Choosing which lens to take to Iceland !

IanC_UK

IanC_UK

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Ian Cook
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Ok, me and my brother are going to Iceland for a week in late May, i would love to take the 600 F4 with me, but as we are going to be using an internal flight i dont think ill get away with the weight.

I already have a 70-200 2.8 IS, 100-400 L, 17-40L and nifty along with both converters. Im considering chatting to our resident Lens man (Lensesforhire) and hiring a lens to take with me thats not quite as beefy, but gives me better range and speed than the 100-400.

Thoughts are, 300 2.8 IS or 500 F4 both of which i can use both converters on, and i could get into a carry on size bag to take over. Would say the 400 2.8 but Stewart doesn't have one yet according to his site!

I will really regret not taking a decent length lens with me i think.

So any suggestions ? Plus/Minus points of my choices above etc ?
 
Which body, Ian?
 
Well, although I've not used one (mine's a 1Ds mk3) I was in the Antarctic last year, and with the iso performance of the 1D I personally wouldn't be too worried about the lack of speed of the 100/400, I used that on my 40D and got some great shots, blown them up to A1 with no problems.

Personally I found the 100/400 was enough to lug about, anything more would have spoilt the trip, and I had the 24/105 on the f/frame body for landscape.

I'd really think about the weight and how much walking you will do, unless you have a camel/yak/donkey/wife who will do the porterage.......:lol::lol:
 
LOL well my brother is going ;) lol and carrying the 600 and my other gear about means the weight isnt that hideous lol ;)

We are hiring a car to drive around, so its not tooo bad really, and with the whale watching trips a big lens isnt so important, but arctic foxes are there, and i just dont want to miss something if you see what i mean ?

Oh and ill probably take the 100-400 anyway its just for longer reach im thinking ?
 
ooohhhh:wave:, I am going there for 4 days in May. Going to take a 70-300mm, 10-20 and a 30mm.
 
Ian

Following on from discussions on PM, I think you have to take a long lens. 300/2.8 sounds like a good bet to me. It takes an extender well to give you 600 but a stop shy of what you are used to. Once you get to internal flights, even the 500 can be a bit much sometimes. Or, try and get Stuart to get a 400DO. Mine was great to travel with but not as sharp as the 300/500/600.

300 would also make a great whale watching lens - although when I was in Iceland, I didn't see any on the boat trip I did!

Cheers

Paul
 
What about renting a sigma 120-300mm F2.8 and then either a 1.4 or 2x convertor. as it will double the length but still keep a reasonable speed.
 
Sorry, I still stick by the 100/400, and with the sensor crop, it should be enough. Anyway, it'll have to do for polar bears in the Arctic this summer!!
 
grumpybadger said:
Ian

Following on from discussions on PM, I think you have to take a long lens. 300/2.8 sounds like a good bet to me. It takes an extender well to give you 600 but a stop shy of what you are used to. Once you get to internal flights, even the 500 can be a bit much sometimes. Or, try and get Stuart to get a 400DO. Mine was great to travel with but not as sharp as the 300/500/600.

300 would also make a great whale watching lens - although when I was in Iceland, I didn't see any on the boat trip I did!

Cheers

Paul
Click to expand...

Your thoughts are exactly the same as mine there Paul :) We are going up north to see the whales and being there for a week can do a couple of trips if necessary, they claim 98% chance of seeing a whale in the north.

The 300 IS is on my shopping list for later this year or next year just not sure when it will actually be lol :)

The only concern i have with the Sigma 120-300 is no IS and its a beast to handhold, so if on a boat, im not sure ?
 
I hardly ever took my nifty fifty off the camera when I was out in Lapland but as I know you are after other things than landscape
I guess this post is worthless :D
 
OK Ian and ThisPhotoGuy, I want a full report as I too am seriously thinking of going for a week or so in the summer. So I'd like to know all about your trips from the photography side and what sort of prices are things like food, petrol and so on.

Cheers Mark
 
The only thing I can suggest Ian about what lens to take is that I go in your place thus solving your problem!
 
When I finally get to work out how to do it (and have time!!) I'll post some Antarctic shots taken with the 40D and the 100/400, and with an effective focal length of up to 640mm at 5.6 with IS and also down to 160mm I actually missed some shots as the humpbacks were too close and I hadn't grabbed my 2nd body with the 24/105 on the f/f body.
I find the zoom ability is great as you don't know where the blasted whales are going to appear, and the fact that you can scan at say 200mm and then zoom right in, is much better than a fixed focal length which I admit may give a higher IQality but so what if you have missed the shot??:thinking:

So there for what it's worth!!

George
 
I know 2 lenses you dont wan't to be in iceland without...




Your eyes,

Sorry i don't really have a clue about any of the lenses but i hope you enjoy your trip and get some good snaps!
 
IanC_UK said:
Helpful as always Chris ;) :)
Click to expand...


At least you never called me a bloody muppet
It makes a nice change :D
One thing I did, don't know if it helps,
When I was out in lapland it was around -15 /-20oC
I kept my camera in a themos ( cooler bag) all the time it wasn't being used the theory being
that the temprature fluctuations were slow and slight between the outside and hotel room.
Condensation was never a problem.

 
Cobra said:

I kept my camera in a themos ( cooler bag) all the time it wasn't being used the theory being
that the temprature fluctuations were slow and slight between the outside and hotel room.
Condensation was never a problem.
Click to expand...

Nice idea!

Where abouts in Lapland? I ofter work over there - Ivalo/Rovaniemi mainly. Cracking part of the world...

 
edster said:
Nice idea!

Where abouts in Lapland? I ofter work over there - Ivalo/Rovaniemi mainly. Cracking part of the world...
Click to expand...

We stayed in Yllas Nr Äkäslompolo or the other way around. I never quite figured that bit out
 
IanC_UK said:
I stayed in a place called Levi when i went, it was -37 lol apparently iceland is about 10 or 11 degrees at the moment, not as cold as Finland, thansk for the advice though :)
Click to expand...

You better get the Bermuda shorts & T shirts packed then
Thats positvely toasty :D
BTW I had no idea of the temps I was just assuming
( Wrongly as per usual :D)



 
George said:
When I finally get to work out how to do it (and have time!!) I'll post some Antarctic shots taken with the 40D and the 100/400, and with an effective focal length of up to 640mm at 5.6 with IS and also down to 160mm I actually missed some shots as the humpbacks were too close and I hadn't grabbed my 2nd body with the 24/105 on the f/f body.
I find the zoom ability is great as you don't know where the blasted whales are going to appear, and the fact that you can scan at say 200mm and then zoom right in, is much better than a fixed focal length which I admit may give a higher IQality but so what if you have missed the shot??:thinking:

So there for what it's worth!!

George
Click to expand...

Thanks again George :) I will be taking the 100-400 anyway but appreciate the input :) must remember to have the 2nd body with me for the Whales as well from what you posted above :)
 
And although it won't be that cold, and I'm sure you know anyway, keep the batteries charged up, I was amazed at the no of people who didn't (and were surprised when they ran out) and also ran out of memory.
I took a 40GHz usb memory as a backup, and also dumped on to DVD every 2nd day or so just to make sure nothing got lost!!

Hope you get the tails!! (of the whales.....!!)
 
Hey guys, I'm thinking some of these locations would be fab for the "nifty fifty" project.

You know it makes sense ;)

Good luck with the whale watching and keep us posted.
 
George said:
And although it won't be that cold, and I'm sure you know anyway, keep the batteries charged up, I was amazed at the no of people who didn't (and were surprised when they ran out) and also ran out of memory.
I took a 40GHz usb memory as a backup, and also dumped on to DVD every 2nd day or so just to make sure nothing got lost!!

Hope you get the tails!! (of the whales.....!!)
Click to expand...

Heheheh yeah i will keep the batteries charged, i will be taking my laptop and an external hard drive with me to back the shots up so multiple copies :)

I hope i get some decent shots of the Whales too :)
 
Right, Ian, here's the challenge:lol:.......I think you should do a tally of which lenses you use most, then you can tell those of us silly enough to shoot our mouths off which one of us is a complete clown:thumbs:..just remember my money is on the 100/400.....:bonk::bonk:....I might regret this.....!!
 
You don't have a 24/105?? it's really useful for the in between stuff when you have the 2 bodies.
 
Sorry, I meant to say, if you are out on Zodiacs, with say 10 other people, the big lenses are a problem as they get in the way, and on a small boat personally I'd find even the 400 DO a bit big, I used one for 1 trip and then went back to the....yes you've guessed it!! the 100/400 purely in terms of ease of use.
We tended to use the longer lenses on tripods on shore, so might be good for the foxes.
 
long and wide...the scenary is dramatic and the light is so fantastic you won't want to miss out there. Hold your nose in the shower if in Reykjavik - it takes some getting used to.
 
You could say that!

Make sure you got to the Blue Lagoon too...
 
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