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What to carry? Nature, wildlife trip/expedition.

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rdmello76

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So, I will travel to the chilean Patagonia in a few months and I'm wondering what gear to take with me.

We'll be mostly taking wildlife (birds, sea mammals) and some landscape shots (icebergs and such).

I'll staying on a ship for 7 days, so there is not a lot of space to store things and with a lot of embarking and disembarking it's better to avoid overpacking.

I have two Canon camera bodys, a 5d mkIII and a 70D.

Lens wise, I have a few:
  • Sigma 150-600mm C HSM
  • Tamron 70-200 F2.8 VC USD G1
  • EF 24-70mm f4L
  • EF 100mm f2.8L Macro
  • EF-S 60mm f2.8 Macro
  • EF-S 18-135mm STM
  • Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 Art HSM
  • EF 70-300mm IS USM
Also, I'm 41yo and in good shape overall (a little overweight, but just a few pounds :)).

My initial idea was to bring just the two bodies and the first trhee lenses. But I don't know.

Any thoughts or experiences that would help?

Thx in advance.
 
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Solution
T
rdmello76 said:
So, I will travel to the chilean Patagonia in a few months and I'm wondering what gear to take with me.

We'll be mostly taking wildlife (birds, sea mammals) and some landscape shots (icebergs and such).

I'll staying on a ship for 7 days, so there is not a lot of space to store things and with a lot of embarking and disembarking it's better to avoid overpacking.

I have two Canon camera bodys, a 5d mkIII and a 70D.

Lens wise, I have a few:
  • Sigma 150-600mm C HSM
  • Tamron 70-200 F2.8 VC USD G1
  • EF 24-70mm f4L
  • EF 100mm f2.8L Macro
  • EF-S 60mm f2.8 Macro
  • EF-S 18-135mm STM
  • Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 Art HSM
  • EF 70-300mm IS USM
Also, I'm 41yo and in good shape overall (a little overweight, but just a few pounds :))...
Click to expand...
rdmello76 said:
So, I will travel to the chilean Patagonia in a few months and I'm wondering what gear to take with me.

We'll be mostly taking wildlife (birds, sea mammals) and some landscape shots (icebergs and such).

I'll staying on a ship for 7 days, so there is not a lot of space to store things and with a lot of embarking and disembarking it's better to avoid overpacking.

I have two Canon camera bodys, a 5d mkIII and a 70D.

Lens wise, I have a few:
  • Sigma 150-600mm C HSM
  • Tamron 70-200 F2.8 VC USD G1
  • EF 24-70mm f4L
  • EF 100mm f2.8L Macro
  • EF-S 60mm f2.8 Macro
  • EF-S 18-135mm STM
  • Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 Art HSM
  • EF 70-300mm IS USM
Also, I'm 41yo and in good shape overall (a little overweight, but just a few pounds :)).

My initial idea was to bring just the two bodies and the first trhee lenses. But I don't know.

Any thoughts or experiences that would help?

Thx in advance.
Click to expand...
Unless you always shoot from the ship...

... I would leave the Tamron 70-200 at home and pack the 100 mm Macro instead. You will be able to shoot insects, plants and other small things, and it closes the gap between 70 and 150 mm.

The Sigma 150-600 and the 24-70 sound good to me.
 
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Solution
TheBlackGrouse said:
... I would leave the Tamron 70-200 at home and pack the 100 mm Macro instead. You will be able to shoot insects, plants and other small things, and it closes the gap between 70 and 150 mm.

The Sigma 150-600 and the 24-70 sound good to me.
Click to expand...
Agree with this.
 
TheBlackGrouse said:
Unless you always shoot from the ship...

... I would leave the Tamron 70-200 at home and pack the 100 mm Macro instead. You will be able to shoot insects, plants and other small things, and it closes the gap between 70 and 150 mm.

The Sigma 150-600 and the 24-70 sound good to me.

--
TheBlackGrouse
Active Outdoor Photographer
Click to expand...
Thx, seems like a good compromise to me.

We'll be shooting on land, mostly, to get close to the animals colonies, but I just don't know how close we'll be able to get.

If I take the 70d I'll also have that nice crop factor to work with.
 
I would not worry too much about weight as you can leave lenses and other items in the cabin and take what you want for a particular location. Ideally I would want the 150-600mm and the much faster 70-200mm for telephoto use and the 18-35mm and 24-70mm for scenic photography.
 
Eniigma_21 said:
Eniigma_21 said:
... I would leave the Tamron 70-200 at home and pack the 100 mm Macro instead. You will be able to shoot insects, plants and other small things, and it closes the gap between 70 and 150 mm.

The Sigma 150-600 and the 24-70 sound good to me.
Click to expand...
Agree with this.
Click to expand...
Me two though:
  • Sigma 150-600mm C HSM
  • EF-S 18-135mm STM
Bring an extension tube. This is assuming that the 18-135 is 1/2 decent.

Keep one on each body and have them both with you at all times

Morris
 
I agree with this. 24 on the wide end might be a bit limiting.
 
Morris0 said:
Eniigma_21 said:
Morris0 said:
... I would leave the Tamron 70-200 at home and pack the 100 mm Macro instead. You will be able to shoot insects, plants and other small things, and it closes the gap between 70 and 150 mm.

The Sigma 150-600 and the 24-70 sound good to me.
Click to expand...
Agree with this.
Click to expand...
Me two though:
  • Sigma 150-600mm C HSM
  • EF-S 18-135mm STM
Bring an extension tube. This is assuming that the 18-135 is 1/2 decent.

Keep one on each body and have them both with you at all times

Morris
Click to expand...
Yes, it could be a good solution as well.

To be honest the 24-70mm has the advantage of the "macro" mode, so I might not take the 100mm F2.8L.

The 18-135mm is a decent lens, not very sharp, not very fast but it does the job. Does not fit the 5D, so 18mm on crop sensor camera is a 24mm on full frame...

70-200mm is where I'm a little torn... it's a very sharp lens and I know I'll be getting very close to some animals... On the other hand it is a heavy beast. Almost as heavy as the 150-600mm.

The 70D body is going as well anyways, as a backup.

Thx for all the food for thought.
 
My wife and I were in Chile about a year ago. We brought a Canon EOS-1D Mark IV paired with an EF800mm f/5.6L lens, a Canon EOS-1D X / EF500mm f/4L IS II combo, and a compact Canon GX7 point and shoot.

For landscape work with the DSLR we also had an EF16-35mm f/4L IS.

We hauled all this in carry-on and had no problems on international or local flights. A simple monopod (transported in checked baggage) helped support the big telephotos (we didn’t bring a tripod). The 800mm was great for more distant smaller species and the 500 f/4 helpful in low light conditions.

A full report of the trip is here:

http://www.surfbirds.com/trip_report.php?id=2798

Have a wonderful time; we found that part of the world very beautiful. Be sure to learn the call of the Austral Pygmy Owl. It draws small birds in like a magnet.
 
Paul B Jones said:
My wife and I were in Chile about a year ago. We brought a Canon EOS-1D Mark IV paired with an EF800mm f/5.6L lens, a Canon EOS-1D X / EF500mm f/4L IS II combo, and a compact Canon GX7 point and shoot.

For landscape work with the DSLR we also had an EF16-35mm f/4L IS.

We hauled all this in carry-on and had no problems on international or local flights. A simple monopod (transported in checked baggage) helped support the big telephotos (we didn’t bring a tripod). The 800mm was great for more distant smaller species and the 500 f/4 helpful in low light conditions.

A full report of the trip is here:

http://www.surfbirds.com/trip_report.php?id=2798

Have a wonderful time; we found that part of the world very beautiful. Be sure to learn the call of the Austral Pygmy Owl. It draws small birds in like a magnet.

--
Paul B Jones
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulbjones/sets
Click to expand...
Thanks, I sure will have a blast, 19hs of daylight, :).

A 800mm lens as carry on?:-O. So cool!

You got a marvelous collection of pictures on your trip, congrats.

Thx for the tips.
 
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