Havasupai lens choices?

[Dan Oster]

Hello,
A family member scored a permit for Havasupai for November of this year. As a fairly new photographer I would appreciate some advice on lens selection.
I own a D500 with the 70-300 FX lens and a Fuji X-T1 with the 18-55 kit lens and a 55-200. I like the weight of the Fuji but am finding that I really like the menu and controls of the d500. Long term I plan to add a full-frame camera; however I have lots to learn and the d500 seems amazing to me.

I own a good quality tripod.

I‘d like to stick to a budget of $1,000 to $1,500 dollars.

I am looking at the following for the d500:
Tokina 11-16 (new)
Nikon 16-85 or 16-80 (used).

I also think that I’ll need filters of some sort.

We live in an area of the country where I’ll have ample opportunity to practice taking pictures of moving water.

Your suggestions (even outside-of-the-box ones) are appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Dan

 

[Rassie]

I'll leave it up to folks who have been there to advise on the best lens for Havasupai. What I will say is this: I had both the Nikkor 16-85mm and the 16-80mm lenses and I think the 16-85 is WAY better for image quality and sharpness.

 

[dabhand16]

I've got a Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 and it rocks! Always bolted on my camera when I was using DX. The Tamron 17-55 f2.8 also gets good press with a couple of caveats on the AF noise and some relatively minor image quality issues but it does have stabilisation.

My first kit lens was the Nikkor 18-70, a very underestimated lens and cheap as chips over here in the UK, but I'd go for a used Nikkor 17-55 f2.8.

 

[Rassie]

I'll leave it up to folks who have been there to advise on the best lens for Havasupai. What I will say is this: I had both the Nikkor 16-85mm and the 16-80mm lenses and I think the 16-80mm is WAY better for image quality and sharpness.

 

[Charles Loy]

re: the d500 seems amazing to me. - It is amazing to all of us, best DX camera on the planet. I can't add much as I use it for telephoto photography (wildlife).
I own that 16-80 f2.8-4, but very seldom use it. I'm satisfied when I do, no concern with mine. D500 does well with the Nikon FX 24-120 lens too.

 

[jcgamble]

https://www.dslrbodies.com/lenses/lens-databases-for-nikon/thoms-recommended-lenses.html I would read this Thom Hogan article, he is well respected.

 

[Dan Oster]

Thanks much for all the suggestions. The Hogan article was very helpful. You’ve all, I’m sure, saved me from a few unnecessary stumbles.

Dan

 

[Ado Wolf]

I use the Tokina 11-16 f2.8 on my D7500 (D500's little brother) and it work well (great value lens).
It's only downsize is distortion (common in this focal range). So for Nature shots it's good enough as long as no person is standing at the edge of the frame.
the 24+50 f1.8 Prime combo is also a great option / great glass / light-weight and small / perfect for low light, but you will have to zoom with your feet (which is not always an option)

 

[Rustic land]

I also have the same fuji x-t1 setup with the 18-55 the only difference is I have the 50-230 lens, I can honestly say that the X-T1 is a great landscape camera and the 18-55 is sharp and produces great IQ, I have taken some stunning panoramas with this combo.

 

[Dan Oster]

I also have the same fuji x-t1 setup with the 18-55 the only difference is I have the 50-230 lens, I can honestly say that the X-T1 is a great landscape camera and the 18-55 is sharp and produces great IQ, I have taken some stunning panoramas with this combo.

Thanks for your reply. I am also interested in the thoughts of fuji shooters. For my purposes the 16meg seems sufficient and I really enjoy the weight when hiking! The problem for me is after 64 years of living on this glorious ball, my hands struggle to work in cold weather and I could never figure out how to run the Fuji cleanly with gloves on. I will say that both the camera and the kit lens are rugged. As I much more enjoy being out in the winter it seemed to me that I needed to go in another direction. As I’ve been wrong before I welcome a different perspective. Thanks.
Dan

 

[dabhand16]

Thanks for your reply. I am also interested in the thoughts of fuji shooters. For my purposes the 16meg seems sufficient and I really enjoy the weight when hiking! The problem for me is after 64 years of living on this glorious ball, my hands struggle to work in cold weather and I could never figure out how to run the Fuji cleanly with gloves on. I will say that both the camera and the kit lens are rugged. As I much more enjoy being out in the winter it seemed to me that I needed to go in another direction. As I’ve been wrong before I welcome a different perspective. Thanks.
Dan

After over 20 years shooting Nikon I got an XT-1 to see what it was all about. 6 months on it was swapped for an XT-2 and now that has been joined by an XT- 4. I love them but still have my Nikon kit.

I think that using any camera with gloves has its challenges and the smaller bodies will likey exasserbate this. I know a guy with a Sony mirrorless FF and he uses heated ski gloves and I guess that motorcycle heated inner gloves might also do the job. not tried this myself though.