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Bird Watching Cruise


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I am going on a "Puffin Cruise" at the end of July(https://www.pugetsoundexpress.com/tours/birdwatching-tours/protection-island-puffin-cruise/). I have a Sony a6300 and my biggest lens is the 24-240. I have never been really impressed by this lens, I bought it used and I haven't gotten any really sharp pictures with it, I have only used it on the a6000. That could very well be user error and I intend to practice with it before the trip.

 

I don't know how close the boat will get to the birds.

 

Should I rent a lens? The 100 - 400? Should I bring a beanbag for steadiness? Any help would be appreciated! I learned a silly poem about puffins by heart as a kid and my kids grew up listening to it, so I have a soft spot for them and would really like to get a good shot (or 20) of them.

 

Thanks,

Vic

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Since you are not flying, I would rent the longest, fastest lens you can afford.

 

 

 

Something like: https://www.lensrentals.com/rent/sigma-150-600mm-f5-6.3-dg-os-hsm-sports-for-nikon

 

 

or even better https://www.lensrentals.com/rent/nikon-200-400mm-f4g-af-s-vr-ii

 

 

Edited:

 

Bah, I was assuming Nikon or Canon - reread and you have an A6300. I love my a6000, but not the camera I would choose for this type of shoot.

 

The 100-400 may be your best bet.

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  • 1 month later...

I rented the 100-400 lens. I had no time to practice with it other than a few still pictures in the back yard. It is the first time I have ever used anything approaching that size lens. We were on a 75 foot (a guess) whale watching boat, the seas were pretty calm. The closest we were allowed to Protection Island is 200 yards. Luckily, the puffins and other birds swim out to sea. There were a ton of birders onboard and lots of glass.

 

I'm really glad I rented the lens for this trip. I kind of wish I had thought to shoot in raw and jpeg, but I didn't. I took 900 pictures in 3 hours and went through 1 battery. I mostly shot on sports setting because I wanted to get something usable. :D

The trip left a little late at about 6:15 pm.

 

This is cropped and adjusted

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A rhinoceros auklet

 

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and the orca bonus!

 

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All in all a great trip and I'm glad we did it. Lots of eagles, especially juveniles (I'm still trying to figure out if any of them were golden eagles), seals, an elephant seal, deer and other birds. Even a couple of cruise ships!

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Bliss on the far right.

 

Vic

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Sounds like you made the right choice. Indeed the 100-400mm is a very fine lens and can work beautifully on the A6300 - that's been my birding pairing for the past year now, often paired with the 1.4x teleconverter for even more reach. With some time to practice, you might have gotten a few extra good shots - especially the in-flight stuff - but that really is a developed skill regardless of camera or lens used. The finest, fastest tracking focus camera on earth with the world's best lens still can't keep a bird in the frame while moving and choose all the correct camera settings for the shot - it's the photographer who has to do all that! Not bad at all for someone with no time to practice and no long-lens experience.

 

Would love to get some of those birds myself someday...always wanted to see and shoot puffins.

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Keeping a bird in flight in the frame is tough enough, but we were also on a bobbing boat! The eagles stayed near shore and that was 200 yards away. I'm just glad I got a couple good puffin pictures.

 

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These are cropped quite a bit.

 

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We're happy with the trip but I don't think I would do it again unless there was a surge in puffins there for some reason.

 

Vic

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We're happy with the trip but I don't think I would do it again unless there was a surge in puffins there for some reason.

 

We've been looking at this trip from Port Townsend for this weekend or next. Had wondered if it would be worth it.

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We enjoyed it, but one and done. It was warm and stuffy in the cabin and cool and wet on the stern. We stayed outside once the safety briefing was over. Our sailing was sold out. Wear jeans and bring a water resistant jacket with pockets, we both had sweatshirts, which was ok, but my hands got really cold on the way back.

 

If you are staying in town that night Sirens is open late and serves pub food until 10 pm. Their clam chowder hit the spot to warm us up!

 

Have fun,

Vic

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We enjoyed it, but one and done. It was warm and stuffy in the cabin and cool and wet on the stern. We stayed outside once the safety briefing was over. Our sailing was sold out. Wear jeans and bring a water resistant jacket with pockets, we both had sweatshirts, which was ok, but my hands got really cold on the way back.

 

If you are staying in town that night Sirens is open late and serves pub food until 10 pm. Their clam chowder hit the spot to warm us up!

 

Have fun,

Vic

 

Perfect, thank you. We're still going, just not sure about the tour.

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