Buying G2 & going on a cruise what else do I NEED please

I'm going on a cruise on November 2 and am going to buy the G2 I have 2 256mb cards and a 64 plus a laptop so memory isn't an issue. I already have a 550ex so I will probably bring that if it works well with the G2. I also already have 2 BP5-11s so don't need to worry about that either.

Since I'm not familiar with this camera I was wondering what else I should consider buying with it. Tele extender or wide, are they any good. Any suggestions would be helpful. Also I am used to shooting a d30 but it is being repaired and wont be ready for the cruise so I am wondering if I will be happy with this camera and its quality.

Thanks in advance...

Jay

lens adapter... for a polarizer and ND filters... no doubt you'll see lots of bright sun on the cruise, and also the reflection on the water... these will allow you to reduce sun light, get the nice deep blue sky, and eliminate some water reflections...

just my two cents...

Jojosung

Jay said:

I'm going on a cruise on November 2 and am going to buy the G2 I
have 2 256mb cards and a 64 plus a laptop so memory isn't an issue.
I already have a 550ex so I will probably bring that if it works
well with the G2. I also already have 2 BP5-11s so don't need to
worry about that either.

Since I'm not familiar with this camera I was wondering what else I
should consider buying with it. Tele extender or wide, are they any
good. Any suggestions would be helpful. Also I am used to shooting
a d30 but it is being repaired and wont be ready for the cruise so
I am wondering if I will be happy with this camera and its quality.

Thanks in advance...

Jay

Click to expand...

Agreed. Lens adapter and polarizer would be my first purchases for your purpose. (I haven't used a ND filter, so I can't comment on it.) You might want to bring a travel tripod if you don't have one already.

This camera doesn't go very wide or very long, so you might find a wide-angle or tele adapter useful, but personally they seem like too much of a hassle. This is a little pocket camera compared to an SLR, and it's got limitations. I have wished I could have a 24mm or 300mm (35mm equiv.) lens on my G2, but it's just not gonna happen and not worth the expense or time to get a few extra mm by using an adapter lens. Note that the Lensmate or other lens adapter makes the camera harder to just stick in a pocket, so you have to decide how much the lens protection from the UV filter and the effects of the polarizer/ND filter are worth to you, vs. the pocket-carry convenience.

For myself, I bought the Lensmate and a 49mm B+W 010 filter for general use, and a B+W top pol linerar polarizing filter. To use the polarizing filter, I aim the camera, press the shutter button halfway down, lock the settings by pressing the " " button, then rotate the ring on the polarizer until the LCD shows the best use of the polarizer. Then I unlock the settings and repress the shutter to shoot. I like the Lensmate and the B+W filters a lot.

I think you'll be very happy with this camera and the photos it takes. Just remember it's not a D30 and get into it for what it does best.

Johnny

Jojosung said:

just my two cents...

Jojosung

Jay said:

I'm going on a cruise on November 2 and am going to buy the G2 I
have 2 256mb cards and a 64 plus a laptop so memory isn't an issue.
I already have a 550ex so I will probably bring that if it works
well with the G2. I also already have 2 BP5-11s so don't need to
worry about that either.

Since I'm not familiar with this camera I was wondering what else I
should consider buying with it. Tele extender or wide, are they any
good. Any suggestions would be helpful. Also I am used to shooting
a d30 but it is being repaired and wont be ready for the cruise so
I am wondering if I will be happy with this camera and its quality.

Thanks in advance...

Jay

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

i would second that. a lensmate or whatever brand so you can take advantage of a polarizer with all that bluse sky and water + the camera "holds" better with one on there.

breezebrowser or yarcplus to mess with raws (both better than what you'll get with the g2)?
hava great trip!

Jojosung said:

just my two cents...

Jojosung

Jay said:

I'm going on a cruise on November 2 and am going to buy the G2 I
have 2 256mb cards and a 64 plus a laptop so memory isn't an issue.
I already have a 550ex so I will probably bring that if it works
well with the G2. I also already have 2 BP5-11s so don't need to
worry about that either.

Since I'm not familiar with this camera I was wondering what else I
should consider buying with it. Tele extender or wide, are they any
good. Any suggestions would be helpful. Also I am used to shooting
a d30 but it is being repaired and wont be ready for the cruise so
I am wondering if I will be happy with this camera and its quality.

Thanks in advance...

Jay

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Definitely get the Canon wide angle lens. Definitely! Or you'll kick yourself when you sail into gorgeous sweeping vistas and only have a dinky lens that'll only let you capture a fraction of it. I have all the lenses now, and I use them a LOT, but especially the WA. It's not a hassle, so don't let the point-and-shoot crowd scare you off them.

Get the TC-DC58 adapter and slap a B+W UV fillter on it right away, if only to protect the lens. I love B+W - they're great filters, and well worth the extra money. Get a B+W circ pol filter too. Buy all this stuff on Ebay; you'll save a ton of cash and pay no tax.

Sorry but I'm not in the point-and shoot crowd.

I haven't used the WA adaptor lens, so I can't comment on how good it is. Do you have samples you can share with us? Maybe it's worth getting after all.

I think the G2 needs only a less expensive linear polarizer, not a circular polarizer. There's no difference in quality, it has to do with the camera's metering or autofocus system not being fooled by a linear polarizer. So you can save some good $$$ by getting the linear pol. And maybe put that towards a WA lens adaptor...

Johnny

=pa= said:

Definitely get the Canon wide angle lens. Definitely! Or you'll
kick yourself when you sail into gorgeous sweeping vistas and only
have a dinky lens that'll only let you capture a fraction of it. I
have all the lenses now, and I use them a LOT, but especially the
WA. It's not a hassle, so don't let the point-and-shoot crowd scare
you off them.

Get the TC-DC58 adapter and slap a B+W UV fillter on it right away,
if only to protect the lens. I love B+W - they're great filters,
and well worth the extra money. Get a B+W circ pol filter too. Buy
all this stuff on Ebay; you'll save a ton of cash and pay no tax.

Click to expand...

Jay said:

I'm going on a cruise on November 2 and am going to buy the G2 I
have 2 256mb cards and a 64 plus a laptop so memory isn't an issue.
I already have a 550ex so I will probably bring that if it works
well with the G2. I also already have 2 BP5-11s so don't need to
worry about that either.

Since I'm not familiar with this camera I was wondering what else I
should consider buying with it. Tele extender or wide, are they any
good. Any suggestions would be helpful. Also I am used to shooting
a d30 but it is being repaired and wont be ready for the cruise so
I am wondering if I will be happy with this camera and its quality.

Thanks in advance...

Jay

Click to expand...

for the flash i would get a stofen omni bounce. as the ships don't all have low ceilings in the dining room, and you'll want to get some food pictures in.

bring a small "disposible" tripod for sunset shots, night shots, storms?

a tele may be a good idea, but it's bad in wide shots. wide angle - it depends what your shooting and what you want to carry.

a cleaning kit - don't forget that.

bring your polarizer, a lens hood maybe. i'm bringing (when i get it) a split ND for proper sky exposure.

make sure you have you pmcia adaptor for the laptop, that may be a little embarrasing.

of course a good bag to put it all in. a spare set of regargeables for the flash. and of course don't forget all the chargers and an outlet strip for all your stuff.

we'll be going on a cruise at new years, and this is most of my list. my other things are ND 4,8 filters, IR filter, a spare skylight filter, incase something happens to the UV (salt damage, though i hope not).

i'm getting an extra bag for the flash and bringing my close up along.

that's all i can think of right now --- oh a good strap - don't want that thing falling in the ocean.

---Mike Savad

--
http://www.pbase.com/savad/

http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=9050

=pa= said:

Definitely get the Canon wide angle lens. Definitely! Or you'll
kick yourself when you sail into gorgeous sweeping vistas and only
have a dinky lens that'll only let you capture a fraction of it. I
have all the lenses now, and I use them a LOT, but especially the
WA. It's not a hassle, so don't let the point-and-shoot crowd scare
you off them.

Get the TC-DC58 adapter and slap a B+W UV fillter on it right away,
if only to protect the lens. I love B+W - they're great filters,
and well worth the extra money. Get a B+W circ pol filter too. Buy
all this stuff on Ebay; you'll save a ton of cash and pay no tax.

Click to expand...

remember that you can still take all this in panorama mode. just be sure to knock down the EV before each time you use it. as long as the boat isn't moving too fast, you should be able to get those shots in.

---Mike Savad

--
http://www.pbase.com/savad/

http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=9050

The bottom row of shots all use the Canon WA lens. Too bad it was overcast, or the colour saturation would have been better. As it was, I elected to tweak it in-camera.

http://www.pbase.com/petera/peters_galllery

Jay

By all means...Lensmate with UV filter and polarizerI bought a Tiffin polarizer, and it comes with a little white line when the filter is in max polarization) it is a circular, but linear are harder to find. Check http://www.2filter.com for 49 mm. filters for the Lensmate. Beyond that, a small tripod (I got a nice light compact Hakuba from Fry's for $40) and the Canon G2 manual. Read the manual and experiment with the exposures. You will want to use the shutter priority and aperture priority modes. Oh and go to Amazon.com and get their double discount version of Photoshop Elements 2. Enjoy the trip and be sure to post your results. Regards, Tim

Jay said:

Since I'm not familiar with this camera I was wondering what else I
should consider buying with it. Tele extender or wide, are they any
good. Any suggestions would be helpful. Also I am used to shooting
a d30 but it is being repaired and wont be ready for the cruise so
I am wondering if I will be happy with this camera and its quality.

Click to expand...

Sheesh!! I can't believe some of the answers you're getting here! The only thing you need with this camera is memory, and you already have that, so you don't NEED anything else. If you take all the junk some have recommended, of course you'll need an extra suitcase to carry it all!
--
Scott

My 'Favorites' Gallery:

http://www.pbase.com/sdommin/favorites

So you have a Tiffen 49mm circular polarizer and it has a line? How many different types does Tiffen make, I wonder. I have the same filter but mine doesn't have a line or a dot or anything but words on the rim. Weird.

Michael

Tim O'Neill said:

Jay

By all means...Lensmate with UV filter and polarizerI bought a
Tiffin polarizer, and it comes with a little white line when the
filter is in max polarization) it is a circular, but linear are
harder to find. Check http://www.2filter.com for 49 mm. filters for the
Lensmate. Beyond that, a small tripod (I got a nice light compact
Hakuba from Fry's for $40) and the Canon G2 manual. Read the
manual and experiment with the exposures. You will want to use the
shutter priority and aperture priority modes. Oh and go to
Amazon.com and get their double discount version of Photoshop
Elements 2. Enjoy the trip and be sure to post your results.
Regards, Tim

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/mooremwm
http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=7178

Camera case or bag would be helpfull.

Jay said:

I'm going on a cruise on November 2 and am going to buy the G2 I
have 2 256mb cards and a 64 plus a laptop so memory isn't an issue.
I already have a 550ex so I will probably bring that if it works
well with the G2. I also already have 2 BP5-11s so don't need to
worry about that either.

Since I'm not familiar with this camera I was wondering what else I
should consider buying with it. Tele extender or wide, are they any
good. Any suggestions would be helpful. Also I am used to shooting
a d30 but it is being repaired and wont be ready for the cruise so
I am wondering if I will be happy with this camera and its quality.

Thanks in advance...

Jay

Click to expand...

Mickey said:

So you have a Tiffen 49mm circular polarizer and it has a line?
How many different types does Tiffen make, I wonder. I have the
same filter but mine doesn't have a line or a dot or anything but
words on the rim. Weird.

Michael

Michael, sorry I made a mistake. The polarizer is a Hoya. I used about 200 times before I figured out it was there. I'm sure you could achieve the same result off camera and use a scratch with a spot of paint in it. I find it extremely useful. Tim

Click to expand...

Mickey64564 said:

--
http://www.pbase.com/mooremwm
http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=7178

Click to expand...

don't know if anyone mentioned to bring an extra lens cap - a white card - and a plastic ziplock to keep it dry in case it rains.

---Mike Savad

Jay said:

I'm going on a cruise on November 2 and am going to buy the G2 I
have 2 256mb cards and a 64 plus a laptop so memory isn't an issue.
I already have a 550ex so I will probably bring that if it works
well with the G2. I also already have 2 BP5-11s so don't need to
worry about that either.

Since I'm not familiar with this camera I was wondering what else I
should consider buying with it. Tele extender or wide, are they any
good. Any suggestions would be helpful. Also I am used to shooting
a d30 but it is being repaired and wont be ready for the cruise so
I am wondering if I will be happy with this camera and its quality.

Thanks in advance...

Jay

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/savad/

http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=9050

there should be a mark of some kind showing you the grain orientation of the pol. if not you could mark it i suppose. it doesn't really need it though, as it changes just stop when you think it looks good.

---Mike Savad

Mickey said:

Michael

Tim O'Neill said:

Jay

By all means...Lensmate with UV filter and polarizerI bought a
Tiffin polarizer, and it comes with a little white line when the
filter is in max polarization) it is a circular, but linear are
harder to find. Check http://www.2filter.com for 49 mm. filters for the
Lensmate. Beyond that, a small tripod (I got a nice light compact
Hakuba from Fry's for $40) and the Canon G2 manual. Read the
manual and experiment with the exposures. You will want to use the
shutter priority and aperture priority modes. Oh and go to
Amazon.com and get their double discount version of Photoshop
Elements 2. Enjoy the trip and be sure to post your results.
Regards, Tim

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/mooremwm
http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=7178

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/savad/

http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=9050

Also tripod would be helpfull.

Jay said:

I'm going on a cruise on November 2 and am going to buy the G2 I
have 2 256mb cards and a 64 plus a laptop so memory isn't an issue.
I already have a 550ex so I will probably bring that if it works
well with the G2. I also already have 2 BP5-11s so don't need to
worry about that either.

Since I'm not familiar with this camera I was wondering what else I
should consider buying with it. Tele extender or wide, are they any
good. Any suggestions would be helpful. Also I am used to shooting
a d30 but it is being repaired and wont be ready for the cruise so
I am wondering if I will be happy with this camera and its quality.

Thanks in advance...

Jay

Click to expand...

My wife and I just returned from a cruise, and it was the first extended workout for my G2. I have a Lowepro D-Res 30 bag and when we left the ship for various shore excursions I took the G2, a couple of extra memory cards, an extra battery, and a ziplock bag folded up in the back of the camera bag. The G2 has a Lensmate, and I also took a polarizing filter.

I got some great pictures without having to lug around a bunch of equipment.

Travel light.

Yeah, I always just preview the effect on the LCD anyway, but I thought it was weird that some Tiffen CPs had lines and others didn't, but it wasn't a Tiffen so it's ok. Thought maybe there were different versions/grades of the filter.

Michael

mike savad said:

---Mike Savad

Mickey said:

Michael

Tim O'Neill said:

Jay

By all means...Lensmate with UV filter and polarizerI bought a
Tiffin polarizer, and it comes with a little white line when the
filter is in max polarization) it is a circular, but linear are
harder to find. Check http://www.2filter.com for 49 mm. filters for the
Lensmate. Beyond that, a small tripod (I got a nice light compact
Hakuba from Fry's for $40) and the Canon G2 manual. Read the
manual and experiment with the exposures. You will want to use the
shutter priority and aperture priority modes. Oh and go to
Amazon.com and get their double discount version of Photoshop
Elements 2. Enjoy the trip and be sure to post your results.
Regards, Tim

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/mooremwm
http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=7178

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/savad/
Added - More Closeups, Flowers, Buildings, and Still life.

http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=9050

Click to expand...

--
http://www.pbase.com/mooremwm
http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=7178

I brought back over 1.5 gigabyte (525 photos) of RAW data from my cruise w/S40. An Image Tank with a 10 GB HDD is about $225 or so. I took a 256 and 128 MB CF card and dumped them each night to the "tank". Talk about cool. Difficult to fill up to say the least! Didn't let it pass through the xray on the way home just to play it safe.

Don't eat too much! Enjoy!

-- Greg

SDommin said:

Jay said:

Since I'm not familiar with this camera I was wondering what else I
should consider buying with it. Tele extender or wide, are they any
good. Any suggestions would be helpful. Also I am used to shooting
a d30 but it is being repaired and wont be ready for the cruise so
I am wondering if I will be happy with this camera and its quality.

Click to expand...

Sheesh!! I can't believe some of the answers you're getting here!
The only thing you need with this camera is memory, and you already
have that, so you don't NEED anything else. If you take all the
junk some have recommended, of course you'll need an extra suitcase
to carry it all!
--
Scott

My 'Favorites' Gallery:

http://www.pbase.com/sdommin/favorites

Click to expand...