essential kit

Travel lenses

Travelling light means being selective about the kit you bring, so you’ll probably want to leave that 100-400mm super-tele at home…

Standard zoom

If you only take one lens, then a standard zoom is perfect, it will cover most shooting situations. The 18-55mm kit lens option is the ideal travelling companion for crop-sensor Nikons, while a 24-70mm or 24-120mm is the best match for full-frame cameras.

Wide-angle zoom

A wide-angle zoom is the next lens we’d put on our list, and is useful for both cramped interiors and fitting building facades into the frame without stepping back into the traffic! A 10-20mm is ideal for APS-C sensor cameras, while a 16-35mm or thereabouts suits full-frame Nikons.

Nifty fifty

Small and light, the main advantage of a 50mm prime lens is they’re much faster than zooms, enabling you to shoot in lower light levels, which is useful for interiors where tripods often aren’t welcome. A 50mm f/1.4 is four stops faster than an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 zoomed to 50mm, for example.

Telephoto zoom

An extended zoom in the range 70-200mm or 70-300mm can be useful for zooming in on details, but they’re quite big and bulky and your shoulders won’t thank you. This is the last lens we’d pack and in most cases it’s better to ‘zoom with your feet’ and get closer to your subjects.