Saudio

I don't know how long or heavy a lens you are talking about, but yes you'll want a decently long lens for when you are on the ship, not only for when it's anchored, but also and in particular for when you are underway. You'll be seeing icebergs, perhaps penguins and seals on icebergs, perhaps whales, and of course flying birds. You just never know what is going to pop out of the water next to your ship at any time, or fly by.

 

 

The longest lens I had with me was a 300 mm (on a crop-sensor DSLR, so effectively about 450), sufficient to capture the wandering albatross below, but the serious birders had some long, heavy lenses.

 

Very nice shot of the whale! Yes, I'm more convinced that I should take it along. Thanks!

I took my telephoto lens and was glad I did, but mine may not be as large as yours. I saw others with much larger ones. As others have said, you can get some great shots of the scenery from the ship. We had whales right next to our ship a few times. I went out on the balcony at times and got some great shots of the scenery. Don't worry about the weight restrictions. You can always put it in your pocket on the plane, but honestly nobody's carryon bags were weighed in either direction.

Carol, knowing that they don't weigh carry ons is very helpful. I'd hate to be on this trip and wish I would have brought my best lens.

We were on the Cloud last month and we did see whales and some seals and lots of birds from the ship while waiting out turn to go ashore. Penguins were harder to see, unless they were in the water near us. Lots of great shot of icebergs and mountains and glaciers from the ship. They do give you a pretty good sized backpack in which you can carry extra lenses. We figured out after the first stop that the backpack was a waste for us as the parkas had big enough pockets for our cameras.

 

I only recall seeing 1 tripod on our shore excursions and that may have been the ship's photographer's

That answers my question, if anyone had a super tele on shore they would have had a tripod. Since you have been on the Cloud would you mind fielding a couple more questions? Thanks!

Yes we were usually anchored in a spot with a view, if not really close to shore, it was close to iceburgs, scenery and of course there were always chances to see wildlife (whales, seals, penguins and flying birds.) However we were on a smaller ship than the Silver Cloud.

 

I did not have huge lens but did have a telephoto which fit into my backpack. I took it on some zodiac tours and some shore landings.

 

There is lots of information to be at at the Antarctic Adventures forum here: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowForum-g1-i12337-Antarctic_Adventures.html

Thanks Maryann! Helpful.

This is my first post here, great forum!.

I have an Antartica cruise booked next year on the Silver Cloud, and I am an avid amateur photographer. My question is, generally speaking, when you are anchored for shore excursions, are there good photo opportunities to be had from the cruise ship while waiting for turns on the shore excursions? Is the cruise ship anchored close enough to shore to get wildlife shots from the ship?

I ask because I'm trying to decide whether it is worth the hassle of taking my really long, heavy telephoto lens given the luggage restrictions. It would be too big to take on the shore excursions (although I'm curious if some people do lug big glass and tripods on the excursions), so I would only use it to take shots on and from the ship.

Thoughts?

Thanks much.