mikegreenwald wrote:
I’ve made that trip twice. Both times I used full frame DSLRs (Canon 5D3 & 5D4, but brand matters little). I carried two, one with a 24-105 f4 IS, the other with a 100-400 f4.5-5.6 & a 1.4 tele adapter. I will carry the same next 2 trips as well.
I don’t particularly like wider angle lenses - photo merge shots at around f50-60 for panos are much better for the super wide prints I often make of them. The latter requires growing comfortable with hand-held series of shots for photo-merges, using the horizon for vertical alignment, plus wide overlaps for quality results. Tripods are a handicap on a vibrating boat, and clumsy to carry to and from shore on Zodiacs.
For shore trips there was only moderate use for the long lens. The 24-105 is sufficient most of the time.
If you don’t plan to make large prints, a good bridge camera with a big zoom range is all you need though. My wife has multiple amazing shots from her Samsung smartphone, and I’ve incorporated them into our slideshow.
Whatever you get, be thoroughly familiar with it before the trip begins - there are some truly amazing photo opportunities, and it would be unfortunate to miss them because of an error in camera settings or handling.
I’ve made that trip twice. Both times I used full ... (
show quote)
I agree totally with this comment. On two trips I have been to all three and primarily used my 100-400 on a Canon 5D II for the vast amounts of wildlife we saw on South Georgia and the Falklands. For the Antarctica piece, I was on a regular cruise so most of my shots were of the scenery from the ship. On that trip I did get some wildlife however with my Canon 7D using the 100-400. In those areas you will have many opportunities to take a lot of shots of flying birds that follow the ship. Have fun.