Iceland and Greenland for 2 weeks at the end of August

[vincecharus]

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9 hours ago, Jeff S said:

As I suggested to John, the Lumix S70-200 Pro zoom (Leica certified and L mount) might be a lighter and smaller alternative to the SL 90-280 (2.2 lb vs 4.1lb) Still weather sealed with OIS.

Jeff

Jeff, I have 90-280 and quite like its performance. For now, I have little incentive to buy another very similar lens.

Also, I understand 70-200 to be a portrait lens. For wildlife and birding, around 300 would be a minimum.

90-280 is my closest substitute for Nik/Can bazookas. Of course the AF department is still not quite comparable.

I do see your point of having 3 zooms covering 16 to 200 at a reasonable cost and weight and with an emphasis on the ultrawide side. Ultimately, It a trade-off that each of us have to decide on.

Edited July 10, 2019 by vincecharus

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[Jeff S]

1 hour ago, johnbuckley said:

Jeff- the problem is, I already own the 90-280. 🙂 But, the good news, my wife and I are going with the Leica Store Miami, and I think whichever lens I don't bring, I may be able to borrow for use when needed.

Understood, but if you ever want a smaller and lighter travel alternative, the Lumix is inexpensive by Leica standards.

Jeff

[6bit]

I was in Iceland last year in July. I took a 21, 35, and 85. I used the 35 the most with the 85 a close second. I had two bodies. You want to minimize lens changes.going back, i would leave the 21 at home. 

[Chuck Albertson]

Do you have a spare batt for the SL? I'd dump the drone, uness you have some guarantee of no winds.

[luigi bertolotti]

I was in Iceland twice (2016 and 18) , Always with M240 (when it rains, yourarely take pics and a good bag is sufficient) : I always took with me a long tele (280 and 250) and my feel is that is very useful (next time… could even think of 400... ) : when weather is fine, air is very clear and the specific paysage of Iceland is Worth some far takings : on the contrary, took 28 as wider lens, and just in a pair of occasions I regretted not to have my 21. 

[vincecharus]

14 hours ago, 6bit said:

I was in Iceland last year in July. I took a 21, 35, and 85. I used the 35 the most with the 85 a close second. I had two bodies. You want to minimize lens changes.going back, i would leave the 21 at home. 

Thanks for your tips on the most congenial focal lengths in this environment.  No matter whether your system was FF or MF, I get the idea.

[vincecharus]

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6 hours ago, Chuck Albertson said:

Do you have a spare batt for the SL? I'd dump the drone, uness you have some guarantee of no winds.

The standard practice is 2 spare batteries.

I'm not at all an experienced drone operator. I need to research closely on the windy conditions and may well follow your advice!

Have a look at this:

 

Edited July 11, 2019 by vincecharus

[vincecharus]

5 hours ago, luigi bertolotti said:

I was in Iceland twice (2016 and 18) , Always with M240 (when it rains, yourarely take pics and a good bag is sufficient) : I always took with me a long tele (280 and 250) and my feel is that is very useful (next time… could even think of 400... ) : when weather is fine, air is very clear and the specific paysage of Iceland is Worth some far takings : on the contrary, took 28 as wider lens, and just in a pair of occasions I regretted not to have my 21. 

Thanks very much for validating my hunch of the range of congenial focal lengths in this environment! Much obliged!

[otto.f]

I’ve never been there, but my son was at Iceland. I wouldn’t know what to do with a 280mm there, except for the puffins of course. I see Iceland as a landscape photography place foremost. So I wouldn’t bother about a CL.

[luigi bertolotti]

41 minutes ago, otto.f said:

I’ve never been there, but my son was at Iceland. I wouldn’t know what to do with a 280mm there, except for the puffins of course. I see Iceland as a landscape photography place foremost. So I wouldn’t bother about a CL.

For puffins… better a 400 or even more...  … but some landscapes, imho, are Worth the perspective of a 280 (here two takings with Telyt 280 / M240... and the first one is even cropped to something around a 400..

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On the bottom pic, the snowy peak at right is the highest of Iceland (easy to remember name…  Hvannadalsnukur…)

Edited July 11, 2019 by luigi bertolotti

[luigi bertolotti]

About the drones : personally, I find annoying to see people driving them up and down along waterfalls…  

Editing one of my pics, I discovered that the "sign" that looked to me as a dead pixel or dirt spot or similar was indeed, enlarging a lot, a far drone…

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Edited July 11, 2019 by luigi bertolotti

[Stuart Richardson]

You should read up on the drone laws, as there are specific regulations. For example, as far as I recall, you cannot use them in Vatnajökull National Park, which comprises about 11% of the country, and you cannot use them at Þingvellir National Park either. You are not allowed to fly higher than 120 meters without permission, not within 50m of a building in an urban area or 150m in a rural area, and you cannot fly within 2km of an airport...there is an airport right in downtown Reykjavik, which means that the majority of the downtown area is prohibited to fly drones in. You will see why when you are there...the planes fly very low right above the city center to land at the domestic airport. You are also not allowed to fly close to wildlife, so you cannot use them to photograph puffins or reindeer, and if you scare sheep or horses with them the farmers will probably not be too happy, haha. You are not allowed to fly over people...or at night, or without having line of sight to the drone. Much of the drone stuff on instagram is either illegal or done with licences. That said, if you are somewhere further away from people and structures, you are probably in the clear as long as you do not go too high.

https://www.icetra.is/aviation/drones/

https://www.vatnajokulsthjodgardur.is/en/about-us/drone-restrictions

On the bright side, these restrictions have made it much nicer to be at a lot of the tourist attractions than it was a few years ago when it was a free for all of buzzing quad-copters. 

Edited July 12, 2019 by Stuart Richardson

[vincecharus]

A big thank you to you all for your helpful tips on Iceland.

I wonder if anyone would have something to say about Greenland?

[otto.f]

3 hours ago, vincecharus said:

A big thank you to you all for your helpful tips on Iceland.

I wonder if anyone would have something to say about Greenland?

I wouldn’t know. There’s one thought I have since I was in Patagonia at the glaciers though. I find the glaciers in my photo’s made with SL as well as M9 all a bit too blueish compared to what I can remember in reality. It might have to do with  being more UV light around than elsewhere, because snow and glaciers reflect UV light back. So mounting a traditional UV filter like in the old days with film would be an option. 

[Einst_Stein]

I had Lumix FZ300 (24-60mm, f2.8, 2/3" sensor) as my backup. It's claimed weather sealed. Though I was still very careful, it felt much better when shooting near water fall  or on the boat.

I had SL + 24-90 + 90-280 as my primary camera. 90-280 is no-no for me on hiking, but carrying SL + 2490 + FZ300 is not that bad. I regret having left the tripod in my car, but I might be more regret to carry it. I had my Leica little table pods, it use to be very on trails with big tree or rock, but not quite so in Iceland.

 

 

[Locutus]

I'll be on Iceland next month, for digital packing a Panasonic S1 with the Leica 24-90 and 19mm R, in doubt to get a long lens was thinking of getting the Sigma 100-400 + MC21 to keep a budget or to bite the bullet and get the Panasonic 70-200 + 2x TC.

[biogon]

On 7/12/2019 at 4:07 AM, vincecharus said:

I wonder if anyone would have something to say about Greenland?

I have never been to Greenland in August but was cruising and hiking in the Svalbard archipelago in that same period, the photographic environment should be very similar, especially if you travel toward North.

I believe that the lenses that have been mentioned here for Iceland would also fit in Greenland. Expect to meet a very rich and diverse wildlife (birds, seals, polar bears, whales). I had a 100-400mm with me and used it a lot, mainly for shots from the boat or zodiac. If I will go again in the future I would bring a 500mm.

[su25]

This may sound silly, I always carry 2 shower caps to put on the lens and body. I did that in Iceland in Dec too, especially near the waterfalls with wide M lens. Lens cleaning cloth is a must to clean off the water spray. I found few long exposure shots near the waterfalls were blurry due to the spray.

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[GlennC63]

I was in Iceland this past March. Carried two SL bodies so I would in general not have to change lenses. One always had the 16-35 and the other the 90-280. The Q was my grab camera. That was my second trip to Iceland and I can’t wait for the next one. Good luck and enjoy.