Lens recommendation for Hiking

pmatusov

AK6PM
I would choose the current Tamron 16-300mm lens. It is for crop bodies only, but it is wide enough for some landscape work, and long enough for some wildlife and small and light and fairly inexpensive. It is sharp as well. Most of my images were captured with a Canon 70D or a 7D MK II

Since the zoom range is so large, you never really need to swap lenses in the field, hence your sensor will stay cleaner to boot. Used with LightRoom it will have no color aberrations and the images sharpen very nicely.

I have had mine for about 2 years now and have over 8500 frames captured with it, on land, sea, and glacier surfaces.

I have a few images shot with the Tamron 16-300mm lens here so you can see the lenses potential and image quality - https://pathfinder.smugmug.com/Other/16-300-Tamron-Zoom/
Nice photos!
I wish I knew about this lens - it would be great for MFT camera with an adapter.
 

Pathfinder

Adventurer
For MFT, Panasonic offers a 14-140 f3.5-5.6 ( with is a 28-280mm equivalent ) that is reasonably small and a wee bit cheaper than the Tamron 16-300 that I like so well. The Panny 14-140 may be just a tiny bit smaller, and it is nice optically for a 10X zoom.

I like the MFT systems, but I do miss the built in GPS that the 7D Mk II offers in APS-C format. Lots of choices in this life.

I used the Tamron lens for this frame while in the mountains in Alberta

Northern%20Rockies%20from%20helicopter%207206--XL.jpg
 

Pathfinder

Adventurer
Hi Vicreo,

Most of the images I posted in the Wildlife thread here on Expedition Portal were shot with the latest Canon mount Tamron 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 zoom lens on a Canon 7D Mk II body (usually). The Tamron 150-600 is not a perfect lens, but it is sharp if used carefully with long lens technique, and/or a good tripod. Its AF is adequate, not as fast a Canon primes, but it is much more inexpensive and lighter than most long Canon primes.

Not sure which images you are referring to on Smugmug - this is my opening page - https://pathfinder.smugmug.com Many of these images were shot with the Tamron 150-600 G2 simply because it is smaller and lighter to carry about shooting handheld, but I also have images on my opening page shot with other lenses including Canon long glass
 

yoggie

Member
I see that you already ordered a lens and it is a good choice. I had it on an older camera and loved it for what it was. I currently carry around a Nikon D750 with the Nikon 28-300 and a Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 for ultra wide shots. There are newer ultra wide lenses out now with auto focus that would make a great companion to your superzoom.

I use a lot of the peak design stuff. I absolutely love the clips! I have a clip on either strap of my backpack, one holds the camera and another holds the lens kit. The lens kit can hold two lenses so what I do is remove the one on my camera, click it into the lens holder, rotate it and grab the other lens and go. Very quick to swap between lenses and very low risk of dropping or contaminating the lens or body. Also, having the weight on the backpack removes the weight off of your neck and also acts as a counter balance for the things in your pack. The camera doesn't bounce around, is always in reach, and is very sell protected since the only way you are likely to hit it on anything is if you trip and face plant. I do keep the camera attached to a strap just in case I drop it, but it is really there for quick set downs or an oops, rather then holding the weight of the camera.
 
thank's youggie do you have a linke for the peak clips, now I am looking for a wide angle lens, been look at some attachments the go in front of the lens bus they are so cheap
 

malibubts

Adventurer
I see that you already ordered a lens and it is a good choice. I had it on an older camera and loved it for what it was. I currently carry around a Nikon D750 with the Nikon 28-300 and a Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 for ultra wide shots. There are newer ultra wide lenses out now with auto focus that would make a great companion to your superzoom.

I use a lot of the peak design stuff. I absolutely love the clips! I have a clip on either strap of my backpack, one holds the camera and another holds the lens kit. The lens kit can hold two lenses so what I do is remove the one on my camera, click it into the lens holder, rotate it and grab the other lens and go. Very quick to swap between lenses and very low risk of dropping or contaminating the lens or body. Also, having the weight on the backpack removes the weight off of your neck and also acts as a counter balance for the things in your pack. The camera doesn't bounce around, is always in reach, and is very sell protected since the only way you are likely to hit it on anything is if you trip and face plant. I do keep the camera attached to a strap just in case I drop it, but it is really there for quick set downs or an oops, rather then holding the weight of the camera.
Do you find your clip is sort of floppy on your pack? I bought one of these to use with my Canon 40D and a pancake lens and I could never get it dialed in.

I was using it on a day pack and it just seemed like the weight of the camera kinda tipped everything over and it wanted to flop around.

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk
 

yoggie

Member
My pack is a fairly large one with thick, padded straps. It also has a sternum strap and a waist belt that actually holds most of the weight. I cant get the clips tight enough with just my hands so I use a pliers to make sure they are snug. Between the multiple straps that keep the pack very snug to my body, and a decent amount of weight (I am the pack mule for the family), my pack doesn't move. I use the Lowepro Fastpack 350 DSLR Camera Backpack if you are interested, and yes, its expensive, but worth it for me.

If your backpack has thin straps, you might want to try adding a backing or padding. Peak Design sells a pad stabilizer for $15-20 that helped when I had a previous backpack with thinner straps, but honestly, you can probably make one with stuff around your house. The key is to make it ridged enough to keep the clip in place but with padding so it doesn't hurt your shoulder.

Another thing I really like taking with me is a 360 camera. The one I use is the little older Theta S, but there are other, newer ones on the market that work just as well. It is a lot of fun to take a picture of a place and then upload it onto google street view for anyone everyone to see. I just make sure to hide my face when I take shots to share globally.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,527
Messages
2,875,533
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top