What gain did you use? I've not done any serious captures with 30s subs usingmy ASI1600MM Pro. Do you apply a master dark and autoguide?

I most frequently use 120s but lately grabbed M81 with 240s and 360s subs, darks applied and autoguided.

Don

I wanted to mention the Minniwanka Loop but couldn't remember its name. Two Jack Lake is very nice as is the lake further around the loop. One my absolute best landscapes was shot there in 1985 but you can't get the shot anymore since the roadside trees are too tall now.

If you want snow capped mountains, the Ice Fields Pkwy is terrific.

As for other parks, Kananaskis Country is excellent too. It's just south of Banff.

It's mountainous so some of the premier photo ops like Peyto Lake may still be frozen over. It has the most beautiful colour water. Moraine Lake, Lake Louise may be open water by then. The Ice Fields Parkway will give you dozens of photo ops including wild life on or near the highway. The glacier whose name escapes me has melted such that it is quite a distance from the road.
You can see some of my Banff/Jasper work here. I'm on smartphone and it's hard to copy & paste links (for me anyway!). You'll have to look for a gallery.
<bydawnlight.zenfolio.com>

Don

Stay off the the bridge (Ponte Vecchio?) in Florence. Our tour guide described it as a den of thieves. You should look at the thread about a Rhine cruise. The overwhelming consensus is that you need a minimalist approach to gear. Your situation may a bit different than a cruise, but most of the comments still apply.

You are seriously over loaded and I don't think you've considered the cabin luggage restrictions.
I had a 6D & 7D2 with 24-105 lenses on my Rhine- Danube cruise. I wish I had owned my new Sony RX10 iii back then. It has a superb 24-600 Zeiss lens. I felt I could have used a wider angle lens inside the towns & cities. As for a tripod, I needed one for night shots of flood lighted buildings in Budapest as we sailed in at night and did a loop back to our dock.

It's a great trip. I'm using my smartphone and can't easily grab a link to my cruise album.

Don

I can't say much about Leica having tested exactly one of them but I can say something about Zeiss. The lens on my Sony RX10 III is great. But the Sony 55/1.8, was not worth keeping and I sold it.

The Sigma 35/1.4 ART is a superb lens, at least in Canon format. However, o cannot compare it to other 35mm lenses, only my many other lenses, all of which are/were not as fast.

Don

It has very small photosites among other factors. The Zeiss lens is actually only ~200mm but the smaller sensor. i.e., crop factor, makes it 600mm. It therefore uses only the central portion of the physical glass.

A friend of mine who owns Sony and Canon DSLRs pointed me to this camera and said it looked interesting. I Googled for reviews and found Ken Rockwell's review which was nothing short of effusive. My friend bought it right away and I waited a couple of weeks.

I am truly amazed by its image quality and I am a fanatic about sharpness. The camera has a lot of bells and whistles, e.g., handheld night shots where it takes 4 quick shots and does an incamera merge.

You mustn't have checked out the RX10 III. It is a fixed lens camera. It happens to have a lens that will blow away just about any zoom lens on the market. It is f/2.4-4, 24-600mm. It is lightweight when compared to any long zoom.The people buying it, like me, aren't changing camera systems. Ken Rockwell says that after he tested the camera it is now his walkaround camera.

I bought it for a cruise that includes a tour of the Yukon and Alaska (Denali Park).

For just about the same price you can get a camera and a stunning lens. Check out the review on Ken Rockwell's site of the Sony RX10 III which has an outstanding Zeiss 24-600 lens and it doesn't weigh a ton.

Don

But these type of cases are heavy and you will run into weight limits for carry-on luggage.

Don

I cannot recommend highly enough the Sony RX10 III. It has a Zeiss 24-600 zoom lens that is simply incredible. Check out the review by Ken Rockwell who tests hundreds of cameras and lenses. It isn't cheap - $1500. If price is an issue look at cameras like the Panasonic FZ200 which is also 24-600 and pretty decent and under $500.

I am a long time DSLR owner who currently has a Sony A7R and recently sold a Canon 6D. One of my friends owns a Sony A7R II, Sony A7S, Canon 7D II and several CCD cameras. He thinks the RX10M3 is awesome.

A passport is required for entry to Canada. The only exceptions are a Nexus pass and WA State Ready drivers license. The special drivers license only works for border crossings as far as I know.

Don

I carry a Lowepro camera backpack with me on flights all the time but that is mostly inside Canada. I have had that backpack checked a few times with swabs. Cost me perhaps an extra 10 minutes. I am curious as to what the swabs would miss since, I assume, they look for chemical residue from explosives. Thankfully I don't fly into the US. I live only 4 miles from the border and drive instead to my winter vacation spot.

If they make it difficult to carry cameras, then I won't visit. I can remember the story of a Canadian passenger who was looking out the window of the aircraft in Florida and saw a baggage handler open his suitcase while on a moving loading platform. His suitcase moved out of sight. When he got back home his camera was gone. The baggage handler was charged but got off because he wasn't actually seen to be grabbing the camera.

TSA and other similar authorities will wind up under tremendous pressure if theft becomes an issue. But there are few rights to appeal when dealing with those folks. They hide incompetence and criminal activity behind the veil of national security.

Nice summary.