Camera Tripod Considerations?

[abbotlex]

It seems common knowledge that if you have a camera with a high zoom capability to take it to Alaska. I have such a camera and will be cruising for the first time in a balcony stateroom. Any tips or suggestions for a tripod to take pictures from the balcony? I'm thinking since space in the room and in your luggage is somewhat at a premium, is a "travel" tripod worth it. Has anyone found balconies too small for your standard camera tripod?

 

Thanks in advance,

[donaldsc]

It seems common knowledge that if you have a camera with a high zoom capability to take it to Alaska. I have such a camera and will be cruising for the first time in a balcony stateroom. Any tips or suggestions for a tripod to take pictures from the balcony? I'm thinking since space in the room and in your luggage is somewhat at a premium, is a "travel" tripod worth it. Has anyone found balconies too small for your standard camera tripod?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

You are missing a few major issues. The function of a tripod is to minimize camera movement. You are going to put your tripod on the floor of your balcony. There is always vibration on a ship so the vibration will be transmitted from the ship through the tripod to your camera. So the only thing that the tripod will do is prevent camera movement because you can not hold the camera steady.

 

I would suggest getting a beanbag and using it to help reduce camera movement. The beanbag will also transmit ship vibration much less and it is much easier to carry.

 

Read the last paragraph from this post - http://www.luminous-landscape.com/techniques/gimbal___monopod.shtml

 

DON

Edited January 21, 2015 by donaldsc

[donaldsc]

Double post. Sorry.

Edited January 21, 2015 by donaldsc

[xlxo]

Some thoughts...

• Ship movements and vibrations is more a problem when moving... not when stationary in port or glacier viewing... Unless you are doing long exposure astronomy photography, you should have much of a problem. Image stabilization should compensate for ship vibrations.
  
• Make sure your travel tripod is higher than the railing
  
• Don't leave your tripod in the balcony when you are away. It can be windy and the staff clean the balcony area twice a day.
  

Here's a time lapse video to illustrate some of the movements to expect...

Edited January 21, 2015 by xlxo

[abbotlex]

Good points, all. Thanks.

 

I intend on using a tripod is simply to help steady the camera for high-zoom pictures from the ship to shore or wildlife in the water. Still high shutter speed, so I'm not trying to eliminate movement or vibration.

 

• Make sure your travel tripod is higher than the railing
  

 

Any idea how high that is typically? I don't imagine many take a tape measure on a cruise, but a guess? 3 1/2 ft? 4 ft?

Edited January 21, 2015 by abbotlex

[xlxo]

Wildlife in the water? High-zoom? Normally I would pack a gimbal head or a wimberley sidekick to float my lens to better chase the subject. Not quite portable.

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Don't quite remember the railing height, but I would pack a gorilla pod. It would allow you use to mount your lens/camera onto the railing to provide some support... How big is your lens?

Edited January 21, 2015 by xlxo

[xlxo]

Another simpler option is to pack a monopod. That will reach over a railing and allow you to chase/pan after wildlife.

 

Sent from the Blackberry Passport w/ Snap

[Crew News]

If you are not going to be taking long exposure times, I would consider a monopod that is lightweight, easy to pack, and does not take up space needed by other whale watchers.

[abbotlex]

Wildlife in the water? High-zoom? Normally I would pack a gimbal head or a wimberley sidekick to float my lens to better chase the subject. Not quite portable.

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• 
  

Don't quite remember the railing height, but I would pack a gorilla pod. It would allow you use to mount your lens/camera onto the railing to provide some support... How big is your lens?

 

Wow, those wimberley heads are sweet. I'm not that advanced yet. I just have a high optical zoom digital (not even a DSLR). But it's equivalent optical focal length is over 800mm so it can get in pretty close if I have enough light.

 

Since it's a relatively light camera, I'm thinking more a monopod is the way to go.

 

Thanks again for everyone's ideas.

[sherryf]

Any idea how high that is typically? I don't imagine many take a tape measure on a cruise, but a guess? 3 1/2 ft? 4 ft?

 

Right around 4 ft. I'm 5 ft tall and the railing is at about my armpit level. :o

[donaldsc]

Some thoughts...

• Ship movements and vibrations is more a problem when moving... not when stationary in port or glacier viewing... Unless you are doing long exposure astronomy photography, you should have much of a problem. Image stabilization should compensate for ship vibrations.
  
• Make sure your travel tripod is higher than the railing
  
• Don't leave your tripod in the balcony when you are away. It can be windy and the staff clean the balcony area twice a day.
  

Here's a time lapse video to illustrate some of the movements to expect...

 

Don't see how this shows anything relative to what the OP is worrying about as the video does not indicate lens focal length or the shutter speed used. Without this information, the video although very nice but useless.

 

DON

[xlxo]

The video illustrates the ship movements. Even in a timelapse the movements can be seen. The video also illustrates the expected sights that can be seen from the railing.

[zqvol]

Don't bother with a tripod. Most of what you really want pictures of is animals, and they move. You have to be really quick to get them. You want a relatively fast shutter speed to stop the movement. If you want scenery then use the tripod, but the good stuff almost always is caught hand held.