Algernon Loc: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Was just there this past December/January.

You'll find that you'll want wide-angle for the incredible vistas, and a strong zoom for getting close to any animal other than penguins.

I mostly used my 16-55mm lens, and my son-in-law used a P&S 30x (up to 700mm equivalent), so between the two of us we covered the gamut of needs.

As has been mentioned already, make sure you have a way to protect your camera(s) in the zodiacs. It can get wet.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

It's the other way around. If you can't afford that stuff, you can't afford to go someplace like the Antarctic. Just imagine taking just one of each of those, and having something break that leaves you unable to do more photography... after spending all that money, you get next to nothing. It's cheap insurance.

John Langevin

I was stationed at south pole when I was in the navy what I can tell you to practice up on black and white photography a lot of snow
I don't know when you are leaving but I got there in October and it was -60 degrees
Have a good trip

efleck Loc: Vancouver, WA State

Hi, I have a sad tale about our trip to Antarctica three years ago. As we arrived in dry and sunny Ushuaia (far southern Argentina) I discovered that my Olympus telephoto lens stopped working. The camera shops in Ushuaia did not have any Olympus lenses for sale and they didn’t even have Nikon or Cannon cameras of the quality I might want to purchase. So, I had to leave for the Antarctic Peninsula with only a 35 mm lens on my Olympus plus a small point and shoot Cannon D10 (water proof). Since so many of the animals have no fear of humans I got wonderful closeup shots of penguins, skuas, shethbills, shags, gulls, terns and seals as one could approach them very closely. However, some animals, like the orcas and albatrosses were too far for my 35mm lens. Thanks goodness I had the backup Cannon D10—it saved the trip. So, think about having a second camera as a backup. (My tour company had a strict limit on weight so taking a complete backup set of camera/lenses was out of the question.) Also, pay attention to the advice from others about moisture and condensation. Keep those plastic garbage bags and Ziploc bags handy and use them when you move from the warm interior of your vessel to the shore boat thence to shore. Have a lot of fun. Antarctica is a fantastic experience and you should get wonderful photo options. Earl

Al Bruton

I have been there twice and it is awsome. You will need a long lens for much of your shooting and a wide angle zoom lens for close ups and scenic. Often you will be shooting penguins within feet of you. You will need a light, but srturdy tripod because there will be times that you can walk a great distance to get to shooting sites. You will need a fully waterproof bag to carry your camera equipment from the mother boat to the inflatables and then when getting on and off the inflatable ashore. Often is some surf. You will also have to be able to shoot your long lens hand held when crusing in the ice pack.In short you will experence a lot of variety in shooting options, but weight is a factor you must consider. I hope you are going on a long trip vs a short one, because the Falklands and South Georiga are awsome. Especially S. Gerogia, which offer the most dramatic scenery. Good luck.

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

Well thought out - probably minimum requirements for a photographic trip to the wilds of anywhere - when your nearest photo help is several thousands of miles away. It's about not spoiling an expensive trip for a hap'orth of tar. :-)

Dsrapa Loc: Outside of nyc

Was there 10 years ago. Having waterproof or water protected equipment was critical. At the time I had a canon p and s with a waterproof housing, a camera similar to the current lumix fz200 and a primitive waterproof camera. Today I would probably take 2 cameras both with super zoom and good video (the whales breaching, and penguins are incredible to watch and video).
And a better quality waterproof.
Maybe I should take my own advice for my upcoming trip to Galapagos.
We got caught in some very dramatic weather changes, starting out calm warm and sunny and within minutes ending up in a WWII black and white movie with horizontal snow running thru water to scramble onto zodiacs.
It was a fabulous trip.
But prepare for the drakes passage. We had 25 ft waves. And that was ordinary.

aginzu

I was there last year and took a Canon SX50 and Nikon D5100 with 18-250mm zoom. I used the SX50 most of the time and the Nikon if lighting conditions were poor. Also, I ended up shooting quite a number of video clips with the SX50.

I kept the camera (which ever one I had on me at the time) under the parka if there was a chance of it getting splashed. Most of the time, however, even in the Zodiacs, it was smooth and I was able to get great photos.

Antarctica is a photographer's paradise!

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I don't know what camera and lenses you have, but I would take most of it (if not all, you don't go to Antartica every day)! I sure would take a wide angle , as wildlife is usually easy to approach!

YKnot Loc: N Florida

Doubling up is nice but inconvenient and really not necessary, I used my 24-70 lense the most. Next I used my point and shoot a lot.. it was really handy around the ship and in the zodiaks. I put it into a baggy and opened the top when ready to shoot. you can slip it in and out of your parka even with the bulky life vest on and not risk a bigger set of equipment.

take plenty of cards and batteries [with chargers] Light changesckly and regularly. Have something on that is neutral gray and shoot it regularly. i used my wifes grey cap she shot my grey cap.

Don't fotget to take the camera down and just suck in the beauty for your own memories, YOU WILL HAVE A GREAT TIME.

Flyerace Loc: Mt Pleasant, WI

Have a blast. That trip is still on my to-do list. I just hate cold weather and always find someplace else to visit. The biggy besides all the other things is to keep your batteries warm inside your jacket. Any cold weather, and a gazillion photos will drain the batteries faster.

jwhphotos Loc: Maryland

My suggestion would be two Sony A6000's - Why? They are high quality cams, they are inexpensive (relatively), and this seems like a one in a lifetime trip and the marginal expense of the two cams is nothing.

Lenses - I would take the 70-200 f4 and 18-105 f4 put one on each camera and you won't have to change lenses.

As an alternative, I would take two Canon G1X MII's. These are also relatively small but have large sensors and take high quality photos. They have built-in 24-120mm lenses so you don't have to change lenses.

For a trip like that I wouldn't think of not having two cams.

Above all, have a great trip and enjoy it.

Cdouthitt Loc: Traverse City, MI

Or go with a pair of EM5ii that are weather-sealed and freeze proof. The 3 pro lenses 7-14, 12-40, and 40-150 (and 1.4x) will have you covered (14-410mm in ff terms)

mikedent Loc: Florida

Question on the ziplocks to carry cameras/electronic gear inside of. I know it is designed to prevent fogging due to the colder outside air vs onboard ship, but won't the camera fog up anyway as soon as you take it out of the bag? What prevents fogging up on the return to the ship?

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

First, don't use ZipLoc bags to prevent fogging! Use kitchen sized plastic trash bags. They are much much more versatile!

ZipLoc bags are great for storage. Any place where it might rain, where you are in a boat, or whatever, the best protection is to have every individual object in your camera bag in a ZipLock bag. Each lens, TC, battery, memory cards, cords, whatever. For objects outside of the camera bag, have a plastic trash bag available to wrap it in case of rain.

The object of putting the camera and lens into a plastic bag when going from a cold environment to warm environment is to prevent warm moist air from direct contact with a cool camera. Once the camera warms up it isn't a problem. If it is cold, and warm air is in direct contract, the air will cool off and won't be able to hold as much moisture. The moisture will condense right on the camera... But if the camera is warming up inside a plastic bag the warm air touches the bag, not the camera, and any condensation just makes the bag moist on the outside, leaving a dry camera. Once the camera is warm it can be taken out of the bag.

Plastic trash bags are nice because they are thin (all the air can be squeezed out and the camera will warm up faster), and all they need is a twist at the top to keep air movement out of the bag. If you want to retrieve a battery or a memory card it's possible to just reach down into the bag and get it, without letting a lot of warm air in. (Do that with a ZipLoc bag and the whole bag will be full of warm moist air.)