Alaska Cruise Telephoto Lens Suggestions?

For an inside passage Alaska cruise in June 2022, what telephoto lens would forum members suggest? I plan to shoot mostly from the ship, but might take a few shore excursions for wildlife. I have the 135/1.8 Sigma, but would that be long enough for shots of glaciers from the ship? I find that I can crop the 135 to about a 300mm equivalent with decent results, but think I will want something longer. Should I get a 100-400 or something even longer? As my budget is limited; I have ruled out something like the Canon 100-400L-II, even if used. I am considering the Sigma 100-400 which seems to give image quality similar to the Canon at about 1/3 the cost. I also have the Sigma 18-300, but its image quality is not great.

What do forum members suggest?

Note - my camera is a crop-sensor 80D.

Note - I don't want to consider renting the lens, as I will want to keep it after the cruise.

RodneyCyr wrote in post #19336062
For an inside passage Alaska cruise in June 2022, what telephoto lens would forum members suggest? I plan to shoot mostly from the ship, but might take a few shore excursions for wildlife. I have the 135/1.8 Sigma, but would that be long enough for shots of glaciers from the ship? I find that I can crop the 135 to about a 300mm equivalent with decent results, but think I will want something longer. Should I get a 100-400 or something even longer? As my budget is limited; I have ruled out something like the Canon 100-400L-II, even if used. I am considering the Sigma 100-400 which seems to give image quality similar to the Canon at about 1/3 the cost. I also have the Sigma 18-300, but its image quality is not great.

What do forum members suggest?

Note - my camera is a crop-sensor 80D.

Note - I don't want to consider renting the lens, as I will want to keep it after the cruise.

Canon 100-400 MkI
Sigma 150-600 C
Tamron 150-600 MkII
Sigma 100-400

You could, also, consider the Canon 400 f/5.6L prime. The one thing it doesn’t have is IS. Given that you’re not limely going to be close enough to need wider lengths from the deck of the ship, I’d probably recommend that route, as I’m thinking over it.

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Eric's suggestions (above) are excellent. . That Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary is a lot of good quality lens for the money, and I would strongly consider that if I were in your position.

One worth considering that he didn't mention is the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM lens. . The price has dropped dramatically on this lens (used, of course) and it is now a pretty good bargain for L series optics. . The last few that sold on the Fred Miranda classifieds sold in the $600 to $700 range.

By the way, I would only consider buying used lenses, not a new ones.


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When we went....anything that we saw was really far out and away from the ship.....500-600MM minimum is what I suggest. I found my 300F4 to be useless when I went and I didnt have a 150-600 yet......If I were to go again I would use a 500F4 on a 1.4 TC and the 150-600 would be on the 2nd camera at all times. Matter of fact, the 150-600 would be the camera I would carry all the time.

Hi,

As others mentioned, take the longest lenses/zooms you can. You'll find anything shorter than 400mm even on APS-C to be too short for most of the things you'll encounter. If purchasing, the 150-600 flavors are inexpensive and would do the job and are pretty good. If renting go for something big and long. Expect to hand hold a lot, or a monopod, but you need to be able to of course handle it so keep that in mind (before thinking a 500mm F4 or bigger). Depends on your enthusiasm.

Very best,

OP after choosing what he needs should consider a rental. See https://www.lensrental​s.com/.

I've made that trip, at a time when I had a 60D and found 300mm a bit on the short side and wished I had something longer for some wildlife images (whales mainly). It wasn't a major issue however.

The Canon EF 70-300 II NanoUSM is a good lens for about $550 and would give you decent reach on a crop body

I thank the forum for all of the responses with useful suggestions. Consensus seems to be that I will want at least 400mm, if not more. Some of you suggested one of the Canon 70-300 lenses, but they aren't long enough. Regrettably I once owned the 70-300L but sold it. I also owned the 70-300 (non-L) but sold that too. But I still want something longer.
My top choices so far are both Sigma: the 100-400 and the 150-600 contemporary. I looked at lensrentals.com and found their prices reasonable - about $75 for ten days for the 100-400.

I am still considering my options and welcome more suggestions.

You can never be long enough. Another vote for the Siggy 150-600. Surprisingly good especially for the cost. I have both the Canon 100-400 v1 and the Sig 150-600 and prefer the siggy. I hear that the new Canon 100-400 is better but not at 600.

I have been on two Alaskan cruises. On the most recent one in 2014, I took a 5D3, 7D, EF 16-35mm f/4 IS, EF 24-105mm f/4 IS, and the original EF 100-400mm IS L (have since upgraded to the MKII). The 100-400 stayed mounted on the 7D.

From the cruise ship, you will probably not have many wildlife opportunities. We saw some otters, and whales far in the distance. Whether I had a 400mm or 600mm lens really wouldn't have made much difference there. I used the 100-400mm more for landscapes while on the ship.

We did take excursions while on land, though, as well as spent another week on land before the cruise. The best excursion during the cruise portion for wildlife was a whale watching cruise out of Juneau. In that case, we were able to get quite close to the whales, so that at times the short end of the 100-400 wasn't wide enough -- but with 400mm I never thought I needed more reach. I would recommend taking an excursion more targeted to photographers -- we were on a smaller boat (about 15 passengers) with large windows that lifted out of the way. I stayed on the stern the entire time with one other guy who had a similar setup, and never had to jockey for position with the other passengers who sat inside with the large windows open.

Here are a few examples from that excursion:

Snydremark wrote in post #19336120
Canon 100-400 MkI
Sigma 150-600 C
Tamron 150-600 MkII
Sigma 100-400

You could, also, consider the Canon 400 f/5.6L prime. The one thing it doesn’t have is IS. Given that you’re not limely going to be close enough to need wider lengths from the deck of the ship, I’d probably recommend that route, as I’m thinking over it.

What he said, and I'd consider one of the 150-600 lenses.

I know what you said on not renting the lens but maybe reconsider it. Why buy something without ever having tried it just to find out you are dissatisfied with it. That dissatisfaction could be reach OR image quality. And whatever lens you choose consider trying it well before the real trip. It would be such a bummer to get out there and then discover your images are soft or something. If your lens choice turns out to be a little short but produces nicely sharp images you can probably still crop to satisfaction. In addition, using a Canon 1.4xiii on some lenses produces very little reduction in image quality yet adds 40% reach. I REALLY wish the 2.0xiii would be as sharp as it's little brother but it isn't.

It sounds like some of the people who have responded here have been on that cruise. I'd say a 24-70 for wide shots, plus 100-400/1.4xiii or the 150-600 would do the job. But try it well in advance.

chuckmiller wrote in post #19336675
It sounds like some of the people who have responded here have been on that cruise. I'd say a 24-70 for wide shots, plus 100-400/1.4xiii or the 150-600 would do the job. But try it well in advance.

If you still have the 15-85 EF-S listed in your profile then I think you have the short end well covered.

Good suggestions from everyone. I just ordered the 100-400 Sigma. The two lenses I considered were the Sigma 100-400 and Sigma 150-600. If the Alaska cruise was the only time I would use it I would have chosen the 150-600, and probably rented it. But I want to keep the lens and use it for other things, and the 150-600 was too bulky. I ordered from Amazon, which has a 30-day return policy giving me plenty of time to try it out.

RodneyCyr wrote in post #19336703
Good suggestions from everyone. I just ordered the 100-400 Sigma. The two lenses I considered were the Sigma 100-400 and Sigma 150-600. If the Alaska cruise was the only time I would use it I would have chosen the 150-600, and probably rented it. But I want to keep the lens and use it for other things, and the 150-600 was too bulky. I ordered from Amazon, which has a 30-day return policy giving me plenty of time to try it out.

Good choice, be aware (for the future) in buying Sigma that they have an outlet store. I’ve only one experience with them and it was very positive. The 100-400 Contemporary is currently shown at $599. See https://www.sigmaphoto​.com …3-dg-os-hsm-c-refurbished