Hi all – this is my first posting. Photog Review suggested saying hello in the “Intro Forum” but I couldn’t find that. Hope this is the right place. I have questions on lenses and on settings for a couple of special activities coming up. I bought a Canon XTi about a month ago and I’ve been a crazed person ever since, reading books and websites and practicing. My last camera was a Nikon 5700 P&S. What a new world this is!! :blush2:

I will be flying to SF to visit my daughters next week and want to bring the right lenses. I have the Canon 50mm 1.4, Canon 28-135 3.5-5.6 IS, Sigma 10-20mm 4-5.6, and Canon 100mm 2.8 macro. Yes, I went overboard... I’d like to bring 2 of them. Which ones would you use for sunsets and nightscapes? We’re taking a night time Alcatraz tour. The ferry leaves at 4:30 and is about a 15 minute trip. Not sure if the sunset happens while we’re on the boat or after we land. I’ll have a chance to take shots of the nightscape on the boat back and also on land. Is there one lens that will do better than any of the others to capture those far-away fabulous SF lights on water?

The other major event, on another night, will be the annual Chinatown New Year’s Parade. Up close, colorful and bright. The 50mm is amazing in low light but I can’t be too close. The 10-20 is also great and very versatile. The other two, 28-135 and 100mm, just arrived and I haven’t used them yet. I will have a small tripod (gorillapod) with and can also take a monopod if it would help. I have a small build – 5’1 and use a Kata sling that holds the XTi with any one of those lenses on it, and the gorillapod on the back. That’s about the max weight I can handle comfortably on one side, with a second lens on my belt or in another bag if needed.

My other question is on settings. I now understand basic photo terminology like fstops and shutter speed and the different effects they can create, but it’s still hit and miss on manually figuring out the ratios or ISO, depth of field, etc. I plan to use one of the auto or partial auto modes on my trip, either Aperture Priority Av or Shutter Priority Tv and let the camera pick the other one (or the night mode). Which settings would you try for the nightscapes? Which for Chinatown? Thank you!