New camera and lenses on my August cruise to Alaska

[gregma60]

Well, have decided to upgrade my canon 40d to a 90d.  It comes with an EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Kit.  Just bought a EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM and an Extender EF 1.4x III.  Have gotten GREAT pics when using the 100-400 with 1.4x here in Washington, even on cloudy rainy days.  Hopefully these will do the job for all situations...

 

-gregma

[pierces]

On 3/22/2023 at 12:39 PM, gregma60 said:

Well, have decided to upgrade my canon 40d to a 90d.  It comes with an EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Kit.  Just bought a EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM and an Extender EF 1.4x III.  Have gotten GREAT pics when using the 100-400 with 1.4x here in Washington, even on cloudy rainy days.  Hopefully these will do the job for all situations...

 

-gregma

 

You seem to have the bases covered.

 

The 24mm equivalent focal length on the wide end of the 18-135 is fine for Alaska. I've only used wide angles for ship interiors since the scenery there is simply vast. If you do want a wider view for a glacier, just snap a series for a panorama. With a wide angle you would get a lot of sky, a lot of water and a thin blue line of ice.

 

The 100-400 will be great for wildlife. the 1.4x might be overkill for handheld (IMHO). Even with IS, 800mm+ (equivalent) is impractical for hand-held shooting from a tour boat. If you plan on taking a monopod or tripod for land-based tours, it might be useful.

 

Experience hint: When shooting hand-held from the tour boat (seals on buoys or on the beach, eagles in trees, etc.), shoot short high-speed bursts of 3-4 shots to help out the IS. Movement is cyclical and one of those shots is usually at the end of movement before the cycle reverses and starts moving the other way.

 

My 4¢...

 

 

Dave

[gregma60]

2 hours ago, pierces said:

The 24mm equivalent focal length on the wide end of the 18-135 is fine for Alaska. I've only used wide angles for ship interiors since the scenery there is simply vast. If you do want a wider view for a glacier, just snap a series for a panorama. With a wide angle you would get a lot of sky, a lot of water and a thin blue line of ice.

That's kind of what I was thinking as well.  Although I do see people bring a wide angle fast lens say f2.8 or so, I think I should be fine with f3.5.  Especially when if it's too dark on the ship or in some building, I can easily attach my Godox V860III-C TTL and use that.

 

2 hours ago, pierces said:

The 100-400 will be great for wildlife. the 1.4x might be overkill for handheld (IMHO). Even with IS, 800mm+ (equivalent) is impractical for hand-held shooting from a tour boat. If you plan on taking a monopod or tripod for land-based tours, it might be useful.

I thought that as well about the 1.4x.  But we went to a local park where we found a bald eagle on top of say a 200 ft tree, and were say 3-400 yards away?  400 with 1.4x brought the eagle right in close and even handholding we got some pretty crisp pictures.  Although I think I would have preferred to bring my monopod for those situations!  On a boat, I completely agree!  If we can't get close enough for maybe 100-200, it's not going to happen.  I'll try, but doubt can get a good focused shot.  Pretty much all of our excursions are land based, so shouldn't have too much worry.  Only one boat excursion on the way to a crab feed.

 

3 hours ago, pierces said:

Experience hint: When shooting hand-held from the tour boat (seals on buoys or on the beach, eagles in trees, etc.), shoot short high-speed bursts of 3-4 shots to help out the IS. Movement is cyclical and one of those shots is usually at the end of movement before the cycle reverses and starts moving the other way.

Great idea!  I'm just now trying to getting birds in flight.  I think that would use the same short bursts mode.  Heck with a 256GB card, even medium 10-15 shots bursts I'm not going to run out of space.

 

Thank you so much for the advice!  It's been at least 10 years since I've decided to get back into some photography and everything is so very rusty!

 

-gregma

 

[KYBOB]

1 hour ago, gregma60 said:

Great idea!  I'm just now trying to getting birds in flight.  I think that would use the same short bursts mode.  Heck with a 256GB card, even medium 10-15 shots bursts I'm not going to run out of space.

 

OK birds are my thing, I am not a Canon shooter so have know idea as to how yours works or compares to Nikon or Sony the ones I am familiar with. But for birds you will need the 1.4 on the 100-400 and if your camera will allow a button to be programed for crop mode even better. Now for getting the sharpness set the camera to manual set your shutter speed to at least 1250 or higher if you want to get a bird in flight (BIF) in focus 2000, aperture to as wide as you can get it then set your ISO (not to be confused with image stabilization) to Auto ISO. Most cameras you can cap the highest the ISO will go so 6400 is doable. You may need to run it through Topaz Noise reduction, which works great with new cameras. You want to turn on Stabilization to the highest setting (Sony lens and Nikon have 2 or 3 settings on the lens (3 for a Sony). If you use a mono pod you really need a gimbal head on it to shoot birds a fixed one will work for a situation where the bird is just sitting there Eagle eating lunch, etc. or just looking around. But when the action happens need to move quickly to track them. Also you want continuous Auto Focus and the fastest frames per second your camera will go, 10 frames per second is on the low end now days for BIF's. 20-30fps is kind of the birders happy spot now days and you will fill cards up very fast. A birder will have (2) 160gb or higher high speed cards in the camera with 4 more in their pocket. Focus selection just depends on where the bird is. In a tree with a bunch of branches in the way spot focus, on top of a pole a group shot would be best for when and if it takes off. Or for tracking a BIF.  

 

If you really want to get in to birding there are many youtubers that are good and very helpful. With that said most the ones I know shoot Sony or Nikon. 

[KYBOB]

Below are some examples where spot focusing is needed. the first three where taken hand held with a 200-600mm lens, Shutter speed 2000, F 6.3, Auto ISO (range was 500 to 2000) the 4th one of the dove with green moss on his shoulder was with the 100-400. The last one is with the 100-400 w/ 1.4 teleconverter. Pierces will be interested in that these we all taken with the A7RV. Most are 100% crops. It is just an amazing camera.  

[gregma60]

13 hours ago, KYBOB said:

Below are some examples where spot focusing is needed. the first three where taken hand held with a 200-600mm lens, Shutter speed 2000, F 6.3, Auto ISO (range was 500 to 2000) the 4th one of the dove with green moss on his shoulder was with the 100-400. The last one is with the 100-400 w/ 1.4 teleconverter. Pierces will be interested in that these we all taken with the A7RV. Most are 100% crops. It is just an amazing camera.  

 

Amazing!  I figured from what I've read and youtubed, spot for still, and area for motion.  I was planning on using the center 9 focus points for motion.  On a cannon you can choose right 9, left 9, center 9, center 15, or all 35.

 

-gregma

[KYBOB]

Practicing with more birds taken tonight with Sony A1 and my new toy a Sony 600mm/f4, Shutter 2500, f4, ISO 2000 (hand held) And to get the BIF's was 30fps. A little sharpness has been lost uploading to CC. Yes bird photography is an addiction and the need for speed is a must. (fast glass, unlimited buffer, fast cards, fast focusing, high rates of frames per second) Bird photography has advanced so much in the past couple of years.  

Edited March 30, 2023 by KYBOB

[gregma60]

2 hours ago, KYBOB said:

Practicing with more birds taken tonight with Sony A1 and my new toy a Sony 600mm/f4, Shutter 2500, f4, ISO 2000 (hand held) And to get the BIF's was 30fps. A little sharpness has been lost uploading to CC. Yes bird photography is an addiction and the need for speed is a must. (fast glass, unlimited buffer, fast cards, fast focusing, high rates of frames per second) Bird photography has advanced so much in the past couple of years.

Those are some great shots!  Hope to get out this saturday to take some pics.  Still looking online for good canon settings.  I have several I need to see how they work.  2000, lowest fstop, auto ISO.

 

-gregma

[KYBOB]

9 hours ago, gregma60 said:

Those are some great shots!  Hope to get out this saturday to take some pics.  Still looking online for good canon settings.  I have several I need to see how they work.  2000, lowest fstop, auto ISO.

 

-gregma

Practice and practice is the best before you go on a trip just to get it down where the controls are and how the camera functions with different metering and focusing options. I do a lot just from my front porch and some bird feeders. Better to do that than get on a trip and miss chances for some great memories to bring back home. Post some of your shots from this weekend. 

[gregma60]

2 hours ago, KYBOB said:

Practice and practice is the best before you go on a trip just to get it down where the controls are and how the camera functions with different metering and focusing options. I do a lot just from my front porch and some bird feeders. Better to do that than get on a trip and miss chances for some great memories to bring back home. Post some of your shots from this weekend. 

Will do for sure.  Not a lot of birds in the remote place I live, but hopefully will be able to go somewhere with some eagles and other birds and hope they are out.

 

-gregma