make my DLSR mountain-ready!

You probably need to travel with a single zoom lens, maybe about 18-200mm. That lens might fit into your existing Lowepro case. Although the 200mm would be a little on the short side for wildlife, it would be a good general purpose lens. Also, you might want to fit in some extra bits of padding into the case to help keep the camera intact.

I hope that your cheap polarizing filter is circularly polarized, which is appropriate for the autofocus system of a digital camera.

–B.G.–

I have one and I like it a lot. Beware that its jack of all trades and master of none, but if you know that then you'll know what to expect

If I go walking with my SLR then it tends to be what I take as I then only need one lens. Its 613g on my scales, think thats about 22oz in old money!

Hi all,

Thanks for the helpful replies. I'm actually looking for something physically smaller than the current 18 to 50, w/o sacrificing much wide angle view. I almost never use my current lens zoomed in, and often need the width for fitting my partner into the frame while we're both sharing a tight spot:

I've looked into this issue pretty extensively when I had my D5000. If you want a lens smaller / lighter than the kit lens, while being as wide or wider, your only option is a fisheye prime, which is very much a one-trick pony and not really suitable for landscape or regular people photography.
Unfortunately the flange distance on DSLR's means that wideangle lenses are inherently bulky and usually heavy. The lightest reasonable UWA I could find was the Sigma 10-20mm, which is much heavier than the kit lens. Kit lens was the lightest zoom I could find. Potentially you could just take the 35mm f1.8 DX prime lens and save some weight, but you won't get your WA shots unless you stitch panoramas.

Because of this issue, I've moved to micro-four-thirds (Panasonic GH1) which has a very short flange distance and much smaller/lighter lenses, especially WA and UWA.

Got to love the Panasonic 7-14mm lens for panoramas.

I was thinking along the same lines as Bradley. I recently purchased a Sigma 10-20 wide angle zoom and it is much heavier and bulkier than the 18-55 Canon kit lens. If light weight is the primary concern a prime lens is probably your best bet, but if wide-angle landscape photography is primary it would probably best to carry the extra ounces of the wide-angle zoom.

I have that Sigma lens, and it is fine for wide angle work. However, I go after wildlife primarily, so the Sigma lens often sits at home or locked up in the trunk of my car.

–B.G.–

I have the Canon 10-22mm lens for their crop-sensor bodies, and while it's a little larger than the kit lens, it's not heavy at all. (Well, "not heavy" to a photographer — that's different from "not heavy" to a UL Backpacker.)

I have a Nikon D700 which is large and heavy. I researched for something lighter and looked at the D5000 or D90 with a Voigtlander 20mm f3.5 for hiking use. Expensive, still large and somewhat heavy. I like the field of view of a 28mm so I decided to purchase a Sigma DP-1s for a small light hiking camera. I don't think you will find anything smaller wider or lighter for a APS-C Nikon body then what you currently have.

The Sony Alpha Nex with one of the e-mount 18-55mm lenses might be a good bet. ;)

I have one with a 16mm pancake lens, and so far I'm pleased — I'll hopefully get to post some images I shot with it over the weekend soon.

It is not physically smaller, but if you are looking to take wide angle pics with a Nikon dx camera like the D40, then this is your lens. I believe this is the widest you can go on DX without going to fisheye (or paying $1000 for the Nikon 10-24mm).

Oh and it is $600 new and can sometimes find it used for about $500. Hope this helps.

I'd forgotten about this one. I used a similar one, the Tokina 12-24 for the better part of a year… until it got stolen :(

All in all, I liked it quite a bit; it's sharp and renders good contrast and color, and it's pretty lightweight. It survived some drizzly weather without any problems, though it usually traveled in my pack where it stayed dry, and I let my macro lens ride in the rain (the macro lens is weather sealed).

Tokina makes good lenses.

I was a bit of a fan of Tokina particularly when they had the ATX series. At that time they made some lenses for Minolta as well as Rollei .
Originally started by some ex-Nikon engineers (hence the somewhat similar approach to colour and contrast as Nikon) now part of the Pentax group, the HOYA Corporation, the glass supplier to Tokina from the start
Franco

Franco, who supplies glass for the big white Canon lenses?

–B.G.–

del

Canon make their own lenses and have for a long time although the first commercially available cameras had a Nikon lens on them…
As for the glass I think that most if not all comes from Hoya.
When I worked for the retail side of the Canon importers in NZ, we were told of how Canon "grew" their own fluorite glass elements but I seem to remember Hoya as the glass supplier.
BTW, then (about 30 years ago) "L" stood for Luxury. Because of changed taste , now probably stand for something else.
Same for Olympus when OM meant Olympus Maitani later changed to Olympus Masterpiece.
BTW all too often Japanese as well as Korean manufacturers will cover up their sources, sometime even executives working for the company do not know where the parts come from.
There is a lot of cross manufacturing between rivals too. That is , they compete at a public level but supply each other .

Franco

del

Ohara?

Who is that?

–B.G.–

del

I doubt that there is a photographer amongst us who hasn't had a Hoya filter in his kit over the years.

However, "Ohara" I had never heard of.

All I read is the Canon propaganda about its L lenses.

–B.G.–

Just read that as I was about to post this…
Yes that name has come up , and here it is :
http://www.ohara-inc.co.jp/en/company/overview.html

There is a possible connection with Hoya (subcontracting ? ) but as usual it is hard to find.
Another glass manufacturer that has some ties with Canon (and Hoya) is CDGM Glass
http://www.cdgmglass.com/partners.html
Most likely different grades of glass are sourced from more than one manufacturer.

A few years ago Canon,Panasonic,Sony and Casio sold a compact digital sporting the same lens. The lens was branded Canon by both Canon and Casio, Zeiss by Sony and Leica by Panasonic.
I tried very hard to find out who actually made that but never was able to.
Franco

I have a D40 and love my 24/2.8 AIS. Its around 9oz, all metal construction, and a superb performer. Did I mention that they can be had for pretty cheap? I paid $75 for mine with a dented filter ring. Normal price is around $150 and it can share filters with your kit lens.

Good deals can be had on old Nikon glass if you're willing to learn to judge exposure and focus manually (really a non-issue with WA lenses).

Adam

Rakesh, I'm intrigued by the NEX with the 16mm pancake lens. The DPR review indicates that the UI is a chore to use other than for P&S, but postings on the Alt Lenses forum on fredmiranda seem to disagree. What has your experience been?

"There is a lot of cross manufacturing between rivals too. That is , they compete at a public level but supply each other ."

That's an understatement… for example, Nikon sources stepper motors to Sony, who uses the Nikon steppers in their semiconductor manufacturing, and supplies sensors to Nikon.

So the Sony Alpha Nex has the same sensor in it as a Nikon D3100…