Victress2007

It's hard to get there on a cruise, but...

Do any of you have favorite, iconic shots? Places you like to go to get the night shot at Bellagio or the lights of the city? I'll be there a few days and I'm not much of a gambler. :)

Thanks,

Vic

I'm a fan of the Sony HX90V - or almost any version of the HX__V cameras. An earlier version of that is what restarted my interest in photography. I think it's a great beginner camera and there are manual settings to play with as you get more interested and more advanced.

Taken with the HX9V in 2012.

Vic

We took a ride up to Mt Hood and Timberline Lodge yesterday. Maybe we weren't at the top of the world, but we were at the top of Oregon!

Need some trees?

People were still skiing on the 1st of Sept. They close after this weekend until they get some new snow, usually they open again in Nov.

Vic

You can't go wrong with Italy and you have to work hard to take a bad picture in Venice. We've been to Venice 4 times and stayed at least 2 nights every time. Staying in town and wandering around after the crowds have left is magical.

And we're going back next spring!

Vic

Not a cruise, but one of my favorite trips has been to Yellowstone.

Architecture? Europe... This was before a 12 day Italy and Greece cruise.

Then you have the British Isles 12 day...

So basically for me, anywhere I haven't been and many places I already have.

Vic

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I really am not impressed with the 24-240, but I love the 18-135. I'll have to keep an eye out,

Vic

That's all very well and good for a new camera. But I'm very happy with my 6300 - what I want is more lens choice, specifically something to replace my ff 24-240. When will THAT happen!! ( A good problem to have).

Vic

A great week at the beach, even if it didn't include a cruise ship!

Vic

Sony mirrorless cameras have a viewfinder. Brace away!

Vic

I sold the 18-105 and bought the 18-135. It is smaller and lighter and sharper than the 18105. I'm hoping they bring out something in the 200-250 mm range in the near future because I'm not all that happy with the full frame 24-240 on my 6300. I bought it used). I've been at the beach this week - no good meteors or lightning storms, but lots of new family pictures.

Vic

The only thing I didn't enjoy in the Med is that the excursions were so far away from the ports. It seemed like we were spending a lot of time getting to where we were going. So if I did it again I would make sure to plan at least 1/2 of the ports with very little or no traveling time.

Vic

Looking for recommendations regarding British Isles cruise for summer/fall of 2019. Looking at NCL Spirit and Crown Princess because I like their itineraries. NCL has the best deal, I think, but the ship is rated lower than the Princess ship- but maybe that's not a big deal. Princess stops in Paris, NCL has one less "at sea" day. Thoughts and advice much appreciated! :)

We were on the Spirit fall of 2017 and I really like the ship. We were in an aft balcony cabin and were able to walk out to the back bar and up to the buffet easily. We enjoyed sitting aft and watching the world go by. It was in October, so there were few children using the pool in the back.

Vic

I completely agree with the above comments - but I guess it depends what you want to see - yes a cruise is ideal for those places you mentioned (and yes I drive from the Midlands to the North-East regularly so know how far it is :eek:) however for many of the main tourist locations - Stratford and Cotswolds, Stonehenge, London, York, even Cardiff, Edinburgh and Glasgow then I think land based makes sense

 

Its lovely that we all have choices to do such things

A cruise enables you to unpack once and leave the "driving" to the cruise line. We just did the 12 day NCL cruise in May and it was great. We did spend 3 days pre - and 2 days post- cruise in London. One of our favorite excursions was debarkation day, we took the Salisbury, Stonehenge, Windsor tour and got dropped off close to our hotel. Salisbury was amazing!

as was Stonehenge

We had amazingly good weather too!

Edinburgh and Glasgow were also great, but we had spent a week in Edinburgh before.

Vic

Exactly. We've been on the west coast for 9+ out of the last 11 years. A short stint in Arizona, where there are some incredibly powerful storms, but I wouldn't be outside taking pictures in them! Texas usually provides some good opportunities in the summertime. Is the star trail app easy to use?

Vic

I'm headed for a gulf coast beach next week! While we've had a very warm summer in the northwest this year the beaches here will NEVER be gulf beaches. :p

I'm hoping to catch some Perseid meteor showers on that nice dark beach and maybe some thunderstorm shots (forecast is hot and humid with a chance of thunderstorms almost every day).

I'll have my a6000 and a6300 with me. I understand a nice wide lens is what I want for stars, I have a 12-18 wide lens or my favorite 18-135. My tripod and remote will be with me too.

Any suggestions, tips, ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Vic

If you like photos you should check out the Photos and Camera Discussions board.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=118

Vic

We enjoyed it, but one and done. It was warm and stuffy in the cabin and cool and wet on the stern. We stayed outside once the safety briefing was over. Our sailing was sold out. Wear jeans and bring a water resistant jacket with pockets, we both had sweatshirts, which was ok, but my hands got really cold on the way back.

If you are staying in town that night Sirens is open late and serves pub food until 10 pm. Their clam chowder hit the spot to warm us up!

Have fun,

Vic

Keeping a bird in flight in the frame is tough enough, but we were also on a bobbing boat! The eagles stayed near shore and that was 200 yards away. I'm just glad I got a couple good puffin pictures.

These are cropped quite a bit.

We're happy with the trip but I don't think I would do it again unless there was a surge in puffins there for some reason.

Vic

I rented the 100-400 lens. I had no time to practice with it other than a few still pictures in the back yard. It is the first time I have ever used anything approaching that size lens. We were on a 75 foot (a guess) whale watching boat, the seas were pretty calm. The closest we were allowed to Protection Island is 200 yards. Luckily, the puffins and other birds swim out to sea. There were a ton of birders onboard and lots of glass.

I'm really glad I rented the lens for this trip. I kind of wish I had thought to shoot in raw and jpeg, but I didn't. I took 900 pictures in 3 hours and went through 1 battery. I mostly shot on sports setting because I wanted to get something usable. :D

The trip left a little late at about 6:15 pm.

This is cropped and adjusted

A rhinoceros auklet

and the orca bonus!

All in all a great trip and I'm glad we did it. Lots of eagles, especially juveniles (I'm still trying to figure out if any of them were golden eagles), seals, an elephant seal, deer and other birds. Even a couple of cruise ships!

Bliss on the far right.

Vic

Budget and size preference are key factors. I just took a business trip to Chicago and since I was trying to keep mass to a minimum (and trying one of those self-imposed minimalist challenges), I only packed my A6300, the 7artisans 25mm f/1.8 and the Rokinon 12mm f/2. The shot below is my vote for starting with a sub $1000 ILC like the A6300 and move to full-frame if it turns out you love using a "real" camera.

 

Sony A6300 - Rokion 12mm f/2

 

This is based on budget considerations, maybe 80%. The other 20% is the fact that while I would marry my A73 with the 24-105 G if it were legal, I still really, really like my A6300 for it's tiny form factor and the fact that it punches way above its weight class in performance.

 

Admittedly, if you mount a truly effective lens like the 18-105G, the difference between the A6300 and the full-frame A73 isn't as significant as one would think.

 

 

There's about a pound difference there and the A73 is about as state of the art as you could ask for but the price difference equipped as seen in the photo is about $1700.

 

Dave

Budget and size preference are key factors. When dipping my toe into the camera market I wouldn't spend the extra money. I'm somewhere between cheap and extravagant. I'm really happy with the a6300 right now and see no need to go to the full sensor. Maybe someday I'll say "it's only an extra $1000" when it comes to a camera, but I hope not!

Vic

Ok! Lots of great input here.

 

My local camera shop has a pre-owned 6500 with the 18-105 G lens for $1200. It seems like a decent deal. How much will I regret not getting the new kit with the 18-135??

I sold the 18-105 and my kit lenses to get the 18-135 and I would do it again. The 18-135 is smaller, lighter and a better lens overall.

Oops, didn't read 'til the end, enjoy!

Vic

Hmmmmm. Now I’ve been reading a bunch and I sort of like the idea of the Mirrorless. I’d like to spend around $1,000ish for the camera and a lens for Alaska. Not as married to the Canon this morning.

I'm a fan of the a6x00 series. And much like you I have gotten into photography over the last few years, especially as we travel. Go to Best Buy and pick up the cameras they have there, feel the weight and the fit in your hand. If you go with a Sony I would buy the 18-135 lens package. I'm not sure about Best Buy (sometimes they do match offers) but Adorama and B&H both have the package and both sell on Amazon. (Could I get any more names in there?!)

Vic

Thank you, everyone. I have spent hours reading and researching, DH and I have come to the conclusion that for budget considerations we will stick to the two lens kit that we have with the initial purchase for our European trip and Transatlantic next month. Alaska will not be until May of next year, so we will have 7 1/2 months in between. We will probably either purchase a lens converter or rent a lens for that.

 

All of your advice has been invaluable. And yes, I have a lot of playing with my camera ahead! I think a trip into the mountains to escape the Phoenix heat s in order soon, before we go to Europe - with my new camera in tow!

If you manage to take that mountain vacation, look into renting the 18-135 lens for that period of time. I sold my two kit lenses to buy the 18-135 and I'm really happy with it. It does away with any need to change lenses and it is smaller and lighter than the 50-200. It doesn't have the reach, but it is a much better lens and in Europe I rarely find the need for reach. My kit now is 4 lenses with 2 bodies. The 12-25, 18-135, 24-240 and a 35 prime lens (which I'm still learning how to use for best effect). It has taken me a couple years to put it all together. I also rent occasionally (but it's a little dangerous because I sometimes end up buying).

Vic

I have both the A6000 and A6300. I would highly recommend buying the new 18-135 lens. In Europe you could use only this lens and be perfectly happy with your shots. I kept that lens on my 6300 for the entire British Isles cruise and I love it. On my 6000 I switched between a wide angle 12-18 and my longer 24-240 that I bought used. The wide angle stayed on most of the time, I only used the bigger lens when trying to take porpoise shots and we barely saw them, much less got pictures of them. In Hawaii spring of 2017 I had the 6000 with the 24-240 for whale watching and it was plenty. I bought the 24-240 used and I've always thought it was a little soft, it could be me though. :)

I am going on a bird watching evening boat ride next week and I have rented the 100-400 from lens rentals. I've been practicing taking pictures of birds for a few weeks. We're playing with the idea of an Alaska cruise next year (we already have a spring Europe cruise booked) and depending on the excursions I would either stick with the 24-240 or rent a bigger lens.

Every time I took out the 6000 since I bought it I told my husband, "I love this camera!" I hope you do too. Yes, I went up to the 6300 and love it even more, but it took a couple years and it was because I was ready for a second body.

Have fun!

Vic

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V