Take a heavy camera and lens or not to Greenland? Leaving next Monday on a 16 day cruise from New York to Greenland with nine days at sea. While I can imagine a use for my heavy Canon...

philz Loc: Rockaway Township NJ

Leaving next Monday on a 16 day cruise from New York to Greenland with nine days at sea. While I can imagine a use for my heavy Canon 80D with a 70-200 mm f/4 L lens and a 1.4x teleconverter, it will be limited. Probably some shots from the ship and maybe on a small boat on a wildlife cruise.

So I am wondering if just taking my 35 mm, 24 mp, APS-C X100F using the 50 mm and 70 mm JPEG options when needed is adequate for the three city stops and three Greenland stops. I will also take my beloved 12 MP X30 with a 28-112 mm lens for backup and maybe reach. Thoughts?

James Van Ells

I can tell you from experience, you will wish you had taken your 70-200. Ice flows with seals, bears, etc will not provide the reach to get the head and body shots. That f 4 lens is light and not difficult to carry so take it along.

CWGordon

Sounds like pretty sound advice. I love taking lightweight equip with me on many trips. However, I never do that exclusively on a first trip to places with which I have no experience. Such trips offer surprises and subject matter often unexpected. It is almost always the lens or camera left behind that would have been best. We cannot carry everything, of course, but we can make judicious decisions with what we take. Including a larger sensor camera and at least a moderate telephoto seems wise as recommended by the prior input.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

James Van Ells wrote:

I can tell you from experience, you will wish you had taken your 70-200. Ice flows with seals, bears, etc will not provide the reach to get the head and body shots. That f 4 lens is light and not difficult to carry so take it along.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

James Van Ells wrote:

I can tell you from experience, you will wish you had taken your 70-200. Ice flows with seals, bears, etc will not provide the reach to get the head and body shots. That f 4 lens is light and not difficult to carry so take it along.

Depending on the route, you may also get to shoot puffins and other unusual water birds.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

philz wrote:

Leaving next Monday on a 16 day cruise from New Yo... (show quote)

Only you can answer that, if you find cameras and accessories to be heavy items, I guess you would have to consider leaving them behind!

philz Loc: Rockaway Township NJ

As I do not have to fly and can take all my cameras on the boat, I will do that. Then I can decide what to use when depending upon what I see and what the weather allows. Moral of the story, following some of the good advice I have received above, is be prepared. So I will do so.

tkraatz

philz wrote:

Leaving next Monday on a 16 day cruise from New York to Greenland with nine days at sea. While I can imagine a use for my heavy Canon 80D with a 70-200 mm f/4 L lens and a 1.4x teleconverter, it will be limited. Probably some shots from the ship and maybe on a small boat on a wildlife cruise.

Philz,

I'll look for you onboard

, carrying my 70D with a Tamron 16-300

Collhar Loc: New York City.

tkraatz wrote:

Philz,

I'll look for you onboard

, carrying my 70D with a Tamron 16-300

Look for me in the bar. I will be the one with the cell phone.

anotherview Loc: California

Having gone on one sea cruise and several road trips as well as on three land tours in Europe, I can highly recommend taking one camera and one lens in a single bag that holds all accessories. A full-frame camera with a 24-105mm zoom lens mounted to it will cover nearly all shooting occasions.

CWGordon wrote:

Sounds like pretty sound advice. I love taking lig... (show quote)

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

philz wrote:

Leaving next Monday on a 16 day cruise from New Yo... (show quote)

So many posts about what to take on vacation here every day of the week. Oh, the humanity.
TRAVEL RIGHT, TRAVEL LITE.
My only travel camera is the Sony HX99. Has a Zeiss 24-750 mm do it all lens. Pop up viewfinder that acts like my D850 to view through on a bright day. Shoots Raw and can process sharp clear 20X30 prints without post production. What else would you want to take. And it fits into a nice small belt pouch so I can act like a normal tourist.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Will this be a "tourist trip" or a "photography trip"? If it's a photography trip, bring as much as you can carry. If you're traveling with a significant other, buy a small pocket camera.

Ava'sPapa Loc: Cheshire, Ct.

What Jerry said. My wife and I went to Italy last October and to appease my wife I only brought a Nikon A900 and got some pretty good shots. There are many
point and shot and bridge cameras out there with great reach. My wife doesn't read this column or I'd never admit that she was right. I'd been to Italy years ago with a friend and brought a Nikon FA with 3 or 4 lenses. Quite an ordeal. And yes, ours was a tourist trip. Have fun.

Piltdown1952

"I took to much photo equipment on my bucket list trip," said no photographer ever! Not trolling here, seriously, bring everything you've got and you won't regret it.

ELNikkor

You bought that Canon outfit for something, a shame not to use it for this cruise. (I'm sure you are strong enough to heft it for those situations where it is necessary.)