As a summary, here is an outline that will help you better understand the different types of objectives and what types of situations were designed so that, when you are planning your next trip, you can choose which of them will accompany you and which will wait at home on your return:
FIXED OR VARIABLE FOCAL LENGTHS?
As I commented in the article: ” Everything You Need to Know About the Focal Length of Your Target “:
Fixed focal lenses are those that, as the name implies, do not allow the focal length for which they were designed to be varied. Instead, the variable focal lenses allow to cover a greater distance by displacing the position of the lenses and varying the focal distance.
Fixed focal lenses have the main advantage that their optical quality is superior to those of variable focal length, which will result in sharper photographs with less aberration and, being built with fewer moving parts, they are more resistant and robust, but very light. In addition, they are usually much brighter than those with variable focal length, which will allow you to take better shots in low-light conditions and at the same time, when working with more open diaphragms (f / 1.4, f / 1.8, f / 2.8), you can get more unfocused backgrounds.
The main objectives of variable focus or “zoom” have as main advantage their great versatility and comfort to work with them since they will allow you to adjust the frame without moving. This type of lens may be essential for certain types of photography where you require a greater focal variety, such as nature photography or sports photography. In addition, by bringing together a large number of focal ranges in a single objective, you will avoid constantly changing lenses in your camera, gaining speed and avoiding blows and dust on the objectives and on the sensor of your camera. Its main disadvantage is: its price (since it is usually considerably higher than those of fixed focal length) and that, having a much greater number of moving parts, they are more fragile in the event of any blow or accident.
The Challenge: If you are an intrepid photographer and lover of challenges, you can choose to use only fixed focal points for your trips. You will have many more limitations than when working with a single variable focal lens, but it can be an excellent opportunity for you to train your wits when taking your photos.
THE IDEAL LENS FOR TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY
If you have come this far waiting for me to tell you what is the ideal objective for travel photography, I regret to inform you that this does not exist, or at least I will not be the one to tell you. The person in charge of choosing which or which of his objectives will accompany him on your next adventure is you.
Depending on the type of trip you are going to take, the different photographs you want to take and the degree of versatility or not that you require of a lens, you must choose between them, between fixed or variable focal points, etc.
There are photographers who prefer to carry a lot of extra weight in order to carry the ideal lens for each situation that may come to them and there are others who, the ideal is one that allows them, in a single objective, to have a large number of focal lengths (18-200 mm) to avoid changing every two by three lenses and having to carry a lot of these here and there.The decision is yours alone.
So: traveling comfortable and light or carrying all the equipment I have? When preparing your equipment for a trip you will surely have to deal with this dichotomy but, now that you have a little more clarity about the panorama, it will not be difficult for you to choose the objective or objectives that will accompany you on this trip.
After all, no one better than you knows what you need so that you can make the photographs that you have been going through your mind come true.
So remember, before you pack, start researching.