautiful shot of them with a very nice background. I thought it was strange too, until I saw the results.

When I was in New York last month, three ladies asked me to take their photo in front of the Brooklyn bridge. They handed me a Nikon D40, and I tried the wide-angle technique, only getting their shoulders and heads in the frame along with the entire bridge. As I was taking the photo, I heard one of them mumble "He's awfully close"...but when they saw the photo they said "Oh wow, that's really good!".

When I was in Hawaii, the telephoto was pretty worthless. Didn't see a whole lot of "wildlife" that wasn't swimming, so most of my shots were landscape. Low-light was necessary in 2 places: luau's (not sure how to spell that...Hawaiian cookouts) and in some of the rainforests on Kuai (my favorite island). It gets pretty dark in there.

Have fun! If you're going to Kuai, I'd highly recommend the Napali coast...incredibly beautiful...lots of great photo ops. If you're going to Maui, I'd recommend Warren & Annabelle's for a great night out (magic and comedy).

[Saralonde]

Moved it for you.

I can only speak to the 17-55mm f/2.8 IS. This is an excellent lens and it offers some wide angle which you may want for landscapes in Hawaii. I bought it for it's low light (for a zoom) and IS (for my not too steady hands) and I'm very happy with it.

The downside to this lens is the cost and that it is an EF-S. If you ever decide to move to a full frame camera, this will not work. At the time I bought it, it was between the 24-70 f/2.8 and this. The IS won me over, but it was a hard decision. It meant I was commiting to crop cameras.

[Quo Fan]

When I go to Hawaii next year to visit family, I'll be taking my 17-40 f4L, 50mm 1.8, 100-400 f4.5-5.6L and a 28-90 macro.

The shorter lenses will be for nature, people and landscapes, and the long one for surfing (even though the waves won't be "big") and birding.

[CapnJack]

A wide angle is nice. Long lens for birds and surfers.

Some shots from earlier this year:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jacksil...91076817/show/

Edit- the birds are fairly tame there so you can get close to them

[kalendae]

thanks for all the suggestions! i think i will rent the 17-55 ef-s 2.8 IS then. i've indeed always wanted to rent a 70-200 F2.8 IS to try out but i think it might be too big for the trip.