Preparation for the Cruise of a lifetime: The Last Frontier

austriker · Apr 5, 2012

Alaska.

Ookay, so my title might be a slight exageration or a hyperbole. But Im stoked. No way around that.

I have never been but love the outdoors and my family and I are headed on this cruise for 7 days in mid-may. I am also a photographer (ahem, duh) and thus have always wanted to visit the great state of alaska for its beauty and photo-prowess.

For those who live up there and/or have traveled I come for your wise counsel. I have been reading and searching up before this great voyage. Thus I am aware it is rainy and cold and will definitely be prepared in that regard (my friends call me the jacket master). More importantly is that my photo satchel is properly furnished before this gran undertaking..

Here are my thoughts, I bought an external 1.5 TB and will bring my laptop. I also purchased an extra battery and nikon charger (I have 2 nikon batteries, and 2 non-nikon (ie non-reliable) batteries). Thus memory and battery is taken care of I think. You can see my current quiver in my sig.

The things I have been considering to acquire:
-a telephoto extender for my 80-200 f/2.8 (should I look for 1.7x or 2x): I did some research and seems this is the proper 2x model for my telephoto
-CP and graduated ND filters for the telephoto and kit lens
-35mm f/1.8 (recently sold my 50mm 1.8, not because of this trip, but because I have always found the 50 too 'zoomed' in for my portrait taste.
-AF-S -Zoom-Nikkor ED 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G IF DX VR (to replace my kit lens and give me more range; also more something I have thought about recently not necessarily b/c of this trip)
-wide angle lens (Tokina 12-24 or Tokina 11-16 f2.8): again I have craved a wide angle for a year or so. Itd be neat for the cruise boat/fam shots I think

My budget is probably around a grand or so. I definitely understand I cant get all (barely one) of those lenses/gear.. Luckily Ive been employed at a full time job since graduating college and have some funds. (Unluckily though that means my shooting has been sparse. Which saddens me. Also I currently in progress of a great storage switchover so my files are quite unorganized).

Please chime all you wise photo sages. Where should my priorities lie? I know it would be helpful for an itinerary of locations- I will attempt to acquire that.

Cheers!

Trever1t · Apr 5, 2012

I think you're on the right boat with a Wide Angle and that Tokina is highly regarded. I've never been there myself but can imagine the wonderful views you will have!

Railphotog · Apr 5, 2012

Might help if you mention which type of cruise to Alaska you will be taking. There's the Inside Passage ones and longer ones farther up the coast to Anchorage. My wife and I have been on the Inside Passage cruise twice, liked the first one so much we did it again three years later. Neither of us are interested in cruises to southern destinies.

There are so many options on the cruises, but of course you don't really have a lot of time at any of the locations. On both of our trips we went at the end of June/first of July, and the weather was fabulous - warm and sunny with only a wee bit of rain. Just like being back home here in eastern Canada.

Can't offer too much insight on photography, as I opted for simplicity with a superzoom point and shoot. Worked out fine for me.

Good luck!

TheInformer · Apr 6, 2012

Dude, I would definetly pick up the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Camerashttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001S2PPT0it is an excellent portrait lens. Not to mention it is beyond sharp

Definetly a must have!

Also, the Tokina 12-24mm f/4 AT-X Pro DX Zoom Digital Lens for Nikon AF Mount is a nice alternative to the more expensive 11-16. Getting this wide angle would be great for the cruise and would allow you to get some beautiful landscape shots. *Drool* I want a wide angle again

This would also leave enough for you to get the Nikon TC-20E II (2.0x) Teleconverter AF-S for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras and have a few bucks to spare

Sounds like it will be a great time!

austriker · Apr 10, 2012

Thanks for the feedback. I just picked up a new 35mm f/1.8 off craigslist and it is great!

Any others out there with help?

I did find our itinerancy:

juneau arrive at 1pm
glacier bay
sitka arrive at 7am
ketchikan arrive at 7am
victoria BC arrive at 6pm

Markw · Apr 10, 2012

Well, I don't know much about your itinerary, but the Tokina 11-16 is probably the best ultra wide zoom ever produced for a DX camera. I highly recommend that one. From there, the 16-85 would complete your focal range, and is also a great lens. The Sigma 17-50mm F/2.8 OS is a spectacular lens as well in that regard. The TCE-II will work well, just don't expect superb AF speed because it'll bump your lens to an F/5.6 constant aperture. Shouldn't be too big of a problem, it it's not great. The only other things I could recommend are nixing the D300 for a D300s or even D90 (same sensor) so you can take videos on your trip. But, I'm sure you have a video camera. And make sure you post photos here so we all can see!

Mark

DiskoJoe · Apr 10, 2012

Get the wide angle and the teleconverter. You will need to wide angle for landscape shots you will definitely be taking. Alaska is gorgeous. The teleconverter will be handy is you happen on some wild life. This way you can get the extra range you will need and still be able to shoot at f5.6 at least.

Now I did not see any mention of a tripod. If you have one take it. If you do not have one then go get one now. This way you can do panoramic images and up your game a lot. Plus it will give you a steadiness that would dramatically increase the quality of your landscape shots and helpful for shots where you might me at the high end of the range with the zoom. You want to get good shots the first time because you cant go back easily and it will be cold! Shivering = vibration! Plus if you get a trigger you can shove your hands in your pockets and trigger the camera remotely. A trigger is pretty cheap and will prevent additional shake. Or at least use the timer. Poormans solution to now trigger and reducing shake.

austriker · Apr 11, 2012

Thanks for the tips. At this point I am quite sure I will rent the teleconverter and buy the 11-16 wide angle. Just waiting for my next paycheck to give me a buffer.

Also I need to buy some CP filters, which means time to research who sells the highest quality filters! I have read it might be helpful to get ND filters for nature (long exposure is easier) but not sure how relevant that would be on a cruise in alaska?..

DiskoJoe, I do own a tripod. Its about medium quality (heavy, not a nice super light one) but will get the trick done. Sorry I didnt mention that it. Oh and good call on the remote, been looking for one for awhile. Cant forget about that.

For the teleconverter- should I go for a 1.7x instead so I can shoot with a larger aperture and thus faster AF and shutter? Hoping someone who has been to Alaska can chime about if the sacrifice in range would be worth the extra stop or two.

Will definitely be posting pics up when upon returning.

DiskoJoe · Apr 11, 2012

austriker said:
Thanks for the tips. At this point I am quite sure I will rent the teleconverter and buy the 11-16 wide angle. Just waiting for my next paycheck to give me a buffer.

Also I need to buy some CP filters, which means time to research who sells the highest quality filters! I have read it might be helpful to get ND filters for nature (long exposure is easier) but not sure how relevant that would be on a cruise in alaska?..

DiskoJoe, I do own a tripod. Its about medium quality (heavy, not a nice super light one) but will get the trick done. Sorry I didnt mention that it. Oh and good call on the remote, been looking for one for awhile. Cant forget about that.

For the teleconverter- should I go for a 1.7x instead so I can shoot with a larger aperture and thus faster AF and shutter? Hoping someone who has been to Alaska can chime about if the sacrifice in range would be worth the extra stop or two.

Will definitely be posting pics up when upon returning.

I would go for the extra range and use the tripod. This will steady the camera and you can still get pretty fast shots. The 1.7 would probably only get you an extra half f stop. Not really much difference. Also sigma makes a 10-20 that is pretty awesome. You can get the 4-5.6 cheaper then the tokina or get the f3.5 for the same prices as the tokina. That one mm does make a difference and you only sacrifice one fstop which does not make that big a difference with a wide angle since most of the time it would be on the tripod and doing longer exposure.

Markw · Apr 11, 2012

That's true. But the Sigma has significantly more distortion and CA than the Tokina. I owned the F/4-5.6 version before the Tokina, and the Tokina DEFINITELY wins, hands down, at least for me. As for the extra 1mm, I mean it matters, but not really. Take 2 shots, stitch together, and get a 270º view or something of the sort.

Mark

austriker · Apr 11, 2012

Great help guys- appreciate it.

I was digging into filters a bit and seems B+W is the best. Without getting to distracted from my original question, has any one used 'step up rings' ? I saw them mentioned in an CP filter review on amazon. I was thinking about this Amazon.com: B+W 77mm Kaesemann Circular Polarizer with Multi-Resistant Coating: Camera & Photo CP filter (which is $$ but worth it sounds like) in 77mm for my telephoto then using step rings to put the CP on my kit lens and (to be bought) wide angle .. Sound like a plan [stan]?

bogeyguy · Apr 11, 2012

Why would you want to drag your laptop along. Such a hassle. Take camera memory cards. Just returned from the Panama Canal, used three 4G CF's. 1 strictly for raw photos and the other 2 for jpg. Took about 800 photos in 10 days, with memory left to spare. You want to pack light with your camera gear if your going to be doing shore excursions that involve a lot of walking/hiking.

austriker · Apr 12, 2012

bogeyguy said:
Why would you want to drag your laptop along. Such a hassle. Take camera memory cards. Just returned from the Panama Canal, used three 4G CF's. 1 strictly for raw photos and the other 2 for jpg. Took about 800 photos in 10 days, with memory left to spare. You want to pack light with your camera gear if your going to be doing shore excursions that involve a lot of walking/hiking.

I guess the idea behind the laptop is so I can have a backup of the photos while on the cruise boat. Sounds like we are going to be using the boat as a home base and venturing inland only to return to the boat nightly. I read it on another thread about similar adventures. I like your thought though; it would be more weight. And it sounds like their aint a lot of room on the boats. I don't have a ton of CF cards (4GB 300x, 8 GB 133x, 2GB SanDisk ExtremeIII), so perhaps that will be enough? And your post brings up another points I have to consider... I have always shot JPG (I didnt have enough space on my computers, but now I do, for RAW) but perhaps it would behove me to shoot RAW for this trip. Although much like UV filters I feel that the RAW v JPG is an endless debate that we shall carry to the graves... Hmmm..

Tony S · Apr 12, 2012

First, take the laptop. Not so much for storage , but for those down times when you are kicking back and looking at the images. By doing so you may just find that you messed something up shooting and you can make the adjustments for the next outing. I never regretted taking the laptop on any cruise, and was really happy to have it on our 21 day Panama Canal trip. Second, instead of renting a tele converter , rent a longer piece of glass. You won't regret it when it comes time for that long bear on the beach, goat on the hill side, or eagle with a fish shot. There is too much image quality comprimise when using a 2x TC, and not enough reach with something shorter.