Need suggestions for camera/binoculars for Alaskan cruise

[misty57]

I'm thinking that since this will likely be the most scenic and wildlife focused trip we have taken, I should upgrade my camera and pick up an additional set of binoculars.

My little canon slim camera does a terrible job, but I don't really want something with different lenses and such.

What magnification should I get for the binoculars? We are going on a seaplane glacier tour, dog sledding excursion, train excursion in Skagway, and an evening whale watching cruise.

Any suggestions would be appreciated! We are going toward the end of August and I'm starting to think about shopping.:D

Thanks so much!

[Aquahound]

I'm no camera expert. I can only tell you what I have that I'm really happy with. Check out the Nikon P520. It has a 42x optical zoom and takes excellent pictures, even at full zoom. It the best digital camera I've ever had and I'm really happy with it.

Edited June 8, 2014 by Aquahound

[Dizzneefan]

I'm also interested in the binocular suggestions. We do not sail until June of next year but considered buying my FIL /some for Fathers Day since he will be on the trip as well

[JimS4210]

Can't help with the camera suggestion, since I'm a camera geek. I'll be traveling with at least two bodies and multiple lenses. :) Probably way more than you'd like to bring with you...

 

I did just pick up a nice pair of binoculars for our upcoming Alaska cruise. They're Zen-Ray ZRS HD 8X42 binoculars, not too expensive. Most people seem to recommend against anything stronger than 8X since the motion of the ship plus hand shake make viewing more difficult.

 

http://www.zen-ray.com/shop/zrshd8x42.html

 

Jim

[misty57]

Excellent! Thanks so much for the suggestions. :)

[fishin' musician]

I find binoculars to be a highly personalized piece of a equipment and consider them a lifetime investment. I recommend going to a big sporting goods store like Dicks, Cabelas, Bass Pro Shop, Gander Mountain, etc... and try out as many as you can along with guidance of the resident expert.

[PNW Traveler]

When you are in a store comparing binoculars consider those with a stabilizer button function. They'll be more expensive, but will allow you a clear and stable view. They make a huge difference. We have several pairs of binoculars, most decent quality, but end up passing the stabilized binoculars back and forth between us because they are by far the best.

[nukesubsailor]

In Alaska I have used binoculars that have a 7-15 zoom and am quite satisfied. I scan with the 7 power setting until I detect something of interest and then zoom in on it.

Since I have a drawer full of Alaska photos and a bunch of Alaska photo files on my computer that I never look at, I will only be taking a pocket sized digital camera to Alaska with me this year. It is great for taking photos of friends. There are so many photos of scenery and wildlife to be found on the internet that are better than anything I have ever taken, I just don't want to bother with toting around a camera bag full of lenses etc anymore.

[Putterdude]

Binoculars vary greatly in quality depending on budget and can run from $49 to $500+. However, for most people they use binoculars once then they end up it the back of some closet so there is really no need to be mortgaging the farm for a set. You will find something adequate for about $100 and I always recommend sticking with something that is 7 to 8X in strength which is the marine standard. To go higher than that can pick up the motion of the ship and cause motion sickness. I have a $500+ set as I live very close to the water and use them a fair amount .... watching cruise ships going to Alaska and they are marine glasses and are 7X50.

[Cheryl H]

We all three took binoculars with us so we wouldn't be pestering each other to borrow. (me, my husband, and our son). However, we were so busy snapping photos and looking through our cameras using the zoom, that we sort of forgot to use the binoculars. Our whale watch tour with F.I.S.H.E.S. provided binoculars for our use, but there again, we were so busy snapping photos.... however, the binoculars we bought were really nice. My husband still uses his for star gazing. Mine were Nikon 7294 Monarch ATB 8x42. I forget what my husband purchased. Have fun on your trip!

Edited June 10, 2014 by Cheryl H

[cruisinlawn]

any suggestions for an inexpensive video cam? Anything decent $250-400 range out there? I'm totally clueless on these things. TIA

[siestatom]

I want to make a strong second to the recommendation for motion stabilizing binoculars. We took a pair on our first Alaska cruise 7 years ago and they were a game changer. With the stabilizing function you can go to a 10 power binoculars and the ship motion, plus your unstable grip will be eliminated. And if your target is moving! like wildlife! you really appreciate the difference. We would let others use these for a few minutes and everyone was blown away by the difference. There is one big caveat though - they are quite expensive. I just bought a new set from Canon (strong reviews) and they cost $500+

[plenox]

For video camera, we got GoPro Hero3. It is really convenient to use especially if you wear it with chest mount or head mount. The battery life is only drawback. It lasts for 1.5 hours in continuous shooting mode.

 

For binoculars, I use Zen-Ray SUMMIT and VISTA binoculars. Truly amazing how clear they are.

[rjeffler]

Just got back from Alaska on Sunday. We traveled with friends who used a Canon XS50 and I would HIGHLY recommend this one. It was very easy to use and had a wonderful zoom. We were at Exit Glacier in Seward and could see Dall Sheep at the top of the mountain. We only knew they were sheep as they were white dots that were moving. My friends was able to zoom in enough to see them. It was awesome. We will probably be trading in our Nikon for one of these. It was also very compact.

 

We had a Go Pro with us as well and the battery always died very quickly.

 

As for binoculars, we brought 2 pair with us and hardly used them. We also went with FISHES in ISP and used theirs but hardly ever got them out while on the boat.

[donaldsc]

Checkout http://www.dpreview.com/ or any of the other photosites. CC is great for cruise info; not so great for optics info.

 

As far as binoculars are concerned, most of the people who recommend binoculars on CC have never studied them or have compared many different binoculars before their purchase. Again, go to a binocular only site. A good one is

 

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2674

 

DON

[Giantfan13]

The first time we went to Alaska, I had a great Canon Powershot that took excellent pix.

 

Really depending on what you think of a camera and taking pix, like do you use it at home at all, really like taking pix, or are you just looking for something to tide you over for this trip.

Any decent point and shoot now a days will take pretty good pix. If you are really not into cameras, and are just looking for something for vacations, I would invest about $150 +/- a few dollars and you can get a decent camera for that with a decent zoom. If you enjoy taking pix and will use the camera more often, then go with something above $200-$250. You can't go wrong with any Canons. These cameras are so simple and take really terrific pixs.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[lafngas]

Is this a good camera for Alaska/

I recently bought this from Costco-loved the quality of my photos from Northern Italy.

I'm very new using this camera and have not used the second lens which is a zoom.

[JimAOk1945]

There is a great section here on Cruise Critic all about photography. You might be interested in doing some reading. Here is the link

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=118

 

Happy cruising. Alaska is amazing!

[knittingGal]

DH and I just came back from our 3rd Alaska cruise. We took two pairs of binoculars with us. One is 8x42 VISTA and the other one is 10x42 VISTA. Thanks to the great advice from this board, I am glad that we have both 8x and 10x so we can use 8x on the boat and 10x on shore. Both are excellent in clarity and brightness. We wear glasses and they work great. When we got them, there was a $15 discount coupon (SAVE15). Not sure if it is working.

[TanTien]

I want to make a strong second to the recommendation for motion stabilizing binoculars. We took a pair on our first Alaska cruise 7 years ago and they were a game changer. With the stabilizing function you can go to a 10 power binoculars and the ship motion, plus your unstable grip will be eliminated. And if your target is moving! like wildlife! you really appreciate the difference. We would let others use these for a few minutes and everyone was blown away by the difference. There is one big caveat though - they are quite expensive. I just bought a new set from Canon (strong reviews) and they cost $500+

 

I too have left my trusty compact 8x32 binoculars at home for my Canon 12x36 Image Stabilized. And yes for the price they should be water-proof, not just water resistant. But OH do my eyes thank me when I press that magic button! :)

 

All the shakiness is virtually gone and so if you're trying to catch a closeup on a whale or a pod of dolphins or even a grizzly on a rock, these really do the trick. Yes they are bulky (get a harness, please) and funky looking but boy they really come through for distant viewing. I've even taken them birding and they do very well.

 

If you can afford them, your eyes will thank you!

[starfish216]

We returned from our Alaska Cruise Tour last month. We were 7 adults and took 3 pair of Pentax 8 X 42 DCF CS Binoculars to share and they were hardly used. Everyone was too busy taking photos.

 

The camera I used was a Canon SX 50…. it has great zooming capability and takes great quality photos. It's easy to use …..I purchased this is a step up from my Canon SX260 point and shoot.

 

I was able to get a sequence of shots of a whale breaching and a glacier calving by using the sports mode feature. I am very happy with the photos considering the small boat we were on was bobbing up and down and the whale of course was moving. Here are some photos I got of a whale going up and then splashing down:

 

http://s989.photobucket.com/user/dragonfly94-2010/media/IMG_2482.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

http://s989.photobucket.com/user/dragonfly94-2010/media/IMG_2483.jpg.html?sort=3&o=3

http://s989.photobucket.com/user/dragonfly94-2010/media/IMG_2484.jpg.html?sort=3&o=7

http://s989.photobucket.com/user/dragonfly94-2010/media/IMG_2486.jpg.html?sort=3&o=5

http://s989.photobucket.com/user/dragonfly94-2010/media/IMG_2487.jpg.html?sort=3&o=4

http://s989.photobucket.com/user/dragonfly94-2010/media/IMG_2489.jpg.html?sort=3&o=6

 

Since I was creating a digital photo scrapbook I cropped all the photos just to show the whale. I also photo enhanced copies for some more vivid color (the day was cloudy, foggy and drizzling). I was doing 6 photos across a two page spread.

 

Here is what one of the originals look liked. The color is accurate it's exactly what it was like while whale watching.

 

http://s989.photobucket.com/user/dragonfly94-2010/media/IMG_2486-1.jpg.html?sort=3&o=5

 

I also got a glacier calving while in Hubbard Glacier…..5-6 shots falling and then a few of the splash.

[kittercat85]

Beautiful pictures! It's the 50 HS camera right? I have the same one and it captured some amazing photographs on our cruise. I am so jealous of your whale pictures though. The most anyone wanted to give us on our cruise/wildlife excursion were some nice tail shots.

[4cats,1dog]

I'm no camera expert. I can only tell you what I have that I'm really happy with. Check out the Nikon P520. It has a 42x optical zoom and takes excellent pictures, even at full zoom. It the best digital camera I've ever had and I'm really happy with it.

 

I too had the Nikon P520, I took Amazing pictures.

[April7901]

Another "ease of use" vote for the Canon SX50. I've had it for almost a year and found it to be an outstanding camera. It's what I'll be taking to Alaska in May, but I've found it incredibly versatile and excellent even at full zoom.

 

If you do get it, I highly encourage you to sit down with the book a little and sort out some of the options. There are a lot of very easy to use functions that do NOT require knowledge of manual settings that make huge differences in your pictures. Particularly in Alaska, and particularly near the glaciers, if there's a lot of sunlight, a few simple features can be the difference between a pretty picture and a gorgeous picture.

 

I'd also encourage you to think about a UV filter. They're not expensive, but also make a big difference, particularly with blue skies and scenery.

[TanTien]

Another "ease of use" vote for the Canon SX50. I've had it for almost a year and found it to be an outstanding camera. It's what I'll be taking to Alaska in May, but I've found it incredibly versatile and excellent even at full zoom.

 

If you do get it, I highly encourage you to sit down with the book a little and sort out some of the options. There are a lot of very easy to use functions that do NOT require knowledge of manual settings that make huge differences in your pictures. Particularly in Alaska, and particularly near the glaciers, if there's a lot of sunlight, a few simple features can be the difference between a pretty picture and a gorgeous picture.

 

I'd also encourage you to think about a UV filter. They're not expensive, but also make a big difference, particularly with blue skies and scenery.

 

This is indeed a great camera! My wife has one and it has been an excellent choice in a fairly small package, considering the features and the huge optical zoom! And yes the UV filter really will replace the lens cap which keeps falling off, and doubles to protect the lens and enhance the colors.