Critique my Alaska kit

[Aegis1984]

Hi folks,

 

I'm going to be going back up to Alaska in August aboard HAL's Nieuw Amsterdam, and this time around, we have a SY category suite located on the port side at the hump of the ship, so we get a fantastic over-sized balcony.

 

Now, that's great and all but I'm hoping for some help with deciding which gear to bring with me, and which new acquisitions to make prior to the trip.

 

I currently have the following:

 

Canon 7D

Canon 7D mkII

Canon 15-85 f3.5-5.6

Canon 24-70 f2.8 II

Canon 40mm f2.8

Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS II

TC-80N3 remote

600EX-RT Flash

 

In my future, I am eyeing up a Canon 2.0 teleconverter and either the 10-22 APS-C lens or the 11-24 f4 with the idea I will be switching to full frame in the next year. I am WELL aware of the vast price difference between the wide angles, and my current situation with my employer will dictate which I go for, in that they promote/transfer me (Buy house/rent with 1st/last months paid), or leave me where I am for a few more months. I am also looking at picking up a Go-Pro to mount on the balcony for time lapse shots but that isn't my be-all, end-all.

 

The way I see it, I know I'm bringing both bodies in order to avoid time-eating lens changes, and I want to have either of the wide-angle zooms, the 24-70 and the 70-200 with TC for that extra reach.

 

Would anyone have any thoughts/advice on my selections, or recommendations for my gear?

[Glaciers]

I’d take only what covers your range. You can do so by leaving the 24-70 and 40mm at home. You’d have 15-200 covered plus what you’d get with the TC. Need to make sure you still have auto focus with the TC. Pierces got a good whale shot with his 200mm although I think 200 is just too short. I don’t think you can go too long in Alaska unless the lens is just too difficult to handle.

 

It would be nice to have a Go-Pro but I consider it more of a toy and I’d rather put the money towards a new body or lens. Might be my old man view…

[xlxo]

I also recommend getting a luggage scale..... You want to avoid that Canon weight surcharge at the airport.

[peety3]

Disclaimer: I'm blessed with a tax reason to spend mad amounts of money on photography, and my wife also shoots Canon, so we have a lot of gear.

 

If nothing else, skip the 10-22 (too much distortion) and the 11-24 (a great lens but some distortion in the 11-14 range, supremely heavy, and monstrously big). Go for the 16-35/4IS if/when you go FF. We've previously owned the 10-22 and the 16-35/2.8 II, and presently own the 11-24/4, 14/2.8 II, and the 16-35/4IS (so I've used them all). The 16-35/4IS is an absolute tank (as seen by LensRentals' teardown, and it feels that way to me), extremely sharp across the range, low distortion, it's such a fine lens that it displaced the 24-70/2.8 as my "first alarm" lens on a 5DsR. Granted, I was using the 24-70/2.8 old model when I got the 16-35/4IS, but I've since picked up the 24-70/2.8 II but even though I've used it a few times, the 16-35 continues to be my "let's start with this" lens. The 11-24 is normally in my wife's kit, with a 24-105/4IS and either a 70-200/4IS or 70-300L IS depending on the need, and she consistently debates whether to take the 11-24 or leave it home depending on what she's going to shoot (because of the size and weight).

 

I'd also consider using your timer remote (it is the timer model, right?) and just using one of your DSLRs to shoot a time lapse, rather than a GoPro. It's a little less to take with you, reuses what you have.

 

I'd also leave the 40/2.8 home. I know it's tiny, but you have the 2.8 covered with a lens that can truly be shot wide open just fine. A 35/2 IS, 24/1.4II, or 35/1.4II would make a lot more sense if you're shooting crop bodies, IMHO.

 

I've never been a big fan of teleconverters, and you'd be hard-pressed to ever find me using a 2x, but I'll do a 1.4x on some lenses. I bet you could do just fine in Alaska with a 16-35/4IS, 70-200/2.8 IS II, a 1.4x TC, and nothing else. My Alaska kit is 16-35, 100-400, and a rented 600 with 1.4x, all on FF, and I truly don't miss having anything in the 35-100mm gap. I've carried the 24-70 or one time a Zeiss 50/2 Macro, but never bothered to pull either one out when outdoors.

[Aegis1984]

Thanks for the replies folks.

 

I know there's the concern about paying the Canon weight tax but since I'm from BC, all I need to do is make the drive to Vancouver, and I won't have to pay luggage fees.

 

Good call on the timer remote, but I suppose I'll have to pack a tripod too. My reasoning behind a GoPro was that I could put it in a housing with a handlebar clamp, attach it to the railing, set it to take photos when I feel so inclined, and forget about it. Although I know I'm not so careless with my kit, if I left it, I would rather leave a GoPro than leave a couple thousand dollars worth of camera gear sitting on the balcony.

 

My last trip, I found that I did make use of my 15-85 outdoors on the wide end, but I was using my 24-70 indoors plenty because of the f2.8 throughout the range.

 

By the same token, have you heard anything about the 10-18? I know it is cheap as lenses go and pretty slow, but the IS is appealing and there were times I found 15mm was just barely not wide enough on those APS-C bodies. I'm sure it'll be bright enough for me to be shooting at f8 or f11 most of the time, but there's plenty to shoot indoors too, especially if we end up in some of the museums.

[Mr. Click]

The 24-70 is a great walk around lens. Forget the 2x TC, I have never seen one that worked really well and the two stop penalty really hurts. The Series III 1.4 is a better choice, especially on a 1.6 crop body

[peety3]

Good call on the timer remote, but I suppose I'll have to pack a tripod too. My reasoning behind a GoPro was that I could put it in a housing with a handlebar clamp, attach it to the railing, set it to take photos when I feel so inclined, and forget about it. Although I know I'm not so careless with my kit, if I left it, I would rather leave a GoPro than leave a couple thousand dollars worth of camera gear sitting on the balcony.

 

My last trip, I found that I did make use of my 15-85 outdoors on the wide end, but I was using my 24-70 indoors plenty because of the f2.8 throughout the range.

 

By the same token, have you heard anything about the 10-18? I know it is cheap as lenses go and pretty slow, but the IS is appealing and there were times I found 15mm was just barely not wide enough on those APS-C bodies. I'm sure it'll be bright enough for me to be shooting at f8 or f11 most of the time, but there's plenty to shoot indoors too, especially if we end up in some of the museums.

Twice I've put a 40D or 7D with a 10-22 on a Manfrotto Superclamp with attached camera mount upside-down on our balcony for the entire 4 or 7-day cruise. I'm a bit over-the-top for safety, so it was protected by a theater-style safety cable.

 

If anything, just rent the 10-18. If you're considering FF, don't invest in dead-end lenses. Granted, you probably won't replace both bodies at the same time, but silly to use the crop body just because you have a 10-x (only to use longer lens on your not-crop body).

 

A follow-up thought on my suggestion to skip the 11-24: instead of spending $3,000 on the 11-24, get a 6D and a 16-35/4IS for about the same amount of dough (then perhaps sell off your 7D and 15-85).

[gpb11]

Good call on the timer remote, but I suppose I'll have to pack a tripod too. My reasoning behind a GoPro was that I could put it in a housing with a handlebar clamp, attach it to the railing, set it to take photos when I feel so inclined, and forget about it.

 

Just remember that the balcony can be a wet environment depending on the weather. There's a lot to be said for your go pro with housing idea for doing a balcony railing time-lapse.