ELNikkor

70-300

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

I don't wish to sound rude but I am always amused when people ask what camera/lens/system to take to this or that area. What would you use to visit a similar area in your home town or state. I am assuming that most all of us here have been at least out of the house and out of our town. There are open fields, hills and mountains just about everywhere, forests, large and small cities and so on. Why not use what you would use here. I have hunted in Africa with both gun and camera. I was in two large cities at the beginning and end of the safari. While going to and from by vehicle I saw animals in both open areas and forested areas. While the scenes were somewhat different than what I am used to the differences were in the type of animals, birds and flora.

Again, I am not trying to be rude but don't understand what the need is to inquire what lens to take. Take what you would normally take and have a great time.

Dennis

genesamit

Yup.
Common Sense.

Bill Emmett Loc: Bow, New Hampshire

Costa Rica is well worth the effort to carry more glass. I wish I had my Canon EF 100mm f2.8L IS lens with me for the insects I came across. I did take the Canon EF 70-200mm f4L IS USM, and my Canon EF 300mm for the Howler monkeys. I took the ultra wide for some of the volcano shots. Don't forget the ample bird population too.

B

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

You really put yourself between a rock and a hard spot. The 15-85 should cover ~85% of the shots. Now you have to chose between wildlife and floral. My vote is for the macro. I think you are more likely to get more and better opportunities for floral than with the wildlife in a jungle at 300mm with the higher f stop. Of course, Murphy's Law predicts whichever second lense you take, it will be the wrong one for whatever you actually see.

AndyGarcia

Hi,

I live in Costa Rica. I would recommend that you take the 15-85mm and the 70-300mm.

Here you get everything from most wonderful landscape opportunities to fantastic wildlife ops. My most used lens is Fuji 18 - 135mm on my XT1. Covers most eventualities. I can shoot almost (but not) macro with this lens, great landscapes and when I have a monkey appear above my head on the way to the beach I've generally got enough reach.

I live in Playa Tamarindo in Guanacaste. If you are interested you can see some of my photos on https://youpic.com/photographer/andywhiteman52/ which will give you an idea of the wonders of Costa Rica.

Have a fantastic trip and enjoy!

Pura Vida.

Andy

ceallachain Loc: Cape May, NJ

For sure a 300mm + Sloths on riverboat tours are in the trees very difficult see sometimes. The smaller lens recommended here are good too. just 2 lenses should do it.

317tman Loc: Indianapolis, In

Based on my trip to C.R. Take the 70-300, there are far more opportunities for the 300 mm. But not sure why you can’t Also take the 90, it’s not a lot extra to carry. It’s use depends on what your trip takes in.

Grace98 Loc: Waterlooville, Hampshire - United Kingdom

Hi - late response but as I was in CR last December, thought you might be interested in my comment. I had a Nikkor 18-300 and found it invaluable.
With this lens you can use it as a macro and get nice pics of flowers. You would use the 300 all the time as many creatures are high up in trees/canopy.
Keep ISO low as you will do lots of cropping. I'm assuming for boat ride you might be visiting Tortiguero? Defenitely 300 is a must. Re Cloud Forest,
is it Monteverde. Hope for your sake it's drizzling as you might see some creatures. When I went it was sunny and no clouds and, apart from a black bird,
no creatures in site. You will love it as many things to see and photograph...any queries, please PM me. Grace

Grace98 Loc: Waterlooville, Hampshire - United Kingdom

Forgot to mention...have posted various pictures on the gallery side if you'd like to have a look. Many are cropped.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

70-300 or you will miss those far away "animals in the trees" shots.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

The 15-85 and the 70-300. I agree about the value of a 70-200 2.8 on this kind of trip especially with a 2x extender. You will be shooting from the boat. On a recent trip I had a 70-200 2.8 and a 2x extender. It covered all my long shots. However, the cost of switching from the 70-300 is too much and there is not a really big advantage to 400 (with the 2x) over 300mm. And with the 70-300 you do not have to mess with the extender. The 70-300 is a fine lens.

Bill Emmett Loc: Bow, New Hampshire

CR is a country with vast areas where animals and birds thrive, both in towns, and in the country side. These animals can be very mobile, or like the sloth rather still. The monkeys in CR vary between the "white face" and the "howler". Both come in quantities of individuals. You will hear the howlers towards the evening hours, with loud howls. The white face will be heard almost all day long as a tree top chatter. These troops of monkeys move fast through the forest, and are smaller than the howlers, a good shot would be when they stop to feed on fruit. You 70-300 lens would be just Ok for the white face, and be right on for the howlers if you can get close enough. When I was there I hired a guide for the parks to shoot monkeys. For the birds, your 70-300 will be Ok but remember some birds sit tighter than others. Toucans tend to be rather flighty, but can be baited with fruit. Other birds are also better baited with some orange, banana or other local fruit. There are lots of roadside fruit stands to buy your bait. I stopped at one stand and it was surrounded by coatimundis, and racoons. I got some excellent shots of these animals with a 24-70mm lens since they had been fed by the shop owner with spoiled fruit. Don't try to hand feed these animals, they will get very aggressive and bite. Try to get some shots of Caiman along the river on your cruise. Caiman are much like the American Alligator, but are smaller. But don't get close they can run pretty fast and like the alligator, there bite is bad. You may want to buy some high octane bug repellant, with about 70-90% deet. In the jungle the mosquitos are really bad, and carry a variety of very infectious diseases. On your river cruise, you may want to use a longer lens than the 70-300. The river limits your ability to get closer to some of the animals, like the sloth. Even with 300mm it may just look like puff of fur high up a tree off in the distance. At the time of my visit I had a Tamron SP 150-600mm lens. I shot two different sloths that were both well over 100 yards into the canopy. I hope this helps, and have a good trip.

B