I have been to YNP twice during 10 of the last 11 years. I use mostly zoom lenses. I use a 24--70 on full frame, 100--400 II on full frame, and 600 on cropped frame. Unless you want to crop a lot of images when you are processing them, I highly recommend zooms. I (almost) always mount my camera on a tripod when out of the car or on a beanbag on the window opening when shooting from the car. I also ocassionally use a 11--24 wide angle lens but that is rare.
We just came back from Yosemite and used what I had D7100, 75-300,18-140 and 35 1.8. You really need as much reach as you can and try to not sacrifice too much sharpness. Next year we are going to Yellowstone with 300mm + 1.4 converter the 35 and 55-200. All in all we had a great time but all the smoke in the air did not do well for photos.
BobT wrote:
Is this even a practical idea? And if it is, what might you suggest as a 3 prime lens kit for such a trip; realizing that one wishes to capture most of what Y-Stone has to offer landscapes, to animals. Very interested in your comments on this. Thanks.
Just the same range you would cover using zooms, wide to long tele. There are hundreds of options, take your pick!
I think that if you take primes you will wish you had a high quality zoom or two instead (whether one or two would depend on their zoom ranges). Wildlife will usually require a long lens. In Yellowstone you will probably never need the faster apertures of the primes, and in all other respects I think they would be a disadvantage. Getting the shot quickly would be the priority.
I agree the zooms would more practical and flexible. Use both.
There's so much to see and shoot and opportunities are fleeting. You don't want to be changing lenses while losing the shot. Go with a really good zoom and lighten your load.
I spend a lot of time up there and my go to is a 100-400. I also keep a 1.4 converter and 24-105 handy. I usually have my 500 f4 in the truck but it doesn’t get out unless I find critters staying put. If I had a wider prime I would pack it also. It’s usually just me and my own truck so space isn’t an issue. When you figure in tripods,binocs,spotting scope,a cooler and weather gear it takes up some room. I usually take most of my gear because you never know what you will come across. Don’t forget the most important thing if you are going hiking. BEAR SPRAY. I’m a big fan of good modern zooms. But if I had my choice when that perfect shot came by ,I’d use a prime. Have fun!
Get a wide angle lens for the landscapes and the biggest zoom you can afford for wildlife. I bought the Tamron 150-600mm for my trip to Yellowstone. You can always rent a lens for a couple of weeks if you can't afford several thousand dollars for new glass.
I can not even start to think of going to Yellowstone with an arsenal of prime lenses and having to be changing it at every turn of the road, I would miss all the fun! The Tamron 16-300mm zoom on my Canon T5i and my Canon SX60 bridge camera are the perfect combination for me ;)
BobT
Loc: southern Minnesota
Marilia,
I like your "perfect combination". Affordable and light-ish. And able to handle most of what Y-Stone has to offer.
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