Mac wrote:
I have always thought of a walk around lens as a compact, light weight, general purpose lens to carry on strolls and take on picnics, etc. Something like 24-85mm or 28-105mm.
Lately I’ve seen recommendations like 18-400mm or 28-300mm which strikes me as overkill for a walk. They seem to me more like one size fits all lenses.
Is there a consensus on what makes a good walk around lens?
There is no single answer, because there is so much variation in what constitutes acceptable results when doing photography. There should be no shame associated with this range...it's just that different peoplpe are doing different things with their cameras, and the most perfect results from the most perfect lens and camera are simply not required for every one of them. Sometimes, this difference has nothing whatsoever to do even with the genre of photography. I'll give a personal example.
I am a member of the Santa Fe Railway Historical and Modelers' Society. That group has a convention every summer (except for this and last summer). A photography contest is part of that convention. If I am taking a railroad photograph with an eye toward entering the print in the contest, I'll guarantee that I'll be using my D850 and probably my 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom. There might be an occasional situation where a different lens might be needed, but if so, it's going to be one of my other top-line lenses. There will be a lot of planning, and a lot of attention paid to shot location, time of day, and all those other details that can make a difference when trying to shoot an absolute "best" image. It's a competitive contest, and there are a number of really good photographers in the group.
On the other hand, next week, my brother and I will be going out to chase the Union Pacific's "Big Boy" locomotive as it travels toward (and maybe within) Texas. Since it isn't an ATSF (or BNSF) locomotive, and since it won't be travelling on ATSF rails, none of the photographs will be eligible for entry in any organization contests. (I'm not a member of the UP group.) But since there will be lots of fast relocation from one location to another, and since we will be contending with large crowds of people and cards, and since we really don't know what the weather will be, agility is the absolutely most important part of the shooting equation. I still want to have decent results, but I'll likely not have complete control over shooting locations. I may have to be farther from he track than I would like. I do need to be able to shoot at the fastest shutter speed possible and I also need a reasonable depth of field. But there will be no time to be rummaging through a camera bag selecting and changing lenses. So my primary setup will be a D500 with a 24-120mm f/4 zoom. I'm considering whether to take the other D500 with an 18-200mm zoom just in case the shooting distances get really stretched out, but haven't decided for sure. Using that lens in this application calls for a lot of compromise. Might be better off shooting at 120mm and cropping to 200 if necessary. And yes, I'll take the D850 equipped as previously described, just in case an unexpected opportunity arises. Might even put the 24-120mm on it if an unexpected opportunity arises.
I realize that an outing like this is different from starting out on a "walk," perhaps with no specific plan. But the thought process is pretty much the same. I know that I'm not even going to attempt shots from a mile or even a half mile from the track...too much haze to be able to get decent results. Knowing what shots one must have and deciding what shots one is willing to give up is an important first step (or at least early step) in the photographic process. I learned a long time ago that trying to get every shot is a pretty good recipe for not getting any shots.
So I recommend slowing down, taking a breath, deciding on a more reasonable version of "must haves," and selecting a more targeted lens in order to accomplish a more targeted result.