What camera to take on tour?

I have a question about two tours: frist, the Eagle Preserve Rafting & Rafting, second the Rainforest Island Nature Walk & Seahawk Adventure. One is on a rubber raft the other a 'banana' boat(?). Another poster asked about a waterproof camera, for these tours do you really need a waterproof camera? Or will a standard DSLR with a rain cover be ok or better to take a smaller pocket camera?

I do have a dry bag (if it falls overboard it will float and still keep the camera dry) I put the DSLR in when not in use.

Thanks in advance for your help on this.

I am not big on waterproof cameras and see no need for them unless you go underwater.

I would rather have a camera with me that takes good photos.

So I would do what you have planned and that is to have a dry bag with you.

You'll be happy that you have a camera with you that provides nice photos.

Keith

How good is your waterproof camera? And how much will you cry if you are taking a photo with your DSLR and it takes water damage?

Having recently had a $2600 lens destroyed by TSA at the Ft Lauderdale airport I can relate to the pain of having a DSLR damaged when it isn't expected. I also had a much less expensive lens get saltwater on it from a splash at a dock in Key West, the salt corroded the fitting, thankfully only of the lens and not the camera side.

Maybe you could get a waterproof housing for the DSLR? Some of them are pretty inexpensive.

I have a Nikon AW130 that is waterproof which is ok but not really a camera that I would want to try to capture Eagles with on the Eagle Preserve tour. I also have a Canon G7 Mark II, my 'pocket camera' much better for a small camera but not much reach, great video though. The camera I was thinking on taking is the Nikon D7200 with a ThinkTank Hydrophobia Rain Cover on a 28-300 lens.

I would say take the DSLR in the dry bag, if the water isn't rough you can take it out and take pics, and if it is rough it stays nice and safe. For more reach on the G7 you could consider attaching a 52mm adapter, then you can add one of the 2+ multipliers, gives a bit more reach for the point n shoots.

Probably stupid questions, but. . .

How does a waterproof housing work and where should I look for one?

Is a dry bag something that I could then put into my backpack?

Thanks!

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Check out the Fuji FinePix XP series. They are waterproof, and an all around decent point and shoot, for around $200 or less.

A waterproof housing depends on your camera, can be fairly inexpensive or very expensive. The housing for Bob's camera is a couple grand, the housing for my Canon 5D MkII is $3,200 while the housing for my old point n shoot was like $200. I don't do enough underwater photography yet to justify the cost for me, so I use a waterproof Nikon CoolPix to compliment the 2 GoPros with waterproof housings.

A dry bag is just that, a dry bag, they seal so that the contents stay dry if the bag gets wet or falls into the water. As long as you retrieve it fairly quickly.Most are kind of small since you just keep things like phones, wallets, ect in them. But you can get larger ones for things like DSLRs, guns, ect.

BTW Bob, when are you going? I'm probably not taking my DLSR in May because of the travel so I picked up a new Sony RX100 V that I plan on getting a magnifier for. Hopefully it will serve well for the trip.

We are on a B2B leaving out of Vancouver on the May 23rd sailing of the Coral Princess. This will be our first Alaska trip, we have tended to cruise and vacation in southern climates.

Thanks DarkJedi. Waterproof housing-no

Dry bag-yes!

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We dd a zodiac whale watch in Puerto Vallarta and took DSLRs with telephoto zooms, no problem. I took a couple extra lenses and tried switching while in transit to a second whale area and nearly dropped my lens, so I don't recommend that. I had a lot of fun with a 100-400 (primary), 24-70 (a little use at one whale stop), and 14 (tried it en route, don't do that...). My wife had fun with a 70-300, and she never asked for my 24-70 or 14 until we got back to dry land. Of course, Mexico is a little warmer, dryer, and perhaps smoother water than where you're going.

I will have my 200-500 along on the trip but thought it would be to big to haul with me on these excursions, I could put it on another camera but only one rain sleeve and is only good up to a 70-200. With the crop sensor of the D7200 I was thinking 28-300 would give me a pretty good reach, but to get a good shot with the 200-500 would have to crank up the ISO fairly high on this trip, which the D7200 is not too great at high ISO's. I do have a 12-28 DX lens for when we are dry land for landscapes that fits into a zip lock 'glad bag' along with a couple pairs of socks and dry wash cloth).

Thanks for all the comments.

KYBOB, what kind of dry bag do you have, and how do you figure out what size to buy? I see that there are some flat bags and some round ones.

I have the Ultra Dry Adventurer 10, it is round. I can fit easily the D7200 with grip and the 28-300, with room for extra lens, socks, light weight rain jacket. It will also fit the Nikon D850 with grip and the 200-500. I like the round ones because the camera fits better. I pick the size based on the length and diameter of the camera I want to put in it. I sized the one I picked based on the D850 with the 200-500 which is the biggest lens camera combo I have. Which if I carry anything else I will have room for other stuff. I do have a smaller one that fits in a back back. They also travel nice, fold flat and roll up easily stuffed in checked bag, and good for getting wet things home. Even put a bottle of wine in it in case the wine got broken. It did not break so do not know if it would have kept the liquid in.

Link below to Ultra Dry

http://www.ultradrybags.com/

Thank you! I will look into getting one.