Non-GAS Lens Advice Nikon D7200 Ocean Traveller
Feb 20, 2019 18:05:50 #
Hi, I have a D7200. I am travelling the world on a small mostly home-built sailboat. I'm about to head from Alaska through BC to Washington / Oregon & on to Hawaii, then rest of Nth & Sth Pacific to NZ & OZ.
I will be writing for sailing & a couple of other magazines & have been working on learning the camera & its use so that I have publishable pics. I need a telephoto lens that is useful in low light as all of the next year of where I'm headed will have all dark backgrounds & many rainy or overcast days. There will be, on the way, orca, whales, seal lions, bald eagles, dark misty mountains, glaciers, snow, snow, glaciers & more snow & glaciers..... You get the idea.
I have read dozens of reviews & many, many posts here & elsewhere on lenses. My key needs (as I see them) are getting enough light (for the 1st year - after that it's all blue sky tropics); sharpness at the long end & good wildlife tracking (AF speed?); weight (100% handheld on a moving sailboat, plus I'm 140lbs & not a teenager); water-sealing (at least at the lens / body joint); and even $1,300 is going to be a huge stretch (also, there is no way I would risk buying a used lens then leave the country!!).
Based on my matrix of needs (as I see them) I narrowed the field to the Sigma 150-600 f/5-6.3 or the Tamron 150-600; or the old Nikon 200-500 (not the unobtainable one - I couldn't afford it even if I could get one). I'm very unsure whether the slower lenses would struggle in low light, especially if I needed to add in a TC to get a usable shot (a sailboat often cannot get super-close to wildlife). Also, I often need to frame & aim fast while finding a way to hold steady on a moving base.
I appreciate many of you may be tired of advising on this topic so I've tried to be as specific as I can about what I'm doing.
Any comments on which way YOU would jump given the matrix of needs (and others I've not considered) are very welcome.
Thanks in advance, Dione, Seward, Alaska
I will be writing for sailing & a couple of other magazines & have been working on learning the camera & its use so that I have publishable pics. I need a telephoto lens that is useful in low light as all of the next year of where I'm headed will have all dark backgrounds & many rainy or overcast days. There will be, on the way, orca, whales, seal lions, bald eagles, dark misty mountains, glaciers, snow, snow, glaciers & more snow & glaciers..... You get the idea.
I have read dozens of reviews & many, many posts here & elsewhere on lenses. My key needs (as I see them) are getting enough light (for the 1st year - after that it's all blue sky tropics); sharpness at the long end & good wildlife tracking (AF speed?); weight (100% handheld on a moving sailboat, plus I'm 140lbs & not a teenager); water-sealing (at least at the lens / body joint); and even $1,300 is going to be a huge stretch (also, there is no way I would risk buying a used lens then leave the country!!).
Based on my matrix of needs (as I see them) I narrowed the field to the Sigma 150-600 f/5-6.3 or the Tamron 150-600; or the old Nikon 200-500 (not the unobtainable one - I couldn't afford it even if I could get one). I'm very unsure whether the slower lenses would struggle in low light, especially if I needed to add in a TC to get a usable shot (a sailboat often cannot get super-close to wildlife). Also, I often need to frame & aim fast while finding a way to hold steady on a moving base.
I appreciate many of you may be tired of advising on this topic so I've tried to be as specific as I can about what I'm doing.
Any comments on which way YOU would jump given the matrix of needs (and others I've not considered) are very welcome.
Thanks in advance, Dione, Seward, Alaska
Feb 20, 2019 19:24:02 #
I'm posting mostly to follow the discussion!
That said, I would add an Olympus TG-5 to the boat because in goes beyond weather resistant to weather proof. Getting from Seward to Oregon is going to present photo ops beyond what I would expose a Nikon DSLR to!
Would you post a link to one of your Sailing articles? I would love to read it.
That said, I would add an Olympus TG-5 to the boat because in goes beyond weather resistant to weather proof. Getting from Seward to Oregon is going to present photo ops beyond what I would expose a Nikon DSLR to!
Would you post a link to one of your Sailing articles? I would love to read it.
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