Best lens for a cruise

[taffy12]

I'm about to buy a Canon DSLR camera and am considering purchasing one supplemental lens to get me started (in addition to the 18-55 that would come with it). In your opinion, what's the BEST lens for a cruise? I don't really plan to take the camera ashore - I don't want to risk getting it dirty - so I'd be shooting mostly onboard, around the ship and of the water and passing scenery. If you had to pick only one lens, what would it be?

 

On a possibly related note, what would be the best lens to photograph passing ships?

[chipmaster]

Best lens is like asking "best" cruise how do you define that?

 

Assuming you are buying an entry level DSLR TI3 and the kit 18-55

 

One thought is if you want to shoot panoramic and a lot indoors get a 10-22 superwide, they aren't cheap, but "best."

 

If on the other hand you think you might to shoot sports, wildlife or zoom into things a lot a 70-300 type medium telephoto is the "best."

 

If you really don't know and want to cover everything and not have to hassle with changing lense than an 18-200 superzoom or something and your DLSLR is just like a superfast focusing P&S but just 10x bigger and more expensive. The superzooms in terms of volume sales is likely "best."

 

Most DSLR and folks probably have an 18-55 type than a mediume tele as their second lense, YMMV.

[pierces]

I don't really plan to take the camera ashore - I don't want to risk getting it dirty...

 

A camera is a tool. When you buy a tool, they are usually shiny and new. If they get a little dirty and worn, it's a natural consequence of being used for the reason you purchased them. When that happens, you clean them up and use them some more.

 

Take your camera ashore and use it! Dust and dirt is only a real threat if you are changing lenses so don't worry and just keep the 18-55 on it while ashore and take some great photos!

 

Dave

[awboater]

There is no best lens - only the lenses you have come to prefer.

 

But having said that, here is what I take"

 

Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5~f/5.6

Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8

Nikon 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye

Nikon 40mm f/2.8 macro

 

I have to tell you that even with a DSLR lens, the 18-200mm lens, at 11x is still almost a super-zoom, and I can see some optical quality issues. But that is mostly when used wide open. When I stop down to f/8, the lens is pretty sharp, and is not bad.

 

So when I take this lens, it is more or less a daylight only lens. But that is not an issue per se as in the Caribbean, most of the time it is under daylight conditions, and I am willing to have that limitation to get a compact, one lens solution. I also have a Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8 but it does not go on cruises as it is too heavy.

 

The Tokina 11-16 is an outstanding super-wide-angle lens and I would recommend something like it for shipboard use. Especially with the fast f/2.8, it works great for interior shots.

 

The fisheye and macro are just a couple of fun lenses I take. They are small and don't weigh much, so they are not a bad thing to carry. I also have a more traditional 100mm macro, but it is significantly larger and heavier, so it stays home.

 

Even then, when I take my "goodies" bag; which is a backpack style 20" wheeled tote, and I get all my gadgets packed, it weighs some 35lbs.

 

In addition to the lenses mentioned above, I take a Nikon D90, a speedlight, monopod ( or tripod), a Nikon P7000, Olympus waterproof 8010, netbook, kindle, a couple of heavy watches (one of them weighs almost a pound), cables and spare batteries, and a few other trinkets, I am at 35lbs.

 

I need to figure out how to reduce the backpack weight.

[mskaufman]

I am partial to my Tamron 18 -270. It covers 90 percent of what I need and I am never caught changing the lens on a shore excursion.

[woan]

+1 on the Tamron 18-270 or Sigma 18-250 as the best walking around travel lens. You really don't want to be changing lens too much in the field or you should bring sensor cleaning equipment as well.

 

I am partial to my Tamron 18 -270. It covers 90 percent of what I need and I am never caught changing the lens on a shore excursion.

[sunshine100]

I recently bought the Canon T3i this past summer a few months prior to our trip to Alaska. Besides the lens that comes with it, I had a 28-135 as the lens I used most, and then the boyfriend also has a Canon DSLR, so we swap lenses at times. I can't remember what one of his lenses is, but I sometimes will use his 70-300 lens. I am very amateur, but I must tell you the pictures from 15 days in Alaska were awesome. The boyfriend is more into the photography, and he says that we have a very good mix of lenses and being able to swap has worked out great!

[stevefrankel]

I've been completely and utterly spoiled by the 24mm f2.0 lens on my Fuji X-100 camera. Its combination of speed and semi-wide angle view (equivilent to a 36mm lens) makes it the most versitile lens I've ever used; and the lack of telephoto capability is more than compensated for by its tremendous resolving power it provides with the X-100. I was able to take a routine head-and-shoulder shot of my wife in costume to look like Marilyn Monroe and blow it up to a razor-sharp 20"x24" print that I had done on canvas and framed. It now competes in quality with any of the collector lithos we have in our home.

 

The best zoom is your feet (moving backwards and forwards to frame the photo), and the next best is a truly high-quality lens/camera combination that permits you to "blow up" a small area of the image and make exhibition-quality enlargements out of them. Yet the X-100 costs no more than a high quality SLR with a wide-range zoom and it weighs 2/3 less!

[stevefrankel]

I've been completely and utterly spoiled by the 24mm f2.0 lens on my Fuji X-100 camera. Its combination of speed and semi-wide angle view (equivilent to a 36mm lens) makes it the most versitile lens I've ever used; and the lack of telephoto capability is more than compensated for by its tremendous resolving power it provides with the X-100. I was able to take a routine head-and-shoulder shot of my wife in costume to look like Marilyn Monroe and blow it up to a razor-sharp 20"x24" print that I had done on canvas and framed. It now competes in quality with any of the collector lithos we have in our home.

 

The best zoom is your feet (moving backwards and forwards to frame the photo), and the next best is a truly high-quality lens/camera combination. Yet the X-100 costs no more than a high quality SLR with a wide-range zoom and it weighs 2/3 less!

[meapya]

OP-

 

Unless that lense has OS, i'd suggest you put it in a safe place at home and get a good quality lense that is a fixed f2.8. I did that and rarely use my 18-55 non-is lense anymore. Actually it isn't as it's permanently attached to my original digital rebel.

 

My main rigs are a 40d and 7d and my work horse lenses are the tamron 28-75 f2.8 lense, tamron 10-20 f?-f? and the trusty 70-200 sigma f2.8 lenses.

 

Note that I brought w/me on my recent cruise to the caribbean last dec 2011, my sony nex-5 and let me say...well I had excellent results with it and the kit lense that came with it. I also procured a fixed f2.8 16mm lense for this camera...i'll bring this camera w/me next time i cruse...so much eaiser too....

 

GL...keep us informed of what you end up with!

[praline3001]

Honestly asking which lens to buy is asking what kind of adult beverage should you try first on the ship LOL

 

 

Since you said you will not be taking it off the ship I am going to cross off any telephoto lens. Later, you should really look into getting one as they are GREAT but since the camera is staying on ship you can do fine without it.

 

My suggestion depends on what brand of DSLR your getting as I am not as familiar with other brand lenses as I am with Canon as I only use Canon.

Look into the 50mm f/1.4 lens. For the price, you can't beat it. This will allow you to take photos in much darker areas. I am going to guess that you want more photos of inside as well as photos of the nightlife. The drawback is its a fixed lens so any zooming you have to do with your feet LOL Most kit lenses have about a f/3.5 and low light photos are extremely hard to take with those type of lenses.

 

It was the first lens I ever bought and I still use it all the time as a walk around lens. Its EXTREMELY tiny and light which helps when free handing photos. The larger lenses tend to dip forward for those who are just learning how to shoot with a DSLR.

 

Rather then a lens though I would suggest looking into an external flash with diffuser. You can get flash diffusers SUPER cheap or just make your own. The reason being is that since this is your first DSLR I am guessing you are not super camera savy on using Manual and the exposure settings. I am also assuming you want great vacation shots.

The built in flash of any camera washes photos out,makes them look flat and not that great. Buying an external flash to put on your hot shoe and learning a few quick lessons on how to bounce light and use a diffuser will do more good for your vacation shots then any new lens!

 

Also make sure to look into off brand lenses. No I don't mean Wal-Mart "Great Value" lenses LOL I have 2 Tamron lenses and I adore them! They have a sharper image then my canon lenses. I have the 28-75mm f/2.8 one and the 17-300mm f/3.5 new one. Not only are they half the cost of the canon counterpart but the images are much sharper in my opinion. Since you are not a pro shooting for Nat Geo, look into the Tamron brand at your local camera store to see if you like that brand.

[praline3001]

One thing I do suggest doing is when you think you know which lens you want or your still trying to decide ~ go to Flickr and do a search on that lens. Click photos and then in the left side click "most interesting".

Many photographers tag their photos with the lens they were using. The more interesting photos are those that flickr members like more so USUALLY mean better photographers. This gives you an idea of how sharp the lens is in different situations without taking into account the dummy behind the camera :D

[jdg66]

Also make sure to look into off brand lenses. No I don't mean Wal-Mart "Great Value" lenses LOL I have 2 Tamron lenses and I adore them! They have a sharper image then my canon lenses. I have the 28-75mm f/2.8 one and the 17-300mm f/3.5 new one. Not only are they half the cost of the canon counterpart but the images are much sharper in my opinion. Since you are not a pro shooting for Nat Geo, look into the Tamron brand at your local camera store to see if you like that brand.

 

What is the 17-300 f/3.5? Is that a Tamron? I've not heard of that one before.

 

I tend to agree on the "off-brand" lens. I have two Tamrons (28-75mm f/2.8 and 200-500mm f/5-6.3) and a Sigma (10-20mm f/4-5.6), and all three are wonderful.

 

Admittedly, the 200-500mm isn't one I use very often...and I bought it when I was in a bit of a "lens frenzy" having got my camera not too long before...I did get it used (as I did for the other Tamron and Sigma) and only paid about half what a new one would have cost me. The one time, so far, it did come in handy was taking picture of aircraft on the Intrepid Air and Space Museum while we were in dock in NYC on the Carnival Miracle last September...got great shots of every plane.

 

The 10-20mm is a fantastic lens for wide angle landscapes.

 

The 28-75mm is a great "indoor walking around lens" as it's f/2.8. Another reason I got it was our local NHL team doesn't allow lenses greater than 75mm in so I would have been limited to my 18-55mm...the 28-75 with a 2x extender does a great job.

 

I was considering at 18-270mm for a while...since, when in NYC, I did find myself switching back and forth between the 18-55mm and the 55-250mm (both which came with my camera) and single lens that covers that range might save a large number of lens switches...something most people want to minimize...but I've also read the wider the range, in general, the lower the image quality...so don't have that one yet.

[praline3001]

What is the 17-300 f/3.5? Is that a Tamron? I've not heard of that one before.

 

I tend to agree on the "off-brand" lens. I have two Tamrons (28-75mm f/2.8 and 200-500mm f/5-6.3) and a Sigma (10-20mm f/4-5.6), and all three are wonderful.

 

Admittedly, the 200-500mm isn't one I use very often...and I bought it when I was in a bit of a "lens frenzy" having got my camera not too long before...I did get it used (as I did for the other Tamron and Sigma) and only paid about half what a new one would have cost me. The one time, so far, it did come in handy was taking picture of aircraft on the Intrepid Air and Space Museum while we were in dock in NYC on the Carnival Miracle last September...got great shots of every plane.

 

The 10-20mm is a fantastic lens for wide angle landscapes.

 

The 28-75mm is a great "indoor walking around lens" as it's f/2.8. Another reason I got it was our local NHL team doesn't allow lenses greater than 75mm in so I would have been limited to my 18-55mm...the 28-75 with a 2x extender does a great job.

 

I was considering at 18-270mm for a while...since, when in NYC, I did find myself switching back and forth between the 18-55mm and the 55-250mm (both which came with my camera) and single lens that covers that range might save a large number of lens switches...something most people want to minimize...but I've also read the wider the range, in general, the lower the image quality...so don't have that one yet.

 

 

That lens is called "I am terrible at typing" HA HA HA

Its the Tamron AF70-300mm F4-5.6 Di VC USD

 

I am looking into getting one of their wide angle lenses as well but I am just not sure which one. I am not big on the distortion landscape/fish eye look but I am looking for one that has a shorter focal point and large aperture for indoor shots. Drives me nuts when I keep having to back up to get my indoor shot lol

[praline3001]

Here is a Free handed shot I took at the zoo with the Tamron AF70-300mm F4-5.6 Di VC USD lens. The guy was across a pond and a good distance away! I did not have my monopod either so was pretty impressed with the stabilization of this lens.

 

This tiger was a good distance away as well. All of the enclosures have large moats around them. Same as the above shot... free handed. I have a terrible shaking hand too. I usually do not leave home without my monopod but forgot it this day. =/

 

 

For the price, you can't beat a telephoto lens that sharp. The Canon version with IS is $1400.00. I got this for $450.00

[knittinggirl]

I like my Nikkor 18-180mm. It has a crop factor that makes it like a 27 -270mm. I've also taken the Zuiko 40-150 to Alaska, but on the next, I may take my Zuiko 50-200 w/ converter. If you leave your dSLR on the ship, be sure to take a P&S or you'll miss a lot of shots! Which camera I bring ashore depends on the location. Took the P&S ashore in Jamaica.

[donaldsc]

I'm about to buy a Canon DSLR camera and am considering purchasing one supplemental lens to get me started (in addition to the 18-55 that would come with it). In your opinion, what's the BEST lens for a cruise? I don't really plan to take the camera ashore - I don't want to risk getting it dirty - so I'd be shooting mostly onboard, around the ship and of the water and passing scenery. If you had to pick only one lens, what would it be?

 

On a possibly related note, what would be the best lens to photograph passing ships?

 

The various comments that the "best" lens depends upon what you want to do with it and what pictures you plan to take are correct.

 

If it were me, I would purchase a wide angle zoom (11-17 or wider if I could afford it) and also a 18-210 zoom lens and leave the 18-55 kit lens home. In fact, your best bet might be to just buy the camera body so you do not have to pay for the kits lens and spend the money to buy 2 lenses.

 

I leave the 18-205 on my camera as a carry lens and carry around the wide angle in my kit.

 

DON

[TLCOhio]

A camera is a tool. When you buy a tool, they are usually shiny and new. If they get a little dirty and worn, it's a natural consequence of being used for the reason you purchased them. When that happens, you clean them up and use them some more. Take your camera ashore and use it! Dust and dirt is only a real threat if you are changing lenses so don't worry and just keep the 18-55 on it while ashore and take some great photos! Dave

 

chipmaster: Best lens is like asking "best" cruise how do you define that? One thought is if you want to shoot panoramic and a lot indoors get a 10-22 superwide' date=' they aren't cheap, but "best."[/quote']

 

Many excellent comments and suggestions are made here. Agree strongly with Dave on the need to take your camera ashore and bring back ALL of those various cruise memories, etc.

 

Much gets to what you want to "capture" and save in your photos. I now have a Nikon D3100 that does a great, 14mp file size to allow lots of quality and editing, plus Nikon 18-55mm, 55-300mm lenses and a 10-20mm Sigma wide angle. That camera also has 1080HD video capability that works well with our new grandson and another grandchild due August 1. In most cases, I shoot in the program or auto setting, letting the camera do the work on settings and focus so that I can be more concerned on framing and subject options.

 

Below is an example for what you can get with a wide-angle lens like the 10-20mm that I used to get this view of the Solarium areas on our ship. Or, the longer lens is great for wild-life, like the puffin below or getting the close-up detail on St. Mark's in Venice.

 

Tell us more on what you are seeking! Lots of great options to consider and use.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 69,286 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

The Solarium was one of our favorite areas on the Solstice. Using the 10-20mm lens captures the full areas in one shot. Two hot tubs here. Not crowded, especially in the evenings. Nice art and design are there as a part of this sparkling ship facility.:

 

 

 

Sailing from the small fishing village of Gjesvaer near the North Cape at the top of Norway and Europe, this is the first of many puffin visuals, showing their bright orange feet, plus their cute and unique beaks. You need a long lens to capture these small birds that fly away fast. :

 

 

 

Here is one of the architectural details from famed St. Mark’s Basilica. This includes the front top over the main entrance with the gold lion on a blue design background. My 55-300mm lens allows one to capture this kind of detail up close and personal!!:

 

[themnms]

Many excellent comments and suggestions are made here. Agree strongly with Dave on the need to take your camera ashore and bring back ALL of those various cruise memories, etc.

 

Much gets to what you want to "capture" and save in your photos. I now have a Nikon D3100 that does a great, 14mp file size to allow lots of quality and editing, plus Nikon 18-55mm, 55-300mm lenses and a 10-20mm Sigma wide angle. That camera also has 1080HD video capability that works well with our new grandson and another grandchild due August 1. In most cases, I shoot in the program or auto setting, letting the camera do the work on settings and focus so that I can be more concerned on framing and subject options.

 

Below is an example for what you can get with a wide-angle lens like the 10-20mm that I used to get this view of the Solarium areas on our ship. Or, the longer lens is great for wild-life, like the puffin below or getting the close-up detail on St. Mark's in Venice.

 

Tell us more on what you are seeking! Lots of great options to consider and use.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 69,286 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

The Solarium was one of our favorite areas on the Solstice. Using the 10-20mm lens captures the full areas in one shot. Two hot tubs here. Not crowded, especially in the evenings. Nice art and design are there as a part of this sparkling ship facility.:

 

 

 

Sailing from the small fishing village of Gjesvaer near the North Cape at the top of Norway and Europe, this is the first of many puffin visuals, showing their bright orange feet, plus their cute and unique beaks. You need a long lens to capture these small birds that fly away fast. :

 

 

 

Here is one of the architectural details from famed St. Mark’s Basilica. This includes the front top over the main entrance with the gold lion on a blue design background. My 55-300mm lens allows one to capture this kind of detail up close and personal!!:

 

 

 

love the pics!!

[TLCOhio]

love the pics!!

 

Appreciate from our New Jersey friend your kind viewpoint on my pictures. Glad to know you're a person of such high class, great taste and wonderful judgment to make such nice comments.

 

Below are three more "bonus" pictures. The first is another illustration on the value of having a wider than average wide angle lens. This one in Rome was taken with the 10mm opening with my 10-20mm Sigma lens on my Nikon D3100. Second shows inside on a famous historic building in Rome. Third is why you sometimes need to use some manual setting to capture a night scene. I normally shoot in the auto setting for exposure and focus. Here I did this night shot in Venice hand-held with a manual setting for a third of a second at f/3.5 with ISO 400 with an 18mm opening on my 18-55mm Nikon zoom.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 69,509 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 63,088 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

 

This is the dramatic front view of St. Peters and the Square with the beautiful sky over this historic setting in Rome.:

 

 

 

Inside the Pantheon, this photo with my wide angle lens shows what is regarded as the best preserved of the ancient buildings in Rome. It is based on the classical Greek temple design and has a hole in the middle of the domed ceiling. It was the Roman “temple of all the gods”. You can see the light shining through the roof to part of interior on the left side.:

 

 

 

It was a full moon for our evening in Venice. Here is that view of the moon as we walked at night past the Doge’s Palace. At night, you want to hang out in and around San Marco Square to hear the various orchestras playing, see people enjoying, etc.:

 

[PrettyPictureLady]

When we cruised in 2010, we brought a Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8G and Nikkor 50mm 1.8. These were used on a Nikon D700, bearing in mind that the camera body absolutely makes a difference (high quality sensor).

 

50mm 1.8 was used for low-light (again bearing in the mind that the D700 produces exceptional quality images at ISO 2000 and acceptable images at 3200, especially with noise reduction in post processing). I would have preferred to bring a speedlite but ultimately not having the speedlite and relying on my 1.8 lens meant much less bulk to carry around. We did not take our gear ashore when we knew we'd be getting wet.

 

Here are a mixture of photos we took on our cruise in 2010 using the aforementioned camera body and lenses.

 

 

This is beyond low-light, in fact it's night photography.

 

 

 

The Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8G is a can't-go-wrong lens and the quality is superb (pro-level, which is what we happen to be, thus why we own it)...

 

 

 

We hope to cruise again in the future, this time with babies we've acquired since 2010 - the Nikkor 35mm 1.4G and Nikkor 50mm 1.4G. I adore my Nikkor 70-200 2.8G but I honestly think a telephoto lens would (for me) find little use on a cruise and would prove to be a bulky hinderance rather than a practical walk-around lens. You may find a telephoto lens is something you'd like to have based on the type of photos you prefer to take. For walk-around photos of each other, the ship, and broad landscapes, the lenses we took were fine.

 

If you're confident shooting with razor thin depth of field, consider an f1.8 lens to eliminate the need for an external flash. I recommend an f1.8 over the f1.4 simply because it's the less expensive option; unless you are a pro or have that kind of money to spend on a hobby, you don't really need the f1.4 and combined with a great camera body, an f1.8 lens is exceptional. I probably would have preferred the option of my speedlite (I forgot it!) for some of the even darker parts of the ship, but that's me being picky. We are wedding photographers and the use of bounced flash is kind of a second-nature thing, and also a luxury I enjoy having the option of using.

 

The 24-70mm 2.8 (or comparable 28-70, etc) is an excellent mid-range zoom useful in most shooting situations. An f2.8, f2, f1.8 or f1.4 lens on a camera with high ISO capability will eliminate the need to carry around the extra bulk of a tripod because you'll be able to handhold in low-light scenes.

 

My take is that it's never worth it to waste money on a low quality or off-brand lens when you can save a little longer and buy a lens that will stand the test of time. Sigma and Tamron produce comparable lenses but they always seem to have quality control issues (particularly Sigma) so you're never quite sure if you're going to get a lemon or not. If you're a hobbyist and simply don't feel it necessary to spend thousands on each lens (totally reasonable), make sure to purchase third party lenses well ahead of time so you don't end up giddy to use your shiny new toy on your upcoming cruise only to find it has focusing issues or worse.

 

I highly recommend renting equipment before taking the plunge on any permanent purchase - BorrowLenses.com and LensRentals.com are two online rental companies I've personally used and can vouch for. BorrowLenses.com includes camera bodies for rent as well. Tip: get the insurance if you rent, because you just never know. If you live in a metropolitan area you may have a camera shop in the area that offers rentals as well. I live in a more rural area so online is the only option for me.

 

Hope I helped some!

[pierces]

 

 

 

 

Wow! Rough seas?

 

:)

 

Dave

[TLCOhio]

When we cruised in 2010, we brought a Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8G and Nikkor 50mm 1.8. These were used on a Nikon D700, bearing in mind that the camera body absolutely makes a difference (high quality sensor). 50mm 1.8 was used for low-light (again bearing in the mind that the D700 produces exceptional quality images at ISO 2000 and acceptable images at 3200, especially with noise reduction in post processing). I would have preferred to bring a speedlite but ultimately not having the speedlite and relying on my 1.8 lens meant much less bulk to carry around. We did not take our gear ashore when we knew we'd be getting wet. Here are a mixture of photos we took on our cruise in 2010 using the aforementioned camera body and lenses. We hope to cruise again in the future, this time with babies we've acquired since 2010 - the Nikkor 35mm 1.4G and Nikkor 50mm 1.4G. If you're confident shooting with razor thin depth of field, consider an f1.8 lens to eliminate the need for an external flash. I recommend an f1.8 over the f1.4 simply because it's the less expensive option; unless you are a pro or have that kind of money to spend on a hobby, you don't really need the f1.4 and combined with a great camera body, an f1.8 lens is exceptional. I highly recommend renting equipment before taking the plunge on any permanent purchase - BorrowLenses.com and LensRentals.com are two online rental companies I've personally used and can vouch for. Hope I helped some!

 

Great pictures!! Appreciate your sharing those shots, plus the other information. You make a great case and show wonderful evidence for doing more with the fixed lenses with the better f-stop light quality. After a National Geographic photo program in Philadelphia, I will be thinking more that way for the future. My Nikon 18-55mm lens does a very good job, BUT, it might be worth adding a fixed lens for the future.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 69,825 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 63,197 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[LucyDiamond]

Great pictures!! Appreciate your sharing those shots, plus the other information. You make a great case and show wonderful evidence for doing more with the fixed lenses with the better f-stop light quality. After a National Geographic photo program in Philadelphia, I will be thinking more that way for the future. My Nikon 18-55mm lens does a very good job, BUT, it might be worth adding a fixed lens for the future.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

I agree Terry! While I really like my Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G kit lens for general walking around, I'm now about 95% convinced to get a faster prime lens. I'm seriously considering the Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G DX lens since I have a DX body. The price is right (around $200) and with the 1.5 multiplier factor on the DX body, it would be equivalent to a ~52mm lens which I understand is what the eye sees.

[praline3001]

I love my 50mm fixed lens! Yes, its great in low light but it is also super sharp with a closed aperture. Granted the zoom lenses are great for framing but the 50mm is so light and little! No worries about fitting it in the bag if rain shows or bumping it or any of that stuff. I have gotten some great aquarium shots with my 50mm at our local public aquarium. They came out a ton better then my 60mm macro lens :rolleyes:

 

That is why I suggested the 50mm fixed lens as the one to bring. It is very versatile. The only draw back for me is the focal length ... you have to back up a bit more with the 50mm then you would with a standard zoom.

 

Here is a shot using the 50mm with a higher F/stop (f/4.0)

As you can see the picture is sharp. At the same time I was on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras with about 2 million drunks. Having the smaller lens helped in navigating through the crowds!!

 

You can go for those super dark/low light shots with them and then take something with the lower aperture and get a great shot.