Two weeks ago I asked for some advice on lenses, and equipment for a hike into the grand canyon. http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic2/187183
Well, I went, and I figured people may want to know what a report of some sort on the travel.
In the end I bought a tripod, a Gitzo 1001 lightweight aluminum one. I had a Bogen ballhead that I also brought.
I didn't buy any lenses, I just bought a Sigma 15-30, Canon 28-135IS, a Canon 70-200 2.8L, and a Canon 50 1.8.
I picked up some UV filters to deal with dust on the trail. I don't normally shoot with filters on my lenses, but in this case it made sense. You kick up a lot of dirt and dust and being able to wipe down the filter, and if needed, throw it out later, was worth it. Similar to shooting near salt water.
My experience. This weighs too much. I ditched the tripod and the head at the rim, and didn't carry it down. One you throw in water and some food, and a lowepro offtrail2, my pack was pushing past 30 pounds of weight. I had a Mountainsmith Aproach 2900 pack, so it wasn't built for much more than this. It's a day pack with a support frame in it.
After hiking down the South Kaibab Trail, and back up the Bright Angel trail. I used the 80-200 on the trail once. To shoot a lizard. This 3.5 pounds of dead weight should have stayed at the top. The 28-135 had enough reach, and when shooting at f8-f16, the quality of L vs non-L is dimished.
The 15-30 got a lot of use, but the 28-135 did also. The 28-135 allowed me to focus in on more shadow, and allowed me to frame trail pictures better. It also allows me to use a polarizer, as I haven't gotten the courage to purcahse an 86mm circ-polarizer for the 15-30.
I brought down my 550ex, and used it once to shoot inside a cabin in Phantom Ranch. This is more dead weight, so I wouldn't bother, unless you really thought you were going to be doing fill flash work.
So after doing this, and carrying all this, I have a wish list for next time. A 20d, 17-85 is, and a 70-200 f4. This would give me a light weight combination, and give me enough reach with what I wanted, both in wide, and telephoto. The 17-85 should perform fine at f8 and above, which most of my pictures were taken.
I don't normally shoot with a tripod, so I can't comment too much on that. I did wish that I had a tripod for some night time star trail shots. And a couple long exposure water shots I wanted to do. Next time I will probably try to find the equivalent of some sort of table top pod, or with the weight saved by ditching the flash and the big zoom, I could carry down the gitzo 1001 and a lighter ball head.
I'm sure other people have different views. Hopefully some of this information will be helpful to others.
Any questions or comments, ask away.
Pictures from this trip can be found at:
http://www.mattdrown.com/photos/grandcanyon2005/
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Matt Drown
Canon D30, st-e2/550ex, Sigma 15-30, 28-135is, 80-200 2.8, Sigma 50-500, gitzo 2220.