What kit to take to Norwegian Fjords Cruise?

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Adamcski

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I'm off with my family (my lot, my mother and father, my brother and his family also).

I want to take some gear with me but don't want to carry everything.

I have the following:

OM kit

OM 1. Mk2, OM 1 & OM5.2
8-25 F4 Pro, 12-40 F2.8 Pro V2, 40-150 F2.8 Pro, 90 mm macro and 17 mm F1.8.

Nikon Z

Z8
85 mm F1.8, 70-200 F2.8, 24-120 F4 and a nisi 77 mm close up lens.


I was thinking it would be best to take the OM kit, say the two OM1 bodies and the and just the 12-40 and 40-150 and just leave them attached to the bodies. But will I miss the 8 mm?

Other option is just take the Z8 and the 24-120 F4

I have filters and such for both systems.

What do you more experienced folk think ?

It's not a photography holiday but do want to take some images whilst there.

Also taking my DJI Action 5 and the pocket 3

I knew I should have got the 12-100 F4 lol
 
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I did a trip in 2014.

I mainly used a set of Sigma DP Merrills - about 28mm equivalent on the widest of the three. I took a lightweight tripod as well.

I took a large number of hand held panos with these to get wider.

I also had a 70-300 mounted on a Sony DSLR. It really only got used while transiting the North Sea .... oil rigs and installations.

We had fixed dining - and were on the later sitting. This allowed me to be out on deck during departures - the ship generally departed about 1730. These were productive (by comparison the entry to ports in the morning tended to be much more dull and muted) and I was often the only person up on deck after the first half hour. It gets windy up front when the ship moves. So I would move to the stern on one of the mid decks where I could move across from port to starboard easily. It did hack off my partner that I was invariably disappearing at these times on port days rather than socialising.

If you're happy with the 24-120 then if it was me then I'd probably just go with the Z8 and that lens - and tuck away the OM5.2 + 17mm as a last ditch backup.
 
What sort of photos do you want to take? That should determine the choice, no? I'd go for the full-frame for the best IQ and add a flash for family pics, too.
 
Been twice And recommend you should think video as well to do justice to the scenery
 
Cruising puts some severe limits on ‘proper photography’ as do family activities.

Just take the OM gear as planned, try to get all the opportunities to shoot that you can, expect to shoot some pano’s because some of the vistas are amazing.

Hope you get the weather we got, which was beautiful, though weirdly for me photographically Lerwick was the high point, as we landed there on their ‘sunny day’ for the year. (Rainiest town in Britain’
A23A7331.jpeg
 
Adamcski said:
the two OM1 bodies and the and just the 12-40 and 40-150 and just leave them attached to the bodies. But will I miss the 8 mm?
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If it was me, I'd take the 8-25. You can crop into a 25mm image to get the FoV of a 40 but it's harder to get a wider image from an non-UWA. Yes, you can take panoramas but they're not so easy on a moving platform. TBH, I would be tempted to take just the one body if space is at any premium, although you could argue that 2 OM bodies and the lenses take up less room than a single Nikon body and 2 lenses!
 
Yes

I could do the 8-25 and the 40-150?

I am not taking tripods and all that with me as the family are not going to hang around whilst I set everything up and get the optimum composition and things like that. It will be stick the camera into A mode and walk around.

The weather forecast looks grim and my thoughts behind the two bodies was the time saved switching lenses and issues of getting dirt, rain or snow on things like the sensor if it is raining.
 
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Is it the Hurtigruten trip you're doing? Something Mrs Nod and I are planning to do in the next year or 2.
 
No idea, we are heading to the Fjords on P&O (I have never cruised before - never been my thing).

My mother is severely disabled and this may be the last time she can get away, so she wanted to go and asked if we would all go with her. I think there are some excursions we will do up to the mountains and a glacier (she wont do them) but I have no idea what they are called LOL.

I am not a landscape guy, so do not expect to capture many award winning images but I also doubt my wife will want to holiday to Norway again either (she likes dry temps of 40+). So thought if I take cameras I can try and capture some images, and also some family snaps of the grandkids with my mom and dad. The action 5 for basic video whilst walking around outside as the weather looks set to be Cr@P and the Pocket 3 for filming us all together on the ship.
 
The Hurtigruten trip we want to do is basically the ferry that goes up the coast, stopping at a fair few towns/cities. Mum and Dad did it 20 or so years ago and recommended it.

Enjoy your trip.
 
I’ve been on a few cruises, but not been to the Norwegian fjords yet, although I did go to the ones in New Zealand a few years back.

For scenic places I have my Z7ii and 24-200 as that covers near / far. I normally also take a compact if I don’t want to carry the Nikon round all day.

My advice would be to take the Z8 plus 24-120, plus whatever the smallest combination of OM kit is (sorry, it’s not a system I’m familiar with). If you’re not planning on doing much walking round and enjoy carrying a big camera round all day, then just take the Z8 plus 24-120.
 
I’d go OM system for a family cruise 100%. Way lighter, weather sealed, and you won’t hate carrying it all day. You probably won’t miss the ultra-wide as much as you think.
 
I did the family trip to Disney USA Florida with a Gx9 and PL 12-60 F2.8-4.

Mind you, we weren’t struggling for light there.

My M43rds has always been my travel stuff in the past and I’m a lover of the whole system.
 
One bit of kit you may want to consider is your driving licence. The cruises are great but once docked you may be limited to either walking around the village you are in, or going on one of the organised excursions. All of the villages we docked in had a small car hire kiosk on the quay side where you could pick up a little runaround for the day if you wanted to. After you've photographed the umpteenth troll garden and quaint house, it's nice to have other options.
 
I Have so many more examples, so going on a tour giude outing in each port you see and learn a lot more. so with Paukmck suggestion you would miss all this- risk vehicle breakdown- get back too late =ship gone- not knowing where and what to look at and learn from
 
realspeed said:
b******t I strongly disagree entirely. you learn nothing about where your docked or what to see.
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Opinions may vary :)

As you say there is the risk about anything that is self organised then leaving you with problems if you can't get back on time. With a larger cruise ship the time taken to get off at some ports can be a bit of a hassle - there may be boat transfer to shore required. The excursions organised with the cruise line will get priority to get off early and to get back on board. You can also plan based on the original itinerary and then discover on the day that the docking arrangements have changed.

However - personally I prefer to avoid the organised tours and do my own research ahead of time and do my own walking about.
 
@realspeed Please do not be rude to other posters who make well-intentioned suggestions, just because you disagree with them. In any case the suggestion was answered before you posted so it would have been wiser to re-read your post and modify it. You also didn't need to show off about how many cruises you've done, but that is by the by.
 
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