100-400 for Italy & Jordan?

[Rogue_odyssey]

Hi everyone,

I’m going to be traveling between a large variety of places in Italy & Jordan in the coming month.

In Italy I’ll be spending time on the Almafi Coast & Tuscany.

In Jordan I’ll be spending time in Petra & Wadi Rum.

I have the 24-105 but I’m not sure if this will be long enough for Tuscany & Wadi Rum. I’m usually hesitant to bring 100-400 with me due to size and weight unless I know I’ll regret leaving it behind.

I would welcome any feedback from travelers that have been to these destinations.

 

 Thanks

[Snofru]

In the end everything depends on your photographing habits. I've been to all these places and I wouldn't carry a 100-400 there but that could be totally different for you.

The 100-400 is strong for pictures of animals, you wouldn't expect many at these destinations. Or if you have a special love for architectural details, then it also would make sense. Or if you like making pictures of people from a distance which I also don't do (usually).

With my habbits I would like to have a stronger wide angle than 24mm, not so much more tele. But then I have a 16-35 4.0 and the 28-200 (both really lightweight) which would be absolutely fine for these destinations. I also have a tele lens (50-400) which is less heavy than the Sony 100-400 but I carry this only to safari or other destinations with many animals.

[Rogue_odyssey]

7 hours ago, Snofru said:

In the end everything depends on your photographing habits. I've been to all these places and I wouldn't carry a 100-400 there but that could be totally different for you.

The 100-400 is strong for pictures of animals, you wouldn't expect many at these destinations. Or if you have a special love for architectural details, then it also would make sense. Or if you like making pictures of people from a distance which I also don't do (usually).

With my habbits I would like to have a stronger wide angle than 24mm, not so much more tele. But then I have a 16-35 4.0 and the 28-200 (both really lightweight) which would be absolutely fine for these destinations. I also have a tele lens (50-400) which is less heavy than the Sony 100-400 but I carry this only to safari or other destinations with many animals.

Thank you for your insight, I generally prefer photographing with wider angles. I’m definitely going to add my 18mm Batis to my kit for this trip.

In the past I have enjoyed isolating landscapes with the 100-400. However, I’m leaning towards leaving this lens at home. I can’t see wanting to use it more than a few times. 
 

Looking forward to hearing about anyone else’s thoughts.

[XKAES]

I don't see where you indicate your camera or format.  That makes a big difference.  If shooting full-frame, I'd suggest a 28-300mm, but for an APS camera, a 24-200mm would be better.

[Rogue_odyssey]

4 hours ago, XKAES said:

I don't see where you indicate your camera or format.  That makes a big difference.  If shooting full-frame, I'd suggest a 28-300mm, but for an APS camera, a 24-200mm would be better.

I’m using my full frame camera. I rather not buy any new lenses for this trip. On the prime side my longest focal length is 90mm. For zoom lenses my choices are 24-105 & 100-400 for reach.

[XKAES]

Thanks.

Another option would be to carry a 1.4X tele-converter for the 24-105mm.  Doesn't take up much space at all.

And back home, you'll have a 140-560mm zoom lens waiting for you

[Snofru]

The SEL14TC is not compatible with the 24-105 lens (only with 70-200, 100-400 , 200-600, 400 and 600 from Sony).

[XKAES]

Is there any tele-converter compatible with it?  If there is, then that's what I would suggest.

Edited September 6, 2023 by XKAES

[Rogue_odyssey]

17 hours ago, XKAES said:

Is there any tele-converter compatible with it?  If there is, then that's what I would suggest.

I’m quite certain there is not a tele-converter that is compatible with the 24-105. If there was one available, I don’t think I would use it due to the degradation of IQ. 
 

I appreciate your suggestion and time though…thank you.

[XKAES]

I don't know if you are using an a- or e-mount camera, but all of the 24-105mm lenses are relatively slow, which means problems for most tele-converters -- but maybe not all, such as a 1.4X. 

You might find the 105mm to be too short at times for some subjects, but you can always crop your shots.  How much depends on your camera and its settings -- but the results would be better with a tele-converter (stopped down, of course).

Happy trails.

Edited September 7, 2023 by XKAES

[Pieter]

There is no teleconverter for this lens.

[XKAES]

I found out on DPREVIEW that the front glass of the Sony tele-converters protrude too much to physically attach to the 24-105mm.  A pretty simple explanation.

[XKAES]

I still don't know for sure what camera mount or format you are shooting with, but here's what I would do -- with my gear -- in your situation.  So this probably won't work for you -- but it might work for others.

I use Sony full-frame a-mount cameras.  I also have a really nice Minolta 24-105mm zoom (eight-pin) and a Kenko 2X tele-converter (five-pin).

When using the 24-105mm with the Kenko, everything works perfectly except for loss of auto-focusing.  It automatically reverts to manual focusing, which is no big deal to me -- especially if I only need to use it for an occasional shot.

All of the exposure modes work perfectly -- and the shutter speed and aperture are displayed in the viewfinder.  And of course, the GREEN in-focus confirmation LED lights up when the picture is in focus -- so it almost has auto-focusing.

More importantly, using a tele-converter (correctly) will give better results than cropping.

That 24-105mm is a great lens.  I assume yours is very similar to mine.

Edited September 8, 2023 by XKAES

[Phormula]

I join to the advice of carrying a wide angle. Italian cities have narrow streets and if you want to take pictures of whole buildings, or a church with its tower you will find yourself in the unpleasant situation that you can go back enough to put everything in the frame. I have been to Lucca with the A5100 a few months ago and the only time when I used my 55-210 was to take shots from the top of towers. On the other side the 16mm (24 mm in full frame) end of my zoom was often not wide enough to take the full picture of a building or a square. Of course, if you plan also to visit the countryside, then a telephoto is fantastic to capture landscape details.