Going to Alaska

Grizz1 wrote in post #18822880
Now as to Wildlife there is no correct answer, the time of year and weather will have a lot to do with that. Scott didn't have much luck in the park, I how ever shot Grizzly, caribou and many Moose with the 18-135. Saw over a hundred Moose, many Grizzly, Dall Sheep. Weather was bad, well into Sept, so the bears were feeding heavy at lower elevations. Moose were rutting and stopped traffic for 30 minutes at one point. In June this will not be happening. I did not see" the mountain" because of weather, 3 days and no Denali showed for me. It was a trade off, bad weather equals lots of Wildlife, good weather = good Landscape and maybe a great shot of the Mt.

We were there in July each time, so your September visit definitely would have been much better for wildlife viewing in the park. As for seeing the mountain, on our first visit it was out for just one hour over the two days we were around the park. However, on our more recent trip, the mountain was visible the entire three days we were in the area. We were extremely lucky in that regard.

Sounds like I am shopping. I know this will be opinions. Rent L glass or look for sigma deals? I want to experience as much as I can photography wise. I know.....get a second body while I'm at it. LOL

Scott, you have a beautiful shot of the Mountain and I'm a little envious. Statistics say the Mt is visible only 30% of the time so Scott,you beat the odds, good for you.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/ixAE​fG

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/ixAq​as

Scott and Griz, if I do half as well as you two I will be happy. Those shots are awesome.

Grizz,

Love the moose shot. I'm jealous, as I have lousy luck in trying to capture a decent bull moose shot. In recent years, we've spent numerous days in national parks such as Glacier, Yellowstone, Ilse Royale, and Denali, plus Baxter State Park in north central Maine, trying to get a good view of one without success. In fact, the only quality moose shot I have captured from these trips is a cow moose in Glacier. We hiked back to Fishercap Lake, a well-known moose hangout, numerous times during our last visit. Rach time on the way to the lake we were told "you just missed the bull". We staggered our hikes at different times, but always just missed seeing the bull -- or any moose until our last hike when a cow gave us quite a show wading out in the lake.

williambeeler wrote in post #18822931
Sounds like I am shopping. I know this will be opinions. Rent L glass or look for sigma deals? I want to experience as much as I can photography wise. I know.....get a second body while I'm at it. LOL

If you are flying, the Canon 100-400L II is a little more portable than the Sigma and Tamron 150-600 offerings. I think the Siggy 100-400 is smaller than the Canon, but I'm not sure how it compares quality-wise. Personally, I own the Canon 100-400L II now, but I owned the original Canon 100-400L during our recent Alaska trip (I was shooting film during our first trip 20 years ago). While the added focal length of the 150-600mm lenses are tempting, they will not fit in the Lowepro Flipside 400AW backpack I take when flying. This is the largest size bag that will fit under an airline seat, and it barely fits my entire kit. I usually put the bag in the overhead compartment, but if that area is full I do not want to be forced to check my camera bag with several thousand dollars worth of equipment.

I was reading about the sigma 100-400 it is f/ 5-f/6.3 as compared to canons 4.5-5.6. Would that be a major factor? What I have read the Sigma is very sharp.

Scott, if you should go back to Denali, consider the 1st week of Sept. Look for Moose for the first 10- 15 miles into the park, evening being best, early morning good too but seems like everyone is slow to get going for the day. Saw Bears after mile 15 but the hot spot was near the Eielson visitor center, they were everywhere.

I have relatives in Alaska and have visited several times. I've never been to Denali but have gotten some great shots in an around Anchorage. That time of year the cows have little ones and try to stay hidden. Not saying you won't see any, but it might be limited. Good luck with Denali though. Grizzlies, wolves, and wolverines are the big prizes. If you travel on the Seward Highway at all, look up on the mountainside for Dall's sheep would definitely get a wide angle for the trip because you will see incredible landscapes.

williambeeler wrote in post #18823762
I was reading about the sigma 100-400 it is f/ 5-f/6.3 as compared to canons 4.5-5.6. Would that be a major factor? What I have read the Sigma is very sharp.

That difference in the aperture should not be a major, deciding factor between the two. If your budget is tighter, I wouldn't hesitate to seriously entertain the Sigma for your needs. I would definitely say that the 70-200 is likely to just be a frustration once you're up there; due to a lot of the views being much wider than it can capture, and you'll want/need longer reach to get to (or avoid getting too close to) the critters. My g/f took me up there a few years back and I used the 24-105 at the wider end and the 10-22 a ton and my 100-400 primarily at the 400 end. You can scan through results and check out focal lengths used, etc in this gallery: https://flic.kr/s/aHsj​KDHtXj

I hope you get this in time. One week to go til Alaska. I upgraded my mk1 with a 7000 click 7D mk2 and bought a Tamron 150-600 G2. My question now is take the 70-200 or leave it home? I have 2 smaller zooms that would cover 18-105 mm.

The Tamron 100-400 is smaller/lighter than the Canon version and gets some good reviews.

William, I always hesitate to tell anyone to leave equipment at home. From the gear you have doubt you will use it much, wide and or long will be the two choices most needed is my thinking.
So will you now have two bodies? If so, good, to minimize lens changing.
I seem to always over pack and there will be some things that may not be used at all but if I own it, it's usually in a bag to go where ever I go.
Enjoy your trip, share some photos when you can and have a great time shooting in Alaska. Have plenty of memory storage no matter what lens you take, photo ops every where you look.

Back from the trip. Had a wonderful time and learned a lot such as shooting at 600 mm on a rocking boat is hard. As soon as I relearn how to post I will.

My wife liked these two