Off To Italy: I’m heading to Rome and Sicily. I’ll be taking my trusty D7100 with me. I plan on taking my 18-200 as my walk around and my 10-20 for crowded cities, churches and...

sinderone

I’m heading to Rome and Sicily. I’ll be taking my trusty D7100 with me. I plan on taking my 18-200 as my walk around and my 10-20 for crowded cities, churches and scenery. I also have a 35mm 1.8. Do you think I’ll really need that. I’d like to travel as light as possible but don’t want to shortchange myself. Your input is much appreciated.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

sinderone wrote:

I’m heading to Rome and Sicily. I’ll be taking my trusty D7100 with me. I plan on taking my 18-200 as my walk around and my 10-20 for crowded cities, churches and scenery. I also have a 35mm 1.8. Do you think I’ll really need that. I’d like to travel as light as possible but don’t want to shortchange myself. Your input is much appreciated.

I am probably going to be in the minority here but judging only by focal length I think the 18-200 will suit you perfectly and make lens changing unnecessary. Your 35mm would be great indoors for churches and such but only because it has the aperture of 1.8. You can easily raise the ISO when inside to compensate for that. I have toured parts of Europe and carried only my Nikon 24-85 f3.5-4.5 lens. It did great in all circumstances.

I suspect the focal range of 24-50 will end up being your most used focal range rather than toward the 200mm end of the lens.

Dennis

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I'd take the 18-200 and the 35, I'd leave the 10-20 at home.
When I went to Iceland I took my 18-200 and a 50. I only used the 50 for the northern lights.
But only you know how you want to shoot, and your requirements vs. the capabilities of the lenses.

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

Have a great trip. You might want to buy a camera strap with a cable in it. Don't know the times you will visiting with crowded areas. H&H has them for cameras and bags at about $30.00@

Hip Coyote

I’m with Dennis on this one. I’m currently in Italy and Croatia. I looked back to see what focal lengths I have been shooting. Nearly all are in the 24-60 mm range on a full frame equivalent scale. If I’m inside I kick up the ISO to 1000 or so it it all is working just fine. I do have a wider angle lens but it has been used very sparingly. If you find you want some very wide angel shot consider shooting a few shots and stitching them together in post production. Also be advised that many churches do not allow photography or do not allow large bags to be brought in. Look ahead to see what restrictions you might face. In general, one camera and one lens will suffice.

gsmith051 Loc: Fairfield Glade, TN

sinderone wrote:

I’m heading to Rome and Sicily. I’ll be taking my trusty D7100 with me. I plan on taking my 18-200 as my walk around and my 10-20 for crowded cities, churches and scenery. I also have a 35mm 1.8. Do you think I’ll really need that. I’d like to travel as light as possible but don’t want to shortchange myself. Your input is much appreciated.

The 18-200 lens will work for 99 percent of your shots. I’ve always taken a small camera for backup and never used it. Frankly, a cell phone would do the job as backup.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

dennis2146 wrote:

I am probably going to be in the minority here but... (show quote)

I'm with Dennis here. You'll probably use the 18-200 95% of the time, the 10-20 5%, and the 35mm not at all. Don't forget, you could blend shots in post from the 18-200 to create wide angle-like shots. Lighter is better. When I was in Italy, I used my Tamron 18-270 for almost 100% of my shots.

sinderone

Thank you to all for your valuable input.

Bill_de Loc: US

All together those 3 lenses don't weigh much or take up a lot of room. Unless this was a place I could go back to at will, I'd take all three.

cdayton

Another vote for Dennis. I used an 18-200 on a D300 for several European trips - heavy but never needed anything else.

jerseymike

Longshadow wrote:

I'd take the 18-200 and the 35, I'd leave the 10-20 at home.
When I went to Iceland I took my 18-200 and a 50. I only used the 50 for the northern lights.
But only you know how you want to shoot, and your requirements vs. the capabilities of the lenses.

These are the things I don't understand. I would take the 18-200 only. Why take the 35 when you have that already in the 18-200?

Walkabout08

Same here, take the 18-200 and leave the others at home. Last fall I spent two weeks there with only my 24-70 S and it was almost all I needed.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

sinderone wrote:

I’m heading to Rome and Sicily. I’ll be taking my trusty D7100 with me. I plan on taking my 18-200 as my walk around and my 10-20 for crowded cities, churches and scenery. I also have a 35mm 1.8. Do you think I’ll really need that. I’d like to travel as light as possible but don’t want to shortchange myself. Your input is much appreciated.

My travel kit for years was the D7100 with the 18-200 and the 10-20. That is all you will need. Try not to change lenses too often outside as you run a higher risk of getting stuff on your sensor.
Now I just travel with my Sony HX99 that has a pop up viewfinder and a 24-750 mm Zeiss lens. Cost about $475.00. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1437917-REG/sony_dsc_hx99_b_cyber_shot_dsc_hx99_digital_camera.html?sts=pi&pim=Y
The last time I was in Italy I took the HX99 predecessor , the HX50 (same lens without pop up viewfinder), below is a grab shot from Venice.

AntonioReyna Loc: Los Angeles, California

I went to Italy and Spain, separate trips, with only my Canon crop sensor body and a 17-85 EFs lens. I got great pictures. Don't wear yourself out with too much gear. Italy was great. You will get lots of good images.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

jerseymike wrote:

These are the things I don't understand. I would take the 18-200 only. Why take the 35 when you have that already in the 18-200?

Usually there is a wider aperture on a fixed than a zoom, lets more light in, allows faster shutter speed.
Light accumulation over an equivalent amount of time is greater for a larger aperture,
which is why I used the 50 for the northern lights, they are very dim.
(My zoom is ƒ3.5-5.6 and the 50 is ƒ1.4)