Alaska Lens Choice for Canon

[blufroggirl79]

I"m using Canon 70D. Which lens would you pair with it for Alaskan Cruise? If you could only pick 2, what would you pick? I'm interested in landscape and wildlife. So, I was thinking a nice wide angle and then zoom?

 

Thanks!

[lmintzer]

I hope you don't mind if tag on to this to save people from having to respond in two places. I was going to post a smilar question. I am also taking a 70D to Alaska this summer.

 

I currently have these lenses: 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS (the II? Not sure. It's a few years old). Also a 50 mm 1.8 prime.

 

I see there are some better quality zoom that extend the range and are "L" glass, but my question is: do they make sense on a cropped sensor camera like the 70D? With a lens that stars at 70, I feel like you'd be switching lenses a ton. Like the OP, I am interested in landscape and wildlife, but I am also interested in capturing photos of my family enjoying our first trip to Alaska.

[mskaufman]

I have a 60D and my 18 - 200 served me well almost everywhere.

[havoc315]

Personally, I'm happiest with super wide, or telephoto. I can often skip all the "normal" field of view.

I did Alaska last summer. I used my wide angle lenses the most.

If you are willing to rent a lens, I'd rent the 100-400, which will give you immense range for wildlife. If you don't want to rent, I'd stick with the kit 55-250, which will give you sufficient range in decent light.

For wide angle, I'd get the Canon 10-18.

Yes, that is skipping the entire 18-55 range. But that's what I'd personally choose with just 2 lenses on the 70D.

I shoot full frame, so the focal lengths are a bit different, but as examples:

Telephoto, closely cropped 420mm (about 260mm on the 70D):

Bald Eagles in the Rain by Adam Brown, on Flickr

 

And some ultrawide--- wider than 18mm on the 70d:

 

The Yukon by Adam Brown, on Flickr

 

Long and windy road by Adam Brown, on Flickr

 

alaska-764-HDR.jpg by Adam Brown, on Flickr

 

And back to telephoto... 300mm.... (187mm on the 70d):

alaska-651.jpg by Adam Brown, on Flickr

[peety3]

Hmmm...if only two, whatever wide you have, and a 100-400. Don't worry about a gap between them - just shoot and crop.

 

My wife and I both shoot Canon, and have long believed in shooting with multiple cameras (we do a lot of charity events, etc.), so admittedly I'm biased to multi-camera shooting. We've done 5 (you could say 4.5) Alaska cruises. I've "evolved" significantly over the years but have pretty much settled on three lenses for full-frame: 16-35/4IS, 100-400, 600/4 with 1.4x TC, though that is shot with three cameras so the only lens changes that I do when out and about is to perhaps swap the 100-400 for a 50/2 Macro. The 600 is overkill for whale watches (100-400 is plenty for such big animals IMHO) but comes in handy for eagles etc. The gap between 35 and 100 was no real issue to me.

 

For a real-life view into what different lenses will do for you, I shot a series from the jogging trail on the Ruby Princess last April. Start here and arrow-right through the series; you'll see a lens, then 1-2 shots (zooms you'll see two shots, one widest, one tightest; primes of course are only one shot). Everything was shot from the same tripod.

[KYBOB]

My question to peety3 is how did you carry all that with the carry on luggage restrictions? I am thinking about a Land and Cruise trip and have read on the 'land' portion you are limited one bag per person that is 17"x14"x4" (Soft sides no roll on).

[GUT2407]

The other issue is what do you want to do with the finished product,

 

Enlargement to hang on the wall, view on a screen or something else?

[peety3]

My question to peety3 is how did you carry all that with the carry on luggage restrictions? I am thinking about a Land and Cruise trip and have read on the 'land' portion you are limited one bag per person that is 17"x14"x4" (Soft sides no roll on).

I've never done a land tour, and I just can't figure out how I'd be happy on sea and land with the same gear. Plus, with us living in the Seattle area, Seattle RT is so much easier.

 

Nonetheless, on to your question, that gear is relatively easy. I have a mid-size Lowepro backpack, two cameras on the right, 100-400 and third camera in the center, 16-35, 50/2, 1.4 TC on the left, still room for two more lenses. Rolling duffel with 600 wrapped inside my jacket inside my shooting vest and a monopod. Plenty of room leftover in the rolling duffel for other stuff. My wife has a smaller backpack with her two cameras and 4 lenses, with room left over, and one of us has a basic laptop bag.

[peety3]

A few follow-up thoughts that drifted into my brain overnight. If you determine that you don't need your gear in the days leading up to and after the cruise, consider shipping it. We're doing a Mexican Riviera cruise in February, and I'm planning to ship 1-3 Pelican cases of stuff to LA/Long Beach via FedEx Ground to a convenient FedEx Office location "Hold At Location". They have late hours (often til 11pm, and I've seen at least one in Atlanta that was 24/7) and you show your photo ID to claim your package(s). With something like a Pelican case, it can be padlocked so you know they're not going through your stuff. (If they lose it or "lose it", admittedly that's another story...) I love my lighting, and want to do more lit portraiture on upcoming cruises, so I'll send a few stands, lighting modifiers, and possibly a case of camera gear to lessen what I deal with on the plane. If it's all padlocked, I'll just slap a cruise luggage tag on it and let the porters deliver it.

 

Also, at least for the cruise portion, there is no carry-on size limit. If it doesn't fit through the scanner, they check it by hand, no harm, no foul.

 

On our last Alaska cruise, I did admittedly go overboard with lenses to play with. Part of it was to account for our (late) evening whale watch in Victoria, part of it was fast primes for indoor shooting, part of it was the photo tour we did in Haines. Since we live ~40 minutes from the cruise dock, we could easily get dropped off with one additional rolling duffel that we checked.

[sharod]

I too have a 70D and am in the process of planning a land-based Alaska vacation.

 

I will be taking my Tamron 17-50VC 2.8, 18-135 STM, and I will be renting a 100-400. I will also have CPL filters for these lenses.

 

This will provide me with the range I believe I will need. This will most likely be a once in a life-time opportunity for me, and I don't want to miss a thing!

[KYBOB]

Thanks for the suggestions!. We too typically drive to the port but we leave out of Ft. Lauderdale, but we do not live as close as you, 'close' for us is a 15 hour car ride. But I love not having to worry about size of bags, number of bags, weight, etc. So I am not used to traveling light when we cruise. Also do not have to worry about what we purchase 'not fitting' or pushing us over the weight limit. I will say on this last cruise we almost did not get it all in the car. Ah!, but we have a bigger vehicle for next time!!! I have gotten used to taking a ThinkTank Airport Roller which will hold the world of equipment and laptop etc. plus a small hand held carry on which sits on top of the rolling case with other "toys"(as my DW calls them), pills and even some clothing too :). I have even flown to Hawaii where we stay for a month at a time, plus other destinations with this same setup. For the Alaska trip I have been really having issues ( I know it is a mental thing but I like all my 'toys') with the bag restrictions on the land portion. I cannot figure out how to get all my 'stuff' to fit into one 'small' bag. My wife has her own stuff and she is not willing to share or leave behind any of her stuff to that mine will fit. I am just about to the point of just doing a sea only trip.

 

I had not thought of the Pelican cases, I used to have a Zero Halliburton camera case (long time ago when it was 'cool' to carry one) and I could pack some things in there for the bus transfers and train portions. NOW the issue will be which 'toys' could I do without during that time???

[peety3]

I too have a 70D and am in the process of planning a land-based Alaska vacation.

 

I will be taking my Tamron 17-50VC 2.8, 18-135 STM, and I will be renting a 100-400. I will also have CPL filters for these lenses.

 

This will provide me with the range I believe I will need. This will most likely be a once in a life-time opportunity for me, and I don't want to miss a thing!

Why the 18-135? I guess it makes sense for times when you want to be a one-lens band, but if you're taking the 100-400, the 17-50 should be fine.

 

My $0.02, but an Alaska cruise flies by way too fast for a CPL in my opinion. The only time in five cruises that I've wished I had one was our private photo tour in Haines (left it on the ship), and the times that I did use it, I realized I was looking around, shooting around, and generally not doing anything with enough discipline or consistency for the CPL to be anything but a hindrance.

[sharod]

Why the 18-135? I guess it makes sense for times when you want to be a one-lens band, but if you're taking the 100-400, the 17-50 should be fine.

 

My $0.02, but an Alaska cruise flies by way too fast for a CPL in my opinion. The only time in five cruises that I've wished I had one was our private photo tour in Haines (left it on the ship), and the times that I did use it, I realized I was looking around, shooting around, and generally not doing anything with enough discipline or consistency for the CPL to be anything but a hindrance.

 

It is my go to lens. Love that lens. If I left one at home, it would be the 17-50. BUT, it has the constant 2.8. So, I really don't want to leave it at home.

 

As far as CPL's, we are planning on a land-based vacation. Flying in, renting a car, doing it on our own. I don't have the itinerary all worked out, but do know what we don't want to miss. Planning on staying anywhere from 10-14 days. Probably closer to 14. Regardless, my CPL's are in my bag at all times, whether I am planning on using them or not.

 

Again, this is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. The do it on our own part. Not ruling out a cruise at some point, always a possibility. I don't want to get there and wish I had something that I left at home.

 

I hope that explains my though process :D

[peety3]

It is my go to lens. Love that lens. If I left one at home, it would be the 17-50. BUT, it has the constant 2.8. So, I really don't want to leave it at home.

 

As far as CPL's, we are planning on a land-based vacation. Flying in, renting a car, doing it on our own. I don't have the itinerary all worked out, but do know what we don't want to miss. Planning on staying anywhere from 10-14 days. Probably closer to 14. Regardless, my CPL's are in my bag at all times, whether I am planning on using them or not.

 

Again, this is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. The do it on our own part. Not ruling out a cruise at some point, always a possibility. I don't want to get there and wish I had something that I left at home.

As always, it's your trip, so bring what you want to bring (I've certainly ignored the naysayers and taken what I wanted plenty of times!). And I guess I should recognize that you're not used to using a 100-400...that's a factor too. However, the 24-70/2.8 was my go-to lens, time and time again, on both a 1.3x crop camera and then a full-frame camera. Yet last April when we went to Alaska, I put the 16-35 (at the time, it was the 2.8 v2 version) on my camera and brought the 24-70 in a case. Because it was Alaska, and because I had the 100-400 (and the 600+1.4x sure didn't hurt either), the 24-70 stayed in the bag THE WHOLE TIME. It was dead weight...dead enough that when we returned in August, the 50/2 Macro took its place (smaller/lighter/faster), and it too stayed in the bag the whole time.

 

Even though I added the 24-70/2.8 v2 recently, the 16-35/4IS seems to be my go-to lens a lot these days. *shrug*