Going to Alaska ..... Hello UHH! I am going to Alaska at the end of May. I will be on a boat everyday, hotel at night. Which lens should I rent... 200-400 f4 nikon 200-500 f5.6 nikon...

shells Loc: Chicago

Hello UHH! I am going to Alaska at the end of May. I will be on a boat everyday, hotel at night. Which lens should I rent...

200-400 f4 nikon

200-500 f5.6 nikon

or 80-400 Nikon f4.5-5.6

Thank you for your help!

John Matthews Loc: Wasilla, Alaska

If you are never off the boat besides to sleep the 200-500. If you doing day hikes, etc the 80-400. I will note I don’t know the quality of the Nikon lenses.

ELNikkor

Any telephoto from that boat may seem short when it comes to birds and wild life. If you are visiting a glacier, you won't need a huge lens either. Take the lightest of those 3 mentioned; f4 speed is not necessary as you will be in good light.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

shells wrote:

Hello UHH! I am going to Alaska at the end of May. I will be on a boat everyday, hotel at night. Which lens should I rent...

200-400 f4 nikon

200-500 f5.6 nikon

or 80-400 Nikon f4.5-5.6

Thank you for your help!

70-300 - easy to manage or, 200-500 if you plan to maybe sell images ....

jerrym

I have been there twice in the summer. cruises and spent time on shore walking in the city. I suggest the lightest of the long zooms, and a small lightweight fairly wide angle walk around for the city. It will be light most of the time so lens speed should not be a factor.

David Martin Loc: Cary, NC

Most wildlife visible from the boat will be tiny specks.
So take a wide angle for glaciers and other landscape shots from the boat.
Assuming you take shore excursions, the 200-500 to shoot eagles, bear, etc. because you'll want the longest reach, assuming you don't mind the weight.

Judy795

500 PF for light weight

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

shells wrote:

Hello UHH! I am going to Alaska at the end of May. I will be on a boat everyday, hotel at night. Which lens should I rent...

200-400 f4 nikon

200-500 f5.6 nikon

or 80-400 Nikon f4.5-5.6

Thank you for your help!

They are all similar in most regards. The 80-400 will give you the most range but you will be missing a lot of photo opportunities by not taking a wide zoom like a 15-35 or 24-70. Just sayin.

Tgbyrne

200 to 500 for reach from the boat. iPhone 13 pro for scenery, hikes, street photography, videos.

scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

Don’t forget that when taking photos from a moving ship you will encounter various degrees of “rock ‘n roll” depending on weather and waves. This will lead to motion unsharpness, so make sure you have IS enabled and shoot at a fast enough SS to help prevent motion blur. Topaz may also be your best friend.

Vector

Depending on if and what excursion you do, a standard zoom like a 17-55 (or 24 -70 for full frame) will be necessary if you do something like the rain forest in Juneau or visit Skagway.

roger55 Loc: Tampa Bay Florida

Bug spray for the No Seeums !

RolandDieter

You are talking rental, so I assume you have a camera and some other lenses. Without knowing what you have we cannot recommend what you may need to add.

Vector

Also, if you are shooting FF or crop sensor.

Hip Coyote

shells wrote:

Hello UHH! I am going to Alaska at the end of May. I will be on a boat everyday, hotel at night. Which lens should I rent...

200-400 f4 nikon

200-500 f5.6 nikon

or 80-400 Nikon f4.5-5.6

Thank you for your help!

I am trying to envision a trip where you are on a boat every day and in a hotel at night. Is the boat so small as to not have accommodations? Taking you from place to place? Is the boat designed to get in close to glaciers? Closer than some large ocean liner? Reason I ask is that a small boat will certainly rock in the seas in Alaska, generally. If you are going to be near glaciers, I would certainly have wide angle covered (not in your OP, I get that, just sayin'). If you are going to be on a boat shooting towards land, maybe whales, I'd try to marry up the longest lens with the best stabilization. No tripod will work on a boat. And your shutter speeds will have to be pretty fast to get sharp images due to the motion of the ocean. I am not a nikon guy, but if the 200-400 f4 seems about right.

BTW, if I were on a boat every day in Alaska, there'd be some salmon and halibut fishing for at least a day!