Going on vacation - which lenses/accessories to bring, which to stay at home

[Orcrone]

I'm going on a European river cruise, my first trip to Europe. I have a Canon 5D Mark III, along with a Canon 16-35mm f/4.0 IS USM, a Tamson 24-70 f/2.8 di VC USD, a Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 di VC USD and a Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM. The camera bag is getting a bit heavy and crowded and I wanted to get some opinions of what equipment to leave at home.

Since most days I'll be on organized tours without a lot of time to setup I figured I'd leave my tripod at home. Same thing for my battery grip. I'm guessing there will be times when I need a strobe so I'm figuring on taking my 580 EX II Speedlite.

I normally use the 24-70 mm as my walk around lens. But I'm pretty sure I'll want the 16-35mm when taking architectural pics. So I'm considering leavnig the 24-70 at home and most of the time leaving the 16-35 on the camera. If I need telephoto I have the 70-200 and for the pics between 35 and 70 I have my feet and the 50 mm prime.

What's your thoughts on this combo?

Thanks!!!

[Orcrone]

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@jrhoffman75 wrote:

Hi. Enjoy your trip.

They're called belly bags or butt bags (whether you wear on front or back )

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Oh! Fanny pack. I have a backpack, but it would be nice to have one of those when all I need for it to carry is one extra lens and maybe an extra battery.

[jrhoffman75]

In crowded tourist situations I wear in front because of pickpocket concerns. 

[Orcrone]

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@jrhoffman75 wrote:

In crowded tourist situations I wear in front because of pickpocket concerns. 

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Definitely a good idea. I also have a case from another lens. I can always put a strap on this one or attach using my belt and the belt loop on the case

[RobertTheFat]

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@jrhoffman75 wrote:

In crowded tourist situations I wear in front because of pickpocket concerns. 

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I second that, but there's still a concern, When you wear the bag in the front, it's held on by a single latch in the back. If the pickpotet releases the latch, the bag will probably drop, and he may be off with it before you can react. So care is required, no matter what.

I wonder whether The Authorities will now look askance at such bags. They might fear that the wearer is a suicide bomber.

[ScottyP]

If I were leaving lenses, I'd leave the 16-35 home. The 24-70 covers all but the 16-23 part and 24 is pretty wide on a FF.

The only big bulky lens is the 70-200. It would make sense to leave it if traveling light was critical but I love mine so much I'd take it anyway. As stated above you don't have to carry everything on every excursion.

I found a sling bag that carries a FF camera with a 70-200 MOUNTED, plus one regular sized lens (Sig Art 35) plus a speed lite. Think Tank Turn Style. Smallest sling around and yet also about the only one that lets the big lens to ride mounted. Way way better than carrying my backpack.

[Orcrone]

Thanks to everyone for their responses. I must not have had notifications set correctly, because I didn't find out there were replies until today (11/16). Since we're leaving tomorrow it would be difficult to buy something in time; the closest decent camera shop is over 1.5 hours away round trip.

Right now I have the camera, strobe 16 - 35mm, 70 - 200mm and the 50 mm packed. I keep running into the same problem that I'm hearing from others. There are certain things that I must bring, but it's easy to find a reason/scenario to bring more. I thought about eliminating the SpeedLite, but then figured I'd like to have it for indoor shots on the ship. Like John suggested I thoughht of leaving the telephoto at home, but then figured what if there's something in the distance I want to shoot. Aside from which I like using it as my portrait lens.

Bob - good suggestion about cleaning the camera but it's less than 3 months old so it's not needed quite yet.

Ebiggs - I have two 32gb CF cards and two 64gb sdhc cads. I'm bringing a card reader and a small (150 gb) portable hard drive. I figure I'll download the pics every night to both the hard drive & my wife's computer. Plus my wife's computer will back up the pics to One Note. Then I"ll start fresh every morning. I'm also thinking of taking my SD95 P&S for times when I don't want to carry everything.

I'll probably stick with what I have or possibly add the 24 - 70mm and pack it carefully in the middle of soft clothing in my carry on. Or better yet move the SpeedLite to the carry on, remove the 50mm from the backpack and include the 24-70mm.