New Lens for Alaska cruse: I'll be taking a trip to Alaska in June of 2015 and I'm looking for advise about getting a telephoto lens for my Nikon D-5200. Currently my longest lens is a...

Ole Loc: Virginia Beach, Va.

I'll be taking a trip to Alaska in June of 2015 and I'm looking for advise about getting a telephoto lens for my Nikon D-5200. Currently my longest lens is a Nikon DX 55-200mm 1.4-5.6 G zoom. Cost is a factor. I'm willing to spend the money but I would like to keep the cost down. -- Ole

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Ole; The lens you have now is fine, but if you want a longer reach, sell that lens and pick up the 70-300 with VR. I would also get a wide angle to compliment your kit and there is nothing wrong with the 18-55. For a plastic lens, it is sharp and cheap too boot! If you want just one lens, then I would look into the Sigma 50-500. You have the best of both worlds and that lens has come down in price.
I am also planning on an Alaska trip next year and will be bringing my Nikon 70-200 f2.8, Sigma 28-70 and Nikon 300 f2.8 with 17 TC for the reach. I have both a DX and FX camera to bring.

Chris F. Loc: San Francisco

Hi Ole, if you put an order in for the Tamron 150-600 now you may be have one by then. They are probably one of the more affordable lenses of that magnitude for $1059. Good luck and have fun on your Alaska trip. We spent a couple weeks up there 2 summers ago and then left on a cruise down to Vancouver. It was a blast.

Ole wrote:

I'll be taking a trip to Alaska in June of 2015 and I'm looking f

Chris

or advise about getting a telephoto lens for my Nikon D-5200. Currently my longest lens is a Nikon DX 55-200mm 1.4-5.6 G zoom. Cost is a factor. I'm willing to spend the money but I would like to keep the cost down. -- Ole

Chris F. Loc: San Francisco

Hi Juicesqueezer, I like your name. I took my 100-400 on our last trip to Alaska as I didn't have my Tamron yet. I did feel at times that I could have used some more reach other than what my 400 had. Alaska is so big and open, sometimes you don't realize just how far away things are. I did get some nice shots of moose, eagles and other critters in Denali though. A 300 may be a little too light for some of that.

Chris

juicesqueezer wrote:

Ole; The lens you have now is fine, but if you wa... (show quote)

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Ole wrote:

I'll be taking a trip to Alaska in June of 2015 and I'm looking for advise about getting a telephoto lens for my Nikon D-5200. Currently my longest lens is a Nikon DX 55-200mm 1.4-5.6 G zoom. Cost is a factor. I'm willing to spend the money but I would like to keep the cost down. -- Ole

Question: What would you like to photograph farther away that a 200mm lens won't cut it for?

Wjereb Loc: NJ->SW Florida

I just ordered the tamron from abt.com on Tuesday and they're shipping it today. $1,069 free shipping, same as B&H where I have had one on order since July 4th.

Bill

JimBart Loc: Western Michigan

I have taken 2 Alaskan cruises one of which included a land portion. On the first cruise I took a Canon camera and 2 lenses canon 28-50 and sigma 50-200. On the most recent trip I took a Nikon 6006 camera with a sigma 28-300. I made more use of the single lens Sigma 28-300 due to its versatility as opposed to continually changing lens. The terrain and wildlife change continually and this way I was prepared for it.
I hope I have been is some help as opposed to confusing you
It is a trip of a lifetime and I hope you guys enjoy it

doduce Loc: Holly Springs NC

Ole wrote:

I'll be taking a trip to Alaska in June of 2015 and I'm looking for advise about getting a telephoto lens for my Nikon D-5200. Currently my longest lens is a Nikon DX 55-200mm 1.4-5.6 G zoom. Cost is a factor. I'm willing to spend the money but I would like to keep the cost down. -- Ole

I took a 18-300mm 3.5-5.6 VR II DX lens for my D90 when I went. Now that a new version of the lens is available, you might be able to get a deal on one of the older versions. I speced out the new lens and while it has a couple more elements, I'm not sure there is a huge difference. And to answer the question about what you might shoot that will require more than a 200mm, I'd say there will very likely be a bunch, especially when you are on land.

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Chris F. wrote:

Hi Juicesqueezer, I like your name. I took my 100-400 on our last trip to Alaska as I didn't have my Tamron yet. I did feel at times that I could have used some more reach other than what my 400 had. Alaska is so big and open, sometimes you don't realize just how far away things are. I did get some nice shots of moose, eagles and other critters in Denali though. A 300 may be a little too light for some of that.

Chris

Thanks, got that when I was a crane operator and it stuck. If I couple the 300 to my D7000 and then add the 17 TC, I'm over 800. Should have enough reach there! lol

Ole Loc: Virginia Beach, Va.

In the late 70's I went on a photo expedition to the Tsavo National Forest in Kenya. I did not have a long lens with me. (In those days I was lucky to be able to afford my Nikon Photomic F camera.) I missed many great photographic opportunities because of my lack of reach. Tsavo is big . . . really big. Alaska is big. I don't want to make the same mistake twice. To answer your question, I don't know what I'll be shooting, but I want to be prepared and the experience of photographers like yourself is invaluable. -- Ole

jfn007 Loc: Close to the middle of nowhere.

I love my Nikon 18-300mm. As preciously mentioned, the Nikon 70-300 is a great lens. You might review a few lenses at kenrockwell.com and you can always buy a great used lens from keh.com

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Welcome Oly!

I would get a Tamron 150-600 mm if I were you.

We went in June this year and was majorly disappointed because the seals were pupping and rearing in Glacier Bay, so access was denied. They claimed there were about 1000 seals in the bay. I can attest to 4 that we saw from the Bay's mouth.
Being on a ship you really need as much reach as you can get, I learned the hard way. :cry:

After we got home I decided to fine tune my game and bought a Nikon D3300 with an 18-55, and a 55-200 kit lenses. I immediately wanted for more reach than the 200 mm could offer.
So I ordered one of the Tamron's. But found one locally. Which I strongly recommend you try and do. For whatever camera mount you will be using.

Also a tripod, or a monopod at least. For traveling I like a collapsible monopod, and I'm very happy with a Sirui carbon fiber unit.
I have not been disappointed in the Tamron so far, but I only have <1000 pictures with it so far. It has worked fine with my camera. ;)

Have you considered renting a lens? That might be an affordable alternative to buying. :roll:

Caribou Loc: St. Louis, MO

We took a cruise and land tour in May. It was great. My only thought relative to using some of those very long lenses some have suggested is this: a long lens would be great for some of the wildlife shots and maybe the glaciers, etc because sometimes you can't get close enough. But the longer the focal length, the more necessary a tripod becomes unless it's a really fast lens. I had a small tripod but quite often the scene didn't allow for setting it up. The train or the bus was moving or the boat was rocking, or the wildlife was moving, or I didn't have a good place to put it, etc. I would have liked to have had my large tripod but that would have been cumbersome. I eventually gave up on the tripod and braced the camera as well as I could. My longest telephoto went to 250 and I got some good shots. But at 600 you will really need to steady it.

SonnyE Loc: Communist California, USA

Caribou wrote:

We took a cruise and land tour in May. It was grea... (show quote)

If you've never shot a 600mm you should try it. It is better than many think.
Shooting the Grand daughters soccer games is pretty fast and furious action. In that, the lens has single point locked on and brought home the shot. ;)

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Ole wrote:

<snip> Cost is a factor. I'm willing to spend the money but I would like to keep the cost down. -- Ole

How much of a factor? Do you have a range? Under $500? Under $1,000? Under 1,500?