Going to Yellowstone NP

I'll just pretend it's a land cruise so it fits in a Cruise Critic forum.:cool: This will be in mid-September.

So, we'd be in the park 3 days, take one "Photo Safari" and one evening wildlife tour. I have the Sony a6000, with the 18-55 and 55-250 kit lenses. If I only get one more lens, what should it be? The 70-300?

I would also bring my Sony HX50V which has a 30x zoom, but of course not nearly the capability.

I do have a somewhat decent tripod that I have had for years.

Wildlife and landscapes would be the "focus" of the pictures (sorry).

Anyone been there? Any advice?

Thanks,

Vic

We've been back from Alaska and NW Washington for about 2 weeks now. I had three basic lenses that went with the A6000 almost everywhere. I had the 2 kits lens you have plus the often-recommended Rokinon 12mm f2.0. In sorting through pictures, I used the ultra-wide 12mm quite often. The other 2 lens were certainly used as well, but it was a good 3 lens kit. The 12mm covered lower-light (indoors, museums) and very wide panoramic landscape shots.

2 outdoor examples from our Misty Fjord flightseeing trip: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=50212963&postcount=2

2 indoor examples at Caribou Crossing taxidermy museum: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=50168213&postcount=22

Since you already have the 55-210 for telephoto, my vote would be for an ultra-wide lens. There were places longer would have been better, but the 210 was reasonable.

The Rokinon is in the $300-$400 range, but it is a manual lens. The sony 10-18mm e-mount lens would be nice, but they run $550 (used, if lucky) to over $700.

can't grab a shot with that HX50V something is wrong

My instinct was to go with a wider lens rather than longer. Although I am not familiar with Sony and what is available for it, the Rokinon 12mm F2.0 sounds like a nice lens to compliment what you already have.

You already have a 55-250 thus a 70-300 doesn't make much sense as you are only gaining 50 on the long end. I'd go wider or longer (depending on what you like to shoot)

I misspoke (mistyped?) it's a 55-210 lens, not 55-250.

I'm checking out all the recommendations on amazon and adorama, thanks.

Vic

If I only get one more lens, what should it be? The 70-300?

 

Vic

Been to Yellowstone and spent four days there in July. The old cliche is that in Yellowstone, it's always winter except for the 4th of July. They lied!

Great photographic place. If you get a chance, also go to the Great Tutons NP, which is only a short distance away.

My 70mm-300mm came last night and my first reaction was the lens weighs a ton! But Justin gets great results with it - and if I can get 50% of what he does, I'll be happy. (The weight is compared to my 55-210MM).

I think that if I had to go to Yellowstone today, it would be with the 12mm and regular kit lens unless you do get the 70mm-300mm and get rid of the 55-210mm.

OP: what a timely thread! We are going to the Tetons and Yellowstone later this summer. Like you I have the Sony a6000 with the two kit lenses, but I also have the Sony 18-200mm lens as a walking around lens. I will probably take that rather than the 55-210 to minimize changing lenses (especially around the geysers and on a float trip we're doing on the Snake River). I do have the Rokinon 12mm lens that folks have mentioned above, and really enjoy it. I'm glad to see people recommending it for this trip.

After we booked the trip, I had a bit of fun Googling "tips on photographing geysers," and just about everyone's number one piece of advice was: be sure you are upwind of the geyser. :) (Obvious of course when you read it, but I suspect easy to forget to think about this in the excitement of the moment.)

Have a great trip!

PS: I also have a Lumix FZ200 superzoom which is going along as my backup camera and is a pretty darn good camera in its own right.

Now I am think about buying a 24-240 lens as a walking around lens. I think that would minimize changing lenses. Then it is a question of a wide angle lens. Anyone use the 10-18? I am so used to some kind of a zoom, from compact zooms, I think I would hate one that doesn't zoom at all!

Then again I don't have the 16-50 and if I get the underwater case (for next year's trip to Hawaii) I will want to have that.

Look what you all started!:D

Thanks for all the advice, luckily I have plenty of time to figure it out.

Vic

Been to Yellowstone and spent four days there in July. The old cliche is that in Yellowstone, it's always winter except for the 4th of July. They lied!

 

Great photographic place. If you get a chance, also go to the Great Tutons NP, which is only a short distance away.

 

My 70mm-300mm came last night and my first reaction was the lens weighs a ton! But Justin gets great results with it - and if I can get 50% of what he does, I'll be happy. (The weight is compared to my 55-210MM).

 

I think that if I had to go to Yellowstone today, it would be with the 12mm and regular kit lens unless you do get the 70mm-300mm and get rid of the 55-210mm.

I think you meant the Grand Tetons NP. :)

I bought a used FE 24-240 yesterday at the Portland photo store.

The main reason is so I don't have to change lenses out on a trail. Every time I change lenses the sensor gets dirty. This happens no matter where I change them. It even happened yesterday in the photo store (although the lens may have been the culprit). The secondary reason was because I could hold it, put it on my camera and play with it before I bought it. Yes it is big, but the convenience far outweighs the size.

Now my plan is to buy a 16 mm prime, they have them on sale in several places.

I'm keeping an eye on the "prime" sale coming up next week!

Vic

I was at both Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons last summer. I loved the cold weather in the mornings ( 35-45 degrees and warmed up to mid 60's to an occasional low 70's) that's great hiking weather. Wide angles are good as there are a lot of large mountains to cover, and definitely needed near grand prismatic springs. Also did the sunset float trip on the snake river. It was beautiful, saw lasts of animals , but needed the zoom for that. ( Eagles, moose, ect.. ). Zoom is also needed to get good pics the wild life, you DO NOT want to get too close. I don't have a Sony (yet) but used a Tokina 16-300 on my Nikon . I don't like carrying heavy camera equipment while hiking, as you will also need room in your back packs for layers of clothes, water bottles , and food. Lamar valley and Mamouth hot springs were my favorites.

We're now back from Yellowstone and the Tetons; what incredible beauty! The thermal areas of Yellowstone are other-worldly. As I noted in my post above earlier this summer, I have a Sony a6000. The lens that was on the camera for this trip was the 18-200 mm, as changing lenses around the thermal features and on our float trip along the Snake River wasn't really practical.

During our beautiful float trip on the Snake, we were very privileged to have seen two pair of adult bald eagles, sitting about 70 feet up in the pine trees. Just to give people a sense of the 18-200 mm lens, here's one of those eagles. This is a crop from the original image, in which the eagle is a small speck. (Photo taken from the moving boat of course.)

(photo by turtles06)

Back from the Yellowstone trip! I took the 24-240 lens and the wide angle 10-18. Thanks to everyone who helped with advice!

I brought my HX50V as a backup for wildlife and it worked ok, but the pictures just aren't as sharp as I am now used to. :)

September seems to be a good time to see wildlife there and the weather was still good.

This was with the 24-240, I put it on for the Wildlife tour.

Wide angle.

It was a wonderful trip, much different from our usual cruise - not nearly as relaxing!

Vic

Looks great! I have it on my bucket list.

Back from the Yellowstone trip!

It was a wonderful trip, much different from our usual cruise - not nearly as relaxing!

Vic

Great shots!

In less than three weeks, we'll be on a cruise in Asia. Still debating about lenses. Probably will take (among two or three others) the 70-300mm. But when I last used it - for video - it was heavy! (3.5 pounds but then I am 83 and unsteady in any event!)

Hate to carry a monopod/tripod though.

Great shots. I love the one of the Big Horn Sheep. Did you get a chance to take in the spectacular scenery at Grand Teton National Park?

No, we didn't go down to the Tetons. We took our time in Yellowstone and were exhausted at the end of every day. We took 2 tours and those did backtrack over what we had done earlier. We went in to the park from the North. We flew to Bozeman, a direct 1.5 hour flight.

It looks like we'll be staying in Oregon for a while, so maybe we'll get to the Tetons another fall.

The big horn sheep were looking at us, as if to say, "really? another picture? You haven't gotten it already?!!"

Vic