Best lens setup for travel on a Canon 7D: one all-in-one zoom or multiple lenses?

Question

I travel with a Canon 7D and currently bring a Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 and a Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6. That covers most situations, but I end up changing lenses often. The 70-300 gives me better image quality overall, while the 17-70 is useful for wider scenes.

I'm trying to balance image quality, low weight, flexibility, and fewer lens changes while traveling. Would it make more sense to add another lens for portraits or close-ups, use close-up attachments to save space, or replace my current setup with a single travel zoom such as a 24-105mm or similar? What would you choose if the goal is to travel relatively light but still stay versatile?

user4892 · Answer

If your price isn't as unlimited as the Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 L IS USM lens that jrista pointed out, you might want to look at the Canon EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens. It only weighs one third of the weight of the giant beast, and still gives a huge range. This lens is designed for the APS-C sensor that your 7D has. Just yesterday Canon Europe actually announced a 2nd version of this lens, so if you are thinking about buying one you might want to hold out for that version.

The right answer is going to depend heavily on how you like to travel. If you are traveling out of your car and don't mind the weight, then extra lenses for different purposes would be the way to go. If you want a light kit that does it all with a single lens, keeps you mobile and ready for the action, an all in one solution like one of the lenses above might be the best.

You said you want to travel relatively lightly, so I would consider something like the 18-200mm lens, with maybe a single prime lens either in the 35,50,85, or 135mm range. This will give you a light, small, fast(large aperture)lens to blur the background and shoot in low light situations that the 18-200mm lens will not perform as well.

Best case scenario in my opinion while considering price/performance/weight/and quality:

or

I asked a similar question here a few weeks ago, limiting the question to 1-3 lenses, while giving quality the highest value of importance. Price was not a factor in my question at all. You can see that question and its answers here.

Best lens setup for travel on a Canon 7D: one all-in-one zoom or multiple lenses?

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