What lens to carry on Alaska cruise? Will call Ketchikan, juneau, Skagway, ice straight point, Hubbard glacier, Seward.

[Einst_Stein]

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I am planning a cruise tour to Alaska, will call the ports Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Ice straight point, Hubbard glacier, Seward. What AF + shaking compensation tele gear to complement Leica with  24-90mm or 28-85mm equivalent? Non-Leica of course.

I already have Leica Vlux (25-400mm 1” sensor) and Fujifilm XE + 50-230mm, I am looking for upgrade. Something Full frame or APS-C with good AF and stabilization. Weight and size  is flexible since I will be likely either on ship or on water-plane. 
 

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[Graham (G4FUJ)]

The V-Lux typ 114 would be my choice.

[Einst_Stein]

15 hours ago, Graham (G4FUJ) said:

The V-Lux typ 114 would be my choice.

Because?

[larsv]

On that cruise, I took my SL plus 24-90 plus 90-280. Plus monopod. Very happy with results. 

Edited December 12, 2021 by larsv
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[larsv]

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[Graham (G4FUJ)]

5 hours ago, Einst_Stein said:

Because?

Because of the quality of reproduction.  Also, the electronic zoom can take you out to 1100mm equivalent which might just come in handy for some between port photos.

[Einst_Stein]

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17 hours ago, larsv said:

On that cruise, I took my SL plus 24-90 plus 90-280. Plus monopod. Very happy with results. 

I have both lenses. I am concerned if the AF is adequate for fast moving objects. Maybe this concern is not necessary. 
90-280mm is a general purpose super-tele. The IQ when use it right is gorgeous. For special occasions such as bird in flight it takes good skills. In such situation, I am considering Nikon 200-500mm or 80-400mm on D850, or Canon 100-400mm II on 5D4.

 

[war]

Take a monopod as larsv did. You'll need it for the long shots and you can't set up a tripod when others  crowd in to see the same thing you're shooting.

Have fun!

[jaapv]

And don't use the monopod on board. The vibration of the engines (even if imperceptible) will transfer themselves to your camera, and IBIS and OIS cannot handle those frequencies.

[Einst_Stein]

18 hours ago, jaapv said:

And don't use the monopod on board. The vibration of the engines (even if imperceptible) will transfer themselves to your camera, and IBIS and OIS cannot handle those frequencies.

Thanks for the advise. Indeed monopod or tripod cannot help on ship and on water plane.

In my previous Alaska trip, I use Leica table pod as “chest-pod” on these occasions.  For the coming trip, I am looking for some non-Leica gears to complement the Leica. 

[jaapv]

3 hours ago, Einst_Stein said:

Thanks for the advise. Indeed monopod or tripod cannot help on ship and on water plane.

In my previous Alaska trip, I use Leica table pod as “chest-pod” on these occasions.  For the coming trip, I am looking for some non-Leica gears to complement the Leica. 

Even if I have never been on an (Ant)attic cruise, I can give a 100% recommendation for the Panasonic S5 and Sigma 150-600 for wildlife and birds, or, if weight and bulk are a concern, a MFT camera with the Leica 100-400. A third option is the CL with the Sigma 100-400 but that lacks I.S.  

[stuny]

You might want to bring along a zippered cloth bag and fill it with small pebbles or sand or even dried beans once in Alaska and use it between the ship's railing and your camera to absorb some of the vibrations and some of your movement.

[Einst_Stein]

11 hours ago, jaapv said:

Even if I have never been on an (Ant)attic cruise, I can give a 100% recommendation for the Panasonic S5 and Sigma 150-600 for wildlife and birds, or, if weight and bulk are a concern, a MFT camera with the Leica 100-400. A third option is the CL with the Sigma 100-400 but that lacks I.S.  

Among the three, S5+150-600 would be my choice. My other choice is converging down to Canon 6D2 + 100-400mm 2. Nikon d859 + 200-500mm is almost as good, but Canon has the advantage to use Leica R lenses. Not that I will carry Leica R lens in this trip, but I might use with Canon camera in other occasions. 

My CL will have 11-23mm or 18-56mm exclusively.  I am lazy to change  lens. I think I will be out of hand to carry CL +11-23mm and something super-tele. 

[Einst_Stein]

8 hours ago, stuny said:

You might want to bring along a zippered cloth bag and fill it with small pebbles or sand or even dried beans once in Alaska and use it between the ship's railing and your camera to absorb some of the vibrations and some of your movement.

Good idea, I did similar thing before, I use my light backpack (in the front) as my bean bag. 

[jaapv]

I use R lenses on my S5...

[Henry Taylor]

I love my Leica's but on a cruse and travel I enjoyed taking my Olympus  E-M1 MarkIII  with only 2 lenses  17mm f1.8 for walk around  and a 40-150  with 1.4 Teleconverter. No  Tripod or monopod is needed with  the excellent 5-axis sensor -shift image stabilization system compensates for up to  7.5 stops of camera shake for sharper handheld that 40 150 with the teleconverter becomes 80-400

Edited December 18, 2021 by Henry Taylor
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