marchie1053

We ended up bringing all lenses and I never used the 70-200 (wayyyy too heavy). Dad used the 150-600 but it also got really heavy. We got lucky in the distance of the wildlife... it was much closer than we anticipated (almost Galapagos level). For instance... this was at ~200mm on my crop sensor camera. This picture is uncropped.

 

 

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Lovely photos that bring back happy memories from our visit to Icy Strait in late May! BTW, I went mad and ordered the Tamron 18-400mm lens. The dealer had a special offer running and this brought the price below the level I was quoted in Seattle at the end of the cruise. Only taken 40-50 trial shots so far but first impressions are quite positive.

Steve

'We'd be delighted if you could share OUR DAY ...', as the Wedding Invitation says. Everybody has an opinion to offer (the most vocal coming from those with the least 'entitlement' to comment on what must/must not be done/who must/must not be invited etc). The only criterion is that the arrangements meet the (guilt-free) wishes of the Happy Couple. It's your day, not theirs (Chorus Line should never have speaking parts ...).

Being a cynic, I posted on another thread recently that I would book a B2B cruise if I were getting married - the second leg would serve for the separation ... :))

Yes, but other than whale watching, we don't anticipate much wildlife this go round.

 

Just bought a car so need to conserve funds right now.

The car will last another year (or longer, I hope! after last month's annual service and minor repairs. Meanwhile, the 18-400 Tamron arrived yesterday, courtesy of a £70 online reduction that actually made it cheaper than the price I was quoted in Seattle at the end of our cruise in late May. Just need to save up for the next cruise now ... :D

Just ordered the Tamron 18-400 lens for my Nikon D5300 - my half of our Wedding Anniversary present (upgraded from 50% of a Chocolate Orange so not a bad result ...). Clincher was a £70 reduction in the price, so the cost was just about the same as I would have paid when I drooled over the lens last month in Seattle at the finish of our cruise. Lens should arrive on Tuesday, and, unusually for a Scottish July, the sun is still shining so should have plenty of chance to play ...<br>

Being a cautious type, I booked a B2B cruise for our wedding - the second leg was for the separation ... :*:*

Who wants to drink a drink without a straw? No thanks.

 

 

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Can't drink without a straw? Ha! Suck it up ...:D:D (I do HATE that expression!

Liverpool Anthem is 'You'll Never Walk Alone' so it's difficult to 'Liverpool on your own' :)

"If only I'd brought..."

 

less!

]"If only I'd brought..." ... the TV (the passports are on top of it ...)

422 ... (or 14 Paydays to save the cruise fare ...). Need to get another cruise booked before this one.

Don't shoot!

 

 

Edinburgh Castle, British Islands Cruise

 

Vic

We live on the opposite side of the Firth of Forth (behind that small island at about 2 o'clock in your photo! We look out onto the 'back side' of the island across the water to Edinburgh Castle (100 metres from the beach - been watching the cruise ships sailing to & fro this week - only 430 days to our next cruise :D)

Steve & Elaine

A small smear of vaseline over the nostrils before going to bed; damp washing in the shower (helps freshen up tee shirts etc and dries them up overnight!) and turning the shower on cold for 2-3 minutes when returning to the cabin after dinner. No cabin cough on our last 3 cruises by using this regime.

Started with the normal box brownie etc

 

Then a Canon Ex-EE

AE-1, A-1, F-1

T-90

Mamiya TLR

Hasselblad

range of EOS, starting with 500, then 33 then 1

After that into digital 500d, then 5dII

Started with a 126 Cartridge Film in 1972 until father-in-law gave me an ancient SLR (No brand?) in 1981 (remember asking a chemist in France to set the aperture according to the then weather - he took me into the street, pointed to the sun & then F8, pointed to a cloud and then F11 ... who needs language skills?).

In 1983 I went mad and bought a Canon T50 (with an instruction manual!) and kept that until another splurge in 1985/6 when I bought the AE-1 Program. That remained my camera of choice until 2005 when I bought the Canon Powershot Pro1 that saw me through to Feb 2015 when I purchased the Nikon D5300. Purchased a HuaweiP20 Pro phone on its UK launch on 6th April this year - brilliant Alaska pictures of glaciers in the gloom - the AI Unit really came into its own! But the D5300 was invaluable for the Whale photos in Icy Strait! Just grovelling to Mrs Marchie before buying the Tamron 18-400 zoom ...

I just got the Tamron 18-400 for our upcoming Alaska trip and love it. While this isn't a nature shot, I had just gotten the lens before Memorial Day and my sons had Scouting events. One of which was a mass flag retirement. [ATTACH]423523[/ATTACH]

 

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Thanks very much for the message and the picture. It looks as though the Tamron 18-400 will meet my needs very well! Now to grovel to Mrs Marchie ... ;)

Interesting article on DPReview based on interviews at the 2018 CP+ show.

 

"At a certain point, the mirror and prism will become barriers to further innovation... "

 

https://www.dpreview.com/interviews/5014039475/cp-2018-interviews-the-reign-of-the-dslr-is-almost-over

 

Comments?

 

 

Dave

My wife and I purchased a Huawei P20 Pro Phone/Camera each on its UK launch at the start of April - selfie camera + 3 x Leica cameras incl. a 40 meg and 24 meg 'twinning' that combines with the new AI Unit to perform all kinds of wizardry to produce a composite final shot - and some of the pictures of glaciers (esp. in mist/rain in Alaska) were better than the DSLR could manage! There again, the Huawei cost only $40 less than my first 'proper' car, and was a wee bit more expensive than my Nikon D5300 was in 2015 ... The Huawei is limited by a 5 x optical zoom (10 x digital) but the quality of shots in poor/low light is astonishingly good and crisp, and way better than the phone cameras of less than 3 years ago!

The Tamron 18-400 is significantly smaller than the Sigma and over two pounds lighter. The Sigma 150-600 Contemporary has better image quality but costs $300-ish more. The Sigma 150-600 Sport is two pounds heavier than the Contemporaty, and inch longer, has significantly better IQ and costs $1000-ish more than the Tamron.

 

How often would you use it?

How much weight are you willing to carry if use is occasional?

What can you afford?

Have you considered renting?

 

I ask myself these questions a lot! I still haven't made up my mind between my two finalists in the telephoto contest. :)

 

Dave

Thanks for all the questions, Dave :D

Frequency of use? Probably 2 sessions a year where it will be used for 300 shots each time (took just over 300 photos in 2 1/4 hours at Icy Strait) when trying to spot whales, eagles etc and capture them before they become another blank frame showing the whale had been ...

Weight carrying - if it's for Whale photos, whatever it takes to get the shots- the soreness wears off after a couple of days (Marchie1053 - sponsored by Voltarol :))

There is a question (usually asked by my wife) 'Do you want the lens or the cruise on which to use it?' which usually means that I have to grovel more before the purchase ... I have enough time to scrape the money together before our next trip. I'd be more worried about buying a Tamron 18-400 and then discovering that paying the (not inconsiderable) extra for a 150-600 lens would have been a much better proposition. I'm struggling to justify the cost of the Sigma Sport Lens (haven't dare mention it to Mrs Marchie ...) - it probably has too much 'Shiny Kit' Syndrome

Not sure about renting a lens in the UK, especially if it needs to be loaded on planes with cabin stewards ramming other passengers' bags on top to fit everything into overcrowded overhead lockers.

The killer question (based on the Whale Shots my took with her 18-300 Sigma lens), is whether the Tamron 18-400 will produce images big enough/good enough to show these magnificent creatures in all their glory from a distance of 300 feet or so?

Steve

My parents and I are going on an Alaskan cruise, and photography is a big deal in my family. My dad (the expert) thinks we don’t need to take the 70-200 f2.8 lens. He thinks that reach will be more important, so he’s taking my Tamron 150-600. I think action shots of animals are more important (plus I have a crop sensor and the new Tamron 18-400) so I think we should take it. I also think “it’s better to have and not need, than need and not have”.

 

Would you take the extra heavy lens?

 

 

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My apologies for hijacking the thread.

We were in Icy Strait 11 days ago and my wife got some lovely Whale shots with her Sigma18-300 lens; me, less so, with my Nikon 18-140. Since returning, I have been swithering between the Tamron 18-400 and the Tamron (or Sigma) 150-600 lens for the next trip.

I would appreciate your thoughts on the practical advantages/dsadvantages. BTW, we docked in Seattle and I had a look at a Tamron 18-400 but then I thought of the damage I had already inflicted on my credit card during the cruise ... :D

Steve

;p

Thanks for your responses. I have a couple of questions/concerns for the Westbound:

 

 

 

 

 

• Dinner Reservations - the Jewel has all dates listed - including the day we should be skipping
  
• Pre-Paid Gratuities - NCL wants to charge for the day we are skipping
  
• UBP - Perk - NCL did charge gratuity for the day which will be skipped
  

I was trying to understand if I was missing something -- but haven't been able to define how they calculate the # of nights yet. I believe we'll just have to wait until we are on the Jewel & it happens.

 

The good news is we'll be on an amazing cruise!

Cheers -- Von

You think you're losing out? We had about 5 x 23 hours days in succession ... 5 hours of my life snuffed out whilst I was sleeping (for an hour less, as well ...). Actually, I lost much more than the hour each night, because I lay awake worrying about the impact and how NCL would react to my request for compensation, and whether cruising was really worth all the hassle and the money I had paid for the cruise ... :D But I realised that matters were not so dire after all because we had 2 x 16th May and we were only charged for one (subject, of course, to my checking my next credit card statement ...)

I assume you mean August 2019.

 

Which one are you doing? We are on Southampton to Stockholm, but the other way is looking more popular.

 

 

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Sorry, August 2019! We're on the Stockholm-Southampton leg - this will be our 3rd NCL cruise and I hope it will be as enjoyable as the previous two ... We'll have a whale of a time - sore feet from walking round all those ports, 3-4,000 photos, 2 inches on the waistline - and a stupid grin on the face from all the enjoyment :)

That isn’t a rumour, it’s been announced. Should be available to book this month.

We booked a balcony cabin on the Spirit for the Baltic Cruise in August 2018 whilst on the Jewel (Tokyo-Seattle) cruise 10 days ago- seduced by the onboard discount and the Cruise Next deposits :). This will be our first balcony cabin, so, if there is a sewage smell, we will be able to open a window ...

You could use it to stick a couple of ducks together :D

There is nothing that duct tape cannot fix -- a broken piece of luggage, torn fabrics, ripped hems, broken shoes -- the list is endless.

Did they put it on their bill? :D

The Captain will make an announcement on the PA, at night you will get a time change notice telling you what to set your clocks to.

 

 

That is the extent of it.

You understate the case! The Daily News Sheet was marked 'May 16th - Day 1' and May 16th - Day 2'... :D

We will be there on a Sunday.

 

Do I understand correctly that if asked, we can use toilets in pubs - they don't mind?

Irish hospitality at its best - but if there's any doubt, you can time the 'loo visit' to coincide with a coffee (or Guinness ...) break. Our last visit to Dublin was 3 years ago, at a time when I was recovering from a hip replacement operation and everyone was really good - giving me plenty of space to avoid knocking the new hip, giving up seats on the buses etc.

52 days to the cruise but 48 days until we fly out.

I thought that too about just wandering around, but figured it might not be wise to wander around in the dark in areas unknown to us not quite knowing where we were going, not knowing the language, etc. Especially after a drink or two! :p

We were in Havana on 15th & 16th November and we walked into the City in the evening to help a fellow (German) cruise passenger celebrate his birthday. We found a pavement bar/restaurant just off the main square, where there was a good cross section of locals and tourists and a Band playing. I got up and joined the Band for one number (that lasted about 8 minutes - I was on my knees when the Singer passed me the maraccas!) whilst Mrs Marchie pretended not to be with me!

Our German friend took 4 photos - you can see I'm sinking lower as fatigue takes over (I thought a 2-3 minutes turn would be about right rather than the 8 minutes! 'What is the Spanish for 'I'm having a heart attack!'?')

We had a fabulous time and felt safe enough to wander down dimly lit alleys on the way back to the ship. There were security guards at regular intervals just maintaining a watching brief to ensure that everyone was having a good time whilst staying safe - a perfect balance.

A lovely wee trip in a great atmosphere - 'There was a German, a Scots woman and an Englishman ...' :)

We use open jaw flight bookings (Edinburgh-Tokyo & Seattle-Edinburgh booked this week for 2nd May & 29th May respectively). The total cost for Premium Economy both ways (except EDI-LHR & return - not an option) was £1613 for the pair of us.