Lens Selection for still Photos on a Western Hunt.

[Timberridge]

This will be my first year bring a good camera out west. Having a difficult time choosing the size of lens/lenses I should bring with me. What focal length do you guys bring with you? Any help is appreciated.

 

[justin davis]

I use a 35mm.

 

[William Sublette]

A true wide angle to mid range zoom will do 90%.

Then a 300 with the lowest f-stop you can afford is the basic wildlife lens.

 

[Jimss]

I have a couple cameras I use when scouting and hunting. If you want one with an ultra zoom take a look at Nikon P900. It has an 85x zoom. 85x converts to 2,000mm which is pretty amazing. Their newer version P1000 has an even bigger 3,000 zoom but it is a giant camera for packing around. The other camera I've used and abused is a Canon SX60 with a 65X lense that is a chunk smaller in size and weight. Neither camera is waterproof so I store them in a dry bag. The both take decent videos. It's pretty amazing to see how much the P900 zooms critters in at super long ranges. In fact, it's possible to use the zoom as a spotting scope....although I wouldn't want to do it for very long. The photos and video are way better than phonescopes. I use the photos and video for field judging critters at super long ranges when I get home and can look them on a screen in good detail.

I also have a very small 35x Panasonic camcorder that almost fits in a pocket that I sometimes use when I want to go super light.

 

[Wright406]

If using a interchangeable lens camera then it’s hard to beat a 24-70

 

[Jimss]

I guess it depends if you want to take camp and scenery shots or wildlife photos? You better get your wallet out if you want to buy several high quality camera body and interchangeable lenses!

 

[Timberridge]

Thanks for the Responses!

I have the high quality camera with the a very good 24-105mm f4L. Also have a good 50mm that is significantly lighter. So was weighing the options on weight vs versatility between those two. Also was considering renting a larger lens (something with 300-400 capabilities), but didn't know if it would be worth the weight for how much it would be used. I know its somewhat personal preference, but I thought I'd see what others where carrying.

Keep the response coming, they are quite helpful.

 

[mcclainjared]

When hunting with others I generally take a 24-70 and a 50mm. To shoot anything further than that I use a tinesup phonecam adapter that adapts to my spotter or my binos and my phone that I use for other things anyway. If I’m “hunting” by myself I only take phone and a GoPro with a gorilla pod. If I’m “scouting” I take it all including a 150-600. Pic is my scouting setup with old phoneskope instead of tinesup adapter.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WPFY543]

I second the 24-70 and 50 as a solid western kit. 50 1.4 or 1.8 will take a better photo but the 24-70 is super convenient for it's versatility. The big zoom is cool, but for me it is just too much to manage while trying to hunt as well. Might drag it along scouting but not on the hunt.