Hi Guys,

What lens do you recommend to take when traveling with a Canon 80D. I was thinking of taking my 17-55F2.8 and 70-200 F4. Will be used for both videos and pictures. Thanks.

It depends. What do you want to create? What's your style? Will you shoot at night? Handheld? Tripod?

The 17-55 is great for "human scale" video with actors, but might not be ideal for traveling. A Tokina 11-16 might be better for landscapes and showing the world around you. The longer lens can be great for cinema verite style - viewing strangers at a distance. For night shooting, you might want a faster prime.

When I've traveled, my best shots were ultrawide - where I either take in a big scope or push in for perspective distortion. I once did a timelapse with a long shutter interval with an ultrawide on the ground, near a crowd. Very cool shot.

The cinema verite thing can be very good. Get shots on strangers doing their thing without them knowing you're there. The challenge is stability. A tripod and IS is ideal, but then you lose the stealth thing.

A mid lens is best when you know the people who you will film. Otherwise, very wide and very long are the way to go, IMHO.

A mid-lens with a wide aperture can do well in a nightclub. When people are drinking, they might not care if you film them up close. :)

And that's the thing about shooting when traveling. So much depends on how bold you are in filming strangers.

I travel to South America regularly and shoot both in urban and rural environments -- particularly in rainforest areas. Jon shared some excellent thoughts that I agree with totally.

I have a Sigma 18-50 f2.8 that is on my camera most of the time. Occasionally I'd like a longer reach, but this one covers most situations.

I had the Tokina 11-16 and it was an excellent lens, but it was too limited in terms of reach while traveling. For landscapes and wide shots, however, it was fantastic. I could cover almost all of what it did with the Sigma, though, and ended up selling it.

I always thought the Canon 24-70 L f2.8 might be a great lens if I was going to carry one lens, but never wanted to spend the money to get just a little more length and lose the wide coverage.

The 80-200 would be a great lens depending on what you'll be shooting. It's just too heavy and doesn't fit what I tend to look for. I have a Canon 100 f2 that works great for "people" shots, but I am not big into changing lenses a lot in the field much or carrying big lenses. I've found that people seem less open to photos if you look like you might be professional.

Jon's right -- it all depends on all the variables of your own needs and style.

Well guys, I will have to wait next year for the Trip to Guatemala. Wife passport got delayed and Guatemala immigration is behind. Anyways the only wide angle lens that I have is this Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM, and 18-135 kit lens. I may have to invest on the Tokina. I have though about buying it.