Photo journey

[Binner]

Soon I will be off on a photo journey to Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Laos, New Guinea and Borneo. Will be gone about 7 months. My lens of choice will be a Canon 400mm F5.6 but my Canon camera was stolen so I will buy a new one.  I am leaning toward the 70D because that will make the 400mm a 640mm. I shot mostly from a tripod but the 400 is versatile enough that I can hand hold it in bright daylight. Opinions on which camera would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

[RobertTheFat]

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@Binner wrote:

Soon I will be off on a photo journey to Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Laos, New Guinea and Borneo. Will be gone about 7 months. My lens of choice will be a Canon 400mm F5.6 but my Canon camera was stolen so I will buy a new one.  I am leaning toward the 70D because that will make the 400mm a 640mm. I shot mostly from a tripod but the 400 is versatile enough that I can hand hold it in bright daylight. Opinions on which camera would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

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If your lens of choice is one that long, you must be a wildlife photographer. So get a 7D Mark II. For what you're going to spend on a trip of that magnitude, the price difference between a 7D2 and a 70D falls in the category of roundoff error.

[ScottyP]

Of course you do want to take a shorter lens too. You have a shorter one, right?

[RobertTheFat]

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@ScottyP wrote:

Of course you do want to take a shorter lens too. You have a shorter one, right?

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If you're committed to the APS-C format and you're taking an external flash, the 17-55mm f/2.8 IS is a good choice. (It's not an ideal choice if you're relying on the built-in flash. At the short end, the lens is large enough to cast a significant shadow in the flash's coverage field.)

[Binner]

Yes the other lens will be a 18-135mm zoom. I will also have some type of macro lens.

[ebiggs1]

Re-read Bob from Boston's reply.  That is pretty much what I would have said, too.  

IMHO, the ef 400mm f5.6 is a fantastic lens.  Your other one is poor. I would consider something else. Especially on such a trip and adventure.  The IQ of that lens is not outstanding, certainly not in the same class at the 400mm.  But the build is not even close either.

Large ratio zooms generally do not perform very well and less and less as the zoom ratio increases.  The best are 2x, 3x or even 4x times.  Stay within these ratios for your zoom lens.

How about this combo:

EOS 70D

ef-s 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 usm  <----very wide zoom

ef-s 17-55 f/2.8 is usm           <---- fast zoom (you will use this lens the most)

Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD    <---- super zoom

All these suggestion have top rated IQ worthy of such adventure.   Just my 2 cents and worth every penny.

[Binner]

Thanks for the replies.  The 400 allows me to get somewhat closer to many of the birds we will be seeing. I will use a Canon 2X extender when needed.  The zoom is not a very good lens but it does give me alot of flexiblity in shooting people in markets, bazaars and other outdoor venues.  In 1985 I walked and hitch hiked across Tibet and spent a year in China photographing people. I was using a Nikon F3 with a 180mm lens and never used anything else because I really understood what the lens could do for me. Using a shorter focal length is OK for many photos but does not work well to shot portraits. What I am saying is that almost all the photos I will take will be wildlife or portraits but the zoom will allow me to take record shots.

[ebiggs1]

"Yes the other lens will be a 18-135mm zoom."

And this equates to roughly 30 to 216 on a 70D !  You did consider this?  Also .............

400mm = 640mm  or 1280mm with 2x ?  Boy you sure don't like getting very close to your subjects.  Not to mention the obvious issues using such lofty focal lengths.