Gearing up for a trip

[PAlexC]

Gearing up for a few days in Iceland next week. 2 items I need FK's help on:

1.) Lens. I have the IS version of Canon's kit 18-55mm lens. It's meh, we all know that. I want to capture the landscape, as well as the city, but don't want to be bogged down with a ton of stuff. What lens should I borrow/rent/buy? Without breaking the bank.

2.) Geo Logger. I want to geo tag my photo and have maps of the routes I take. The market for loggers consists of dodgy software and cheap Taiwanese manufacturers. I want cheap, reliable and good. Gotsta have USB, no bluetooth only options, though if it had both, would be nice to be able to pair it with a future phone.

Thanks FK, I know you're good for it.

[WannaBe_80z]

Well without breaking the bank means what exactly? I am sure your bank is bigger then my bank. Are you looking for something to replace the kit lens as a all round walk around or something for very good landscapes? Because like always I will pimp out the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 for the walk around but if you are looking for HUGE landscapes and such(as well as I am) I have my eye on the Sigma 10-20. Which I will probably be buying once I am over there.

[PAlexC]

Thanks dude. So I'm considering one of three options:

1.) Keep the kit lens (18-55 IS), buy the Sigma 10-20 ($510), bring both.

2.) Trash the kit lens, buy the Canon 17-85 USM ($490), bring just that.

3.) Trash the kit lens, buy the Tamron 17-50 ($405), bring just that.

Cost-wise, they're all about the same. Remember the kit lens isn't the one it ships with, it's a later revision made in Japan with IS, that got somewhat better reviews. Though, I haven't been blown away by it so far.

I'll be heading out to some of the national parks there, and there's some amazing landscapes I don't want to miss, that's the priority.

[WannaBe_80z]

Well I have the Tamron so that is all I can vouch for and it is amazing. Tack sharp and constant 2.8 is awesome. My friend has the 17-85 and likes it alright I suppose- only other lens he owns other then the nifty fifty. Reviews for it is just average.

So I vote for the Tamron. It is plenty wide for probably what you'll want to do and if not there is always stitching in Photoshop.

[PAlexC]

Ah screw it, I rented the Canon 10-22 EF-S for $88 from lensrentals.com. Site got really good reviews. For that price, it's worth not committing.

[WannaBe_80z]

Lensrentals.com
Rentglass.com
Borrowlenses.com - this one is actually a old member of POTN that started it.

All 3 of those get high reviews.

[PAlexC]

Finally decided on a GPS Logger. Wouldn't recommend it for Mac folks b/c of software issues, but that seems pervasive.

Hopefully I'll be posting a KML file in the photog forum by the end of Sept.

[WannaBe_80z]

So- what did you get?

[PAlexC]

Oh, crap. Forgot the link:

QStarz BT-Q1000

[PAlexC]

Just shot some tests photos with the lens, seems a little soft.

[Loyal Rogue]

Everytime I think of Iceland I think of that chick on the Oprah show...



http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprah..._ss_20050425/6

"I don't think sex is that big a deal in Iceland. It's probably just because everyone is having it. So it's not something you have to talk about and be ashamed of. If a girl is starting to have sex [at] about 15 years of age, she isn't looked at as promiscuous and the boys aren't looked at that way either. Icelandic women are very independent—they don't wait for someone to ask them out, they just phone them."
...
"I guess we're a bit liberal about things because we have a much lower threshold for beginning new relationships," Savhildur says. "We don't have this kind of a dating thing. You don't have to go on a date number one and two and perhaps on the third date you ask him in. We don't have rules like that."

Yeah baby.

[WannaBe_80z]

So did you get that lens sorted out? Sorry I just sorta disappeared last night. I was pretty busy finishing up packing. As I still am

[PAlexC]

Holy crap, 10mm is almost wide enough get my feet in the frame.

[WannaBe_80z]

Yeah only here a week and I am already crying at my 17mm lens limit. As soon as my check clears next week I am ordering the sigma 10-20. I hope the timing works out and someone in the UK on POTN is selling a sharp copy of the lens. If not where do you UK'ers buy camera gear? Any good local shops so I can buy it right away or is it really worth buying online somewhere(to get a big discount)?

[carly1979]

jessops is the main chain of camera shops. they're all over the place. don't really know how their prices compare to online though.....

[WannaBe_80z]

I will have to find one and see what the prices are like.. Brand new from B&H it is $569! But I have seen used copies go for around $400 so I am more looking for that range.

I went into a camera shop today that was all film cameras and it was mostly Leica gear and stuff of that caliber. Awesome to see so many of those cameras in one place as they are really rare in the US but the price tags made me cry.

Just went onto the Jessop website and found the Sigma lens and calculated the price in US dollars. It is exactly the same price as B&H has it listed for. So it's 319.99 pounds here.

http://www.jessops.com/Store/s20268/...y=False&comp=y

hmmm I really hope a used lens comes onto the market and a local pickup is possible. I'll buy the sigma new if I have too but damn that is a big chunk of change and then Canon is even more and not as good(from reviews I have read) And then the Tokina and Tamron equivalents aren't as good and start around 12mm and the pirce difference isn't enough to lose quality and build.

[PAlexC]

Dude, London's a major city. There has to be a place like B&H there. They have Craigslist and stuff like that too, right? Find a local uni with a photography degree and ask around.

Also, almost forgot that there was a cool camera shop in Reykjavik that had a stack of Holga's in the window, should I have nabbed a couple while I was there? Looked like they had filters or some other plastic-y cheap kiddy looking accessories too.

[WannaBe_80z]

Holgas are fun but only if you are willing to pay for developing. They take 120 film which isn't super rare(second most used next to 35mm) but not any store will develop them and then film cost a bit anyways. I think just to get the roll developed(12 exposures) and scanned cost me $14 in my local shop I always go to. They are definitely a nice camera to have in your collection and fun to play with but because of the cost I think twice before just going out and shooting random stuff with it.

The only film camera I brought with me here was my Kodak Brownie Hawkeye and about 8-10 rolls of 120 film. I will probably shoot it all while here but who knows when I will get it all developed. I really need to invest in a multiformat film scanner when I get settled back in the states.

So where are your photos from the trip!?