kybob Loc: Versailles, Kentucky

I have been trying to go on a land and sea cruise to Alaska which has been canceled three times and now scheduled for late June/July next year. I have had to much time to think about this trip which is a 11 day land tour going by bus and train from Fairbanks to Whittier the cruise is from Whittier to Vancouver. This will be our 3rd time on the cruise portion so I know what to expect there. I am trying to cut down on my take everything mentality since on the bus / train segment I am limited to having to fit all I need including medication and valuables in one backpack. I have the Shimoda 30L backpack was going to take the Sony A7R IV with the 16-35 and either the Sony 100-400 f5.6 with both the 1.4x and 2x tele-converters or the Sony 200-600 f5.6/6.3 with the tele-converters. I have heard the bus ride into Denali the 200-600 might be too big for shooting on the bus and so I am leaning more toward the 100-400 with the 1.4 attached. Any who have taken one of these land cruise tours what are your thoughts? My backup/2nd camera will be a Nikon Z7II with 24-70 f2.8.

gwong1 Loc: Tampa, FL

It has been years since I did that tour with Princess Cruise lines. I would take the the Sony A7R IV with the 16-35 and either the Sony 100-400 f5.6. If you have a 24-105, it would probably be a better choice than the 16-35. You probably will not use the 100-400 that much as the buses are on a tight schedule and you are mostly shooting from the bus, not on land. In Denali I mostly shot landscapes (Took the full day tour) and had minimal need for a telephoto, we did not see much wildlife on our trip. Good luck. Gary

Dat Quach Loc: California

I did the bus tour in the Denali NP. The tour bus is usually packed; try to go really early or late so that you might have a chance to have the whole bench seat to yourself (if you’re lucky). If you share the bench with another visitor, a long lens, even the Sony 100-400 would likely invade your neighbor’s air space. The tour encounters very few wildlife and very far away if they show up. If they do, you would need the 200-600 plus extenders, but that would bother your neighbors big big time. The tour bus company is very strict, no hand or arm sticking out of windows. I found long lenses are cumbersome for the tour. However, both your Sony 16-35 and Nikon 24-70 are most suitable for beautiful landscape.

ELNikkor

The Nikon Z7/24-70 will get much more use than the 16-35. Didn't see much from the bus in Denali, but camped out and got great views of Denali, a moose with calf, and caribou. Bear was too far away even for 600mm. Leave the 200-600 at home, take the 100-400.

wkocken Loc: McGregor, MN

Ditto on the long lens as not being useful on the bus trip. However, it may come in as useful on the boat. You’ll see eagles, seals and if your lucky, a whale or two.

Toment Loc: FL, IL

I just got a Tamron 28-200 for my A7Riv. . You might look into that. IQ is terrific. Light and small. Get a polarizer for pictures out the window and use a fast shutter.
Have fun 🤩

V2volk Loc: St. Louis area

It has been years since I did the trip but I recall there was a stop or two. I took the trip to Wonder Lake. I was fortunate and was by a window. I know at the time I didn’t own a lens over 300mm.

jimvanells Loc: Augusta, GA

My wife and I did that same cruise in 2015, only in September. Actually we were on the last cruise of the season and had a great time with plenty of wildlife on the all day bus tour. I will give you the same advice I got from an ex-Denali park ranger. If you want to see wildlife, you must have a window seat and the best ones are on the left side of the bus behind the driver. We saw many bears, caribou, and Dahl sheep. I humbly disagree with the folks about the 100-400; that was my go-to wild life lens. The views of Denali were spectacular, nary a cloud in the sky and I shot many mountain images from the moving bus. My other go-to lens was a 24-105 with a polarizer for the scenery. As for the wildlife shots, I did offer to share with the bus driver since I had the longest lens on the bus that day. I got her email address and she was very grateful of bear and sheep images she had never seen before.

My other opinion is that you are going much too early in the season. The weather will be rainy and cloudy and the chances of seeing Denali will hover around 10%; so say the locals. But, if don't like AK weather, wait 10 minutes, it will change. Take water proof jackets and pants, they will save you from a nasty summer cold.

Canon 5DIII 100-400 @ about 125mm, range was minimum focus distance, about 7 feet from the window

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lreisner Loc: Union,NJ

I have been to Alaska and Denali. Having a long lens is nice but being bogged down with lots of heavy equipment will not be fun. I used a Sony RX10 III which was perfect. I own the Sony 200-600. I would never think to take that on a bus, which does stop frequently. Your 400mm zoom would be better. Remember you can always shoot in 35mm mode for extra reach. If you have an overcast day with low light situation, your ISO will go through the roof to get fast enough shutter speeds once you throw on the extenders. On my trip there were 5 bear sightings, and yes they were not close. As in anything with nature, it is a matter of luck. I also own the Sony A7R4. At least you will have a lot of pixels to crop with, even in 35mm mode, but it is not a great low light camera. Have a great trip.

APSHEPPARD

You are getting good advice from the other replies, but you have to be lucky to get much from the bus tour--would follow suggestion of 100-400 for sure with the bus. Depending on the cruise line and your budget, some do have vans or even private cars for the tour. You get some fantastic photo opps if that is available and affordable. Another angle is forego the cruise bus tour and get yourself a rental vehicle and necessary admissions to do it yourself as the camper advisee suggested. In any case, good luck--have done AK eight times--all good!

mundy-F2 Loc: Chicago suburban area

Good advice on the rain wear.
Mundy

Johnnyt Loc: keizer Oregon

I have traveled to Alaska many times. I began my tours with a nikon D60 with the kit lenses. I traveled all over the world with the same setup. I got tired of carrying that gear so I got rid of it. Then I had a bridge camera. Panasonic fz1000. I didn’t like it so I turned it back in and bought a Sony cyber shot DSC RX10 M3 It works great. It has a 24-600 mm(equivalent) lens. F2.4-4 (equivalent) It is a little bit big but not as bad as a dslr with the same type of lens. They now have the m4 of the same camera. The lens range is great from wide angle to telephoto. The images are clear. It is a little expensive $1200 for the m3, $1500 for the model 4 ( approximately).It is easy to carry and should work well on a bus tour. I also have a pac safe strap for it to try to keep it safe on my body. It is a camera strap with wire in it so nobody can cut it off of your neck while you are walking. If you still have the dslr camera storage case everything will fit in it batteries cleaning memory cards etc.
Here are some photos. I hope you like them. This is a great camera! I recommend it! Think about it.
It also has full manual control and a lot of bells and whistles. I think you will love it!
The photos are from Edinburgh Scotland and a tree that looks like an animal that I took in my neighborhood. I hope you like them!

Real Nikon Lover Loc: Simi Valley, CA

For what it is worth... I would take the NikonZ7II and leave the Sony stuff home. If you can, buy, rent or borrow a Z Nikkor 70-200 2.8 VR and a Z24-70 2.8 VR you will cover your bases.

Best thing I did in Denali was getting on a twin engine plane and flying to the Denali mountain range taking photos. Phenomenal. I used a D810 and Nikkor 28-300 and wish I had my D850 and 70-200 for sharpness and resolution. We are going back. Here are a few Nikon D810 and 28-300 samples from our trip to entice you.

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David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

A polarizer might not be a good idea for shooting through windows. I've done it and the images have all sorts of weird spots and lines in them--the windows apparently have some treatment that reacts to the polarization. An example is attached.

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Doc Mck Loc: Terrell,Texas

Try to reschedule for August, June way too early, and July still too early. I’ve been 5-6 times to fish and photo.. be prepared for any kind of weather in a day.