Lens choices for Alaskan cruise

John from PA wrote in post #16693981
Highly recommend Celebrity Lines. They tend to have an older more mature crowd on board as opposed to the younger party type crowds. If you are under thirty, sorry if I offended.

I'm well over 30 and would prefer the more mature crowds! I'll check out Celebrity Lines. Thanks.

5dmk 2
TSE17 MM
100-400 IS L
TC 1.4
85mm 1.8

T3i
10 22 mm
8mm fish eye.

Coming from Minnesota I am also no stranger to mosquitos.
The mosquitos in Denali weigh 10 pounds each, have hair longer than me and will carry your children away. Be prepared.

fishbio wrote in post #16693911
I debated on buying the 24-105 with my 6D, but opted for the body only. I figured I already had the range covered with my T2i and 15-85. In fact, the 15-85 stays on my T2i virtually all the time and I really like the combo. The 70-200 usually stays on my 6D. I can put the 400 5.6 on either camera but I would probably use it most on the T2i for the reach.

I went in the other direction, preferring the full frame sensor for all my landscape shooting, and using the crop sensor with its added "reach" with the telephoto for wildlife. Selling the 17-55 f/2.8 more than funded the 24-105L as part of the 5D3 kit, and selling the 10-22 for the 17-40L was about an even trade. The combo worked great last summer in Glacier National Park.

I do like the suggestions for plastic bags --- I need to pick up some rain sleeves before we go.

BTW, we are booked with Princess Cruise Line. They were terrific when we went 15 years ago.

Princess - owns Alaska. Be sure to check out their Tour Packages. Tours have changed for this summer. They now have their own exclusive train - every day. Plus they have their Direct to the Wilderness train leaving right from the ship to Denali.

fishbio wrote in post #16694152
I'm well over 30 and would prefer the more mature crowds! I'll check out Celebrity Lines. Thanks.

Thanks Scott and RWK. I'll check out Princess.

Just got back from my cruise/tour of Alaska and wanted to share my thoughts. We used Princess Cruises and took the Denali Explorer package (AA3). Princess was great and I highly recommend them if you are traveling to Alaska. I took 2 camera bodies (70D and 6D) and 5 lenses (15-85, 70-200 f4, 400 5.6, 35 2.0, and pancake 40. Also brought a tripod and monopod and various filters. Probably 90% of my photos were taken with either the 15-85 or 400. I probably could have lived with just those two lenses. The monopod was very useful but I rarely used the tripod. The scenery is simply awesome and I can't wait to go back someday!

Thanks for sharing your experience.

fishbio wrote in post #17083811
Just got back from my cruise/tour of Alaska and wanted to share my thoughts. We used Princess Cruises and took the Denali Explorer package (AA3). Princess was great and I highly recommend them if you are traveling to Alaska. I took 2 camera bodies (70D and 6D) and 5 lenses (15-85, 70-200 f4, 400 5.6, 35 2.0, and pancake 40. Also brought a tripod and monopod and various filters. Probably 90% of my photos were taken with either the 15-85 or 400. I probably could have lived with just those two lenses. The monopod was very useful but I rarely used the tripod. The scenery is simply awesome and I can't wait to go back someday!

Glad to hear you had a good time. Our trip was from 7/3 - 7/16, and we booked the "off the beaten path" package through Princess. That included 3 nights around Denali and two nights at Copper Center before the cruise from Whittier to Vancouver.

I ended up taking a 5D3, 7D, 16-35 f/4 IS, 24-105L, 100-400L and 40mm pancake, as well as both a tripod and monopod. The 24-105L (on the 5D3) and 100-400L (on the 7D) were my most used lenses. I used the tripod around Denali and when cruising Glacier Bay on the ship, while the monopod got its use during our whale watching excursions in Juneau and Ketchikan.

The 16-35 f/4 IS was a new addition, but was really too wide for the landscapes we encountered. I used that lens mostly on board the cruise ship for some shots of the lobby area, around the town of Ketchikan, and while touring a historic copper mill in Kennicott within Wrangell - St. Elias National Park.

A pair of Optech rain sleeves were invaluable during some inclement weather that hit us in Kennicott, Glacier Bay, Juneau and Skagway.

You can see photos from our trip via the photo gallery link in my signature. The whale watching out of Juneau (about 2/3rds through the photos) yielded some spectacular views of humpbacks bubble feeding.

Great thread, lots of good info, we are booked for mid Sept and cannot wait to get there now!

Leon

Scott M wrote in post #17084028
You can see photos from our trip via the photo gallery link in my signature.

You have beautiful shots.

Scott M wrote in post #17084028
Glad to hear you had a good time. Our trip was from 7/3 - 7/16, and we booked the "off the beaten path" package through Princess. That included 3 nights around Denali and two nights at Copper Center before the cruise from Whittier to Vancouver.

I ended up taking a 5D3, 7D, 16-35 f/4 IS, 24-105L, 100-400L and 40mm pancake, as well as both a tripod and monopod. The 24-105L (on the 5D3) and 100-400L (on the 7D) were my most used lenses. I used the tripod around Denali and when cruising Glacier Bay on the ship, while the monopod got its use during our whale watching excursions in Juneau and Ketchikan.

The 16-35 f/4 IS was a new addition, but was really too wide for the landscapes we encountered. I used that lens mostly on board the cruise ship for some shots of the lobby area, around the town of Ketchikan, and while touring a historic copper mill in Kennicott within Wrangell - St. Elias National Park.

A pair of Optech rain sleeves were invaluable during some inclement weather that hit us in Kennicott, Glacier Bay, Juneau and Skagway.

You can see photos from our trip via the photo gallery link in my signature. The whale watching out of Juneau (about 2/3rds through the photos) yielded some spectacular views of humpbacks bubble feeding.

Scott, You have some great whale photos! We did the evening whale excursion in Juneau and the humpbacks were pretty active. I managed to get some nice photos but missed the best opportunity while admiring my previous shots on the camera screen……won't let that happen again! The monopod was very useful for the whale watching and the rain sleeves gave me peace of mind.

Sibil wrote in post #17084133
You have beautiful shots.

fishbio wrote in post #17084219
Scott, You have some great whale photos! We did the evening whale excursion in Juneau and the humpbacks were pretty active. I managed to get some nice photos but missed the best opportunity while admiring my previous shots on the camera screen……won't let that happen again! The monopod was very useful for the whale watching and the rain sleeves gave me peace of mind.

Thanks, Sibil and John.

We did a combination photo wildlife cruise & Mendenhall Glacier hike in Juneau, and the whale watching was on a smaller boat (14 passengers) that included a professional photographer/naturalis​t. The small boat made the trip very enjoyable, as it was very easy to move around and get in the proper position with minimal competition from other people. We were very fortunate that the whales erupted from the water to bubble feed so close to our boat. We've been whale watching about a dozen times in Maine, Boston, Hawaii and Alaska, and had never witnessed that behavior until this outing. It was a memorable experience.