Alaskan Cruise - Photo Equipment

Hi all -

I know this has been discussed before, but we leave on our Alaska cruise (roundtrip Seattle; Juneau, Glacier Bay, Sitka, Ketchikan, Victoria) in two days, so I hope you can indulge my questions!

I'm debating what photo equipment I should bring along with me. I never bring my DSLR on vacation due to a few reasons, but I've decided to bring my DSLR and a couple of big lenses (one a 150-600mm zoom) on this cruise. I'm stuck on whether to bring the monopod or tripod along (or both!). How common is it for cruisers to have a tripod? I want to be respectful of my fellow cruisers. My thought is to use the monopod on ship (more to help with the weight of my setup than for steadying the camera) and the tripod (with gimbal head) on the land excursions for wildlife/bird photography.

Of course, the way the weather is looking, I'll lug all of this equipment with me and wind up not using it much; I'm not crazy about using my good equipment in heavy rain...

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks,

Frank

There's an entire, recent thread devoted to a discussion of whether to bring a tripod, monopod, or neither on an Alaska cruise.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2245112&highlight=tripod

Have a great trip!

(I can't imagine why you wouldn't take a DSLR to Alaska if you already own one.)

If you are in a balcony then bring both the tripod and monopod. I used the tripod w/gimbled head on my balcony. Mostly use the monopod elsewhere when needed.

If I've planned to photograph something and am not on a group tour then I have taken and used the tripod.

Have fun...

I hope next May or June to get back to AK.

framer

Thanks for the responses guys.

Turtles - thanks for the link to the other thread.

Framer - Yes, we're in a cabin with a balcony. I was thinking the same thought. Do you use the gimbal head on your monopod as well, or a ball head?

The monopod is endlessly useful. I've used mine on our balcony, from open areas on the ship, on excursions, etc. I normally use a monopod head (one-axis pivot) for versatility, but had attempted to use the gimbal head on the monopod at about the same time that my (rented) 600 died, so I can't really tell you how well that worked out.

My personal opinion is that most (group) land excursions expect to keep moving at a pace that'd make a tripod a royal PITB. We did two private tours on our recent cruise, and both of those were much more suitable for tripod use than anything else I've done.

On our recent cruise, I took two tripods, two monopods, a gimbal head, a ball head, and two monopod heads. One of the tripods collected dust, but part of that was the weather leaving Ketchikan which made whale watching from the ship a no-go.

The monopod is endlessly useful. I've used mine on our balcony, from open areas on the ship, on excursions, etc. I normally use a monopod head (one-axis pivot) for versatility, but had attempted to use the gimbal head on the monopod at about the same time that my (rented) 600 died, so I can't really tell you how well that worked out.

 

My personal opinion is that most (group) land excursions expect to keep moving at a pace that'd make a tripod a royal PITB. We did two private tours on our recent cruise, and both of those were much more suitable for tripod use than anything else I've done.

 

On our recent cruise, I took two tripods, two monopods, a gimbal head, a ball head, and two monopod heads. One of the tripods collected dust, but part of that was the weather leaving Ketchikan which made whale watching from the ship a no-go.

Yep love a mono pod maybe the most useful accessory known to man.

On our recent cruise, I took two tripods, two monopods, a gimbal head, a ball head, and two monopod heads. One of the tripods collected dust, but part of that was the weather leaving Ketchikan which made whale watching from the ship a no-go.

I would pack a digital luggage scale.... just to make sure all that equipment doesn't rack up too much weight surcharges on flights.

I use the Kirk MPA-2 single axis monopod head. IMHO one of the best for a monopod. You can fine tune the tension to your liking. I'm using it mostly with a 400mm f/2.8 and it tames the beast.

http://www.kirkphoto.com/Kirk_MPA-2_Monopod_Head.html

framer