Best lenses for Alaska trip

carathbuncarathbun
edited May 2014 Posted in » Nikon D3100 Forum
Hi! I'm so glad I found this forum. Moose and friends, thank you for all the info, tips, and suggestions you provide. I'm a newbie to DSLR cameras and I just purchased a Nikon D3100 (motivated to do so by an upcoming trip to Alaska). I have three lenses now, and probably cannot afford to purchase a new one at this time. Based on some of the activities we'll be doing while in Alaska, I'll need to have lenses that are great for taking landscape and wildlife photos; who doesn't need that when going to Alaska, right? The three lenses I have are the Nikkor 18-55mm f/3-5.6G ED II (just bought Moose's cheat sheets for this lens), Nikkor 50-200mm f/4-5.6 G ED, and the Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG. I will definitely be bringing the Nikkor 18-55mm lens since I have the cheat sheets for that and should be able to get some practice time using that lens before the trip. Any suggestions about which of the other two would be the better lens to bring? Also, any suggestions as to where I can find cheat sheet type info for these two lenses? I've been collecting all sorts of info about how SLR cameras work, the different lenses and how they work. There's just SO MUCH info and I don't have enough time to sort through it all and really learn it well before the trip. Any relevant suggestions and advice you can provide would be most welcome.

Comments

  • PBkedPBked
    edited May 2014
    Hi,
    Take your 18-55mm for the landscapes and take your 70-300mm for the wildlife. The 50-200mm is superfluous because its range is covered by the other two and you will not have so much weight to carry around.
    For a small cost it might be worth buying a polarizing filter. This will take the glare out of snow when the sun is shining.
    There are no magic settings for any lens or camera. Moose's cheat sheets are great for giving settings which work in a variety of situations and I would advise anyone to purchase a set. However, there are certain environments where suggested settings can only be a guide and these include beaches and snow scenes.
    In snow scenes where there is little contrast the camera's metering system can go to pot. Let's say you spy a bear sitting on a snow bank. The camera will usually meter for the bright snow and your bear will turn out very dark with no detail. In this instance, it is better to change your metering to spot and your focus to centred. This way, the camera exposes for the bear. However, the downside is that the snow will look even whiter. There are two things you can do: 1) crop the bear tightly to get rid of the snow in an editing program or tone down the snow, or 2) using aperture priority choose an aperture large enough to throw the background into blur (depth of field and bokeh).
    I could go on making suggestions, but if you search the web for phototips on shooting in snow or any environment for that matter, you will find the knowledge you seek.
    Hope this has been of some help.
    Regards,
    PBked
  • carathbuncarathbun
    Thank you for your helpful comments, PBked.
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