Yellowstone/Tetons: I will be spending a few days in September in Yellowstone/Tetons National Park. I have a Nikon D850 and D500 that I will be taking with me. I don't want to take a...

Jphenney Loc: Ohio

I will be spending a few days in September in Yellowstone/Tetons National Park. I have a Nikon D850 and D500 that I will be taking with me.

I don't want to take a lot of lenses with me. Any advice as to what the best three lenses to take would be?

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

A wide-wide, a medium zoom, and a long zoom. That should do it. 😉😉

knessr

On my last trip there, I took an 18 - 150mm and a 100 - 400mm. That handled all the shots I wanted to get. The first one for landscape shots and the second one for wildlife.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Jphenney wrote:

I will be spending a few days in September in Yellowstone/Tetons National Park. I have a Nikon D850 and D500 that I will be taking with me.

I don't want to take a lot of lenses with me. Any advice as to what the best three lenses to take would be?

100-400 and a 24-70

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

24-70, 70-200, 200-500. You're covered!

mikeroetex Loc: Lafayette, LA

Jphenney wrote:

I will be spending a few days in September in Yellowstone/Tetons National Park. I have a Nikon D850 and D500 that I will be taking with me.

I don't want to take a lot of lenses with me. Any advice as to what the best three lenses to take would be?

14-30, 24-70 and longest ya got

Revet Loc: Fairview Park, Ohio

I went to Yellowstone twice in the last 5 years. The first time I took one rented lens (Tamron 18-400). The second time I took 3 of my own lenses (16-80, 80-200, and 150-600). I took a ton of images both times and I think most of the Tamron shots were great but I did get better images overall using the 3 lenses. Unfortunately, you need a wide focal range in Yellowstone as you will be taking both landscape (wide angle) and wildlife photos (telephoto and super telephoto). In addition, needing to change from wide-angle to super telephoto can happen very quickly. There were multiple incidents when I was taking a landscape shot when a moose, bear, elk, fox, etc showed up.

I honestly can't tell you which system I would go with next time as both have their advantages and disadvantages. If you are just going as a tourist, I would bring one lens. If you are going as a photographer; planning your shots, spending a lot of time at one location, getting up early and staying late, etc, the 3 lenses would be a better choice.

Have fun and purchase bear spray!!!

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

When I visited, a few years ago I covered both parks with two lenses on a DX body, the Nikon 18-70 f3.5-4.5 AF-S and the old 80-400 with the screw drive AF. I had also my 12-24 f4 AF-S but it did not see much use, not meaning if you take an extreme wide angle will not be a good idea. I simply did not have much use for it and instead the 80-400 saw a lot of use with the wildlife. Most landscapes were well covered with the 18-70.

My experience over the years has been that I have taken more than I actually needed.

manofhg Loc: Knoxville, TN

I only have 3 lenses and would take them all, but think what I have would also be sufficient. I have a 20 mm f/1.4, 24-105 f/4, and a 70-200 f/2.8 plus a 2x multiplier.

ProfEngineer Loc: Florida

Was in Tetons and Yellowstone in early April for two weeks. I took 24-70, 70-200 & 150-600. Use the D850 with the 150-600 you can crop down and still get good photos from long range as if you were closer. 24-70 for all landscape. 70-200 was used when wildlife was within 100 yards. Take a tripod.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

manofhg wrote:

I only have 3 lenses and would take them all, but think what I have would also be sufficient. I have a 20 mm f/1.4, 24-105 f/4, and a 70-200 f/2.8 plus a 2x multiplier.

Have you ever been to Yellowstone?

Jphenney Loc: Ohio

No, this is my first trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons

kcooke Loc: Alabama

I was there 2 years ago for 2 weeks (1 week in each ). Shooting 5D4 and 7D2. 16-28, 24-105 L, 100-400L, 1.4x converter. Shooting from the roads in Yellowstone, I can say that you probably need as long as you have 500mm or 600mm on a DX body with 1.4x converter. Unless you are hiking in the backcountry and can get closer.
In the Tetons we generally saw more wildlife closer to the road. 8 bears in 6 days. Take a beanbag for your car window and you can take photographs from there when the traffic jams up and stops due to wildlife. If wildlife is your primary goal then in Yellowstone is suggest traveling the road through the Lamar Valley area. Lots of wildlife and way less traffic. Just my 2 cents

photoman43

One lens needs to be longer than 300mm. The shortest could be a zoom starting at 24mm. 35mm is not wide enough. For shots with a tele, you will need a tripod and a bean bag so you can shoot from your car window. If you have a 1.4x teleconverter, bring it too. A 70-200mm will get a lot of use too.

Get up early and drive to key spots at sunrise or even before sunrise. Same goes for sunsets and blue hour.

tomad Loc: North Carolina

I took an RX10 IV which has a 24-600 lens. There were only a couple of times I wished I had a wider lens for landscapes but there were many times I wished I had a longer one for wildlife so if you have lenses that will cover this range plus a little more on each end that's what you should take.