angik_sarkar

<p>Hi Salil,<br> Let me tell you my experience. I went with D750, 18-35, 80-400 and 24-120 with D90 as a backup. There were some great suggestions but if I had to change anything, I wish I carried a 28-300 instead of a 24-120 despite the IQ hit. <br> The landscapes in Antarctica are so vast, 80-400 almost remained glued to my camera, though I got some really good shots the 18-35, mostly on shore. You can check some of my Antarctica shots at https://500px.com/AngikSarkar.<br> Contrary to most of the experts here, I would strongly advise carrying a superzoom (like 28-300 for FX or 18-300 for DX) glued to at least a backup camera. You worry about the IQ only when you get the shot!<br> The main purpose of the crappy superzoom lens is for zodiac trips. Penguins, seals and especially whales move really fast though water, the focal length requirement changes so rapidly, you hardly have time to change camera leave alone changing lenses. On one of my zodiac trips, a minke whale decided to check us out. It was swimming so close under our zodiac, I could have probably touched it. By the time I put down my main camera with 80-400 on and picked up the backup with 18-35, the whale had moved further away. There were quite a few of such encounters and missed most shots. <br> Now for your questions,<br> 1. Again, really easy to change on mainland and on ship but not so much on zodiacs, though I did it anyway.<br> 2. Whatever lenses you take, you will come back with probably the best pictures of your life. I got 400mm and it was great for most cases but for the albatrosses which mostly hung out in the distance.<br> 600mm would have been great there. On land, 400mm was more than sufficient because the penguins come really close to you. The only case where it could have been useful was for the seals which you are not allowed to approach. But, they stay stationary on land, so you could get the shot with 400mm and just crop it.<br> I wouldn't advise a 150-600 lens as your main lens since 150mm is too long. I got a lot of 'landscape' shots in the 80-90mm range. Also 150-600 lens is too slow. For the flying albatrosses, you may need at least 1/600-1/800 shutter speed on a cloudy day.<br> 3. Read my responses above for lens choices. The purpose of the wide-angle is not a panorama, you can easily do that with stitched photos. The wide angle can give you a great perspective which I love. <br> Whatever you do, give yourself atleast 3 months/2000 shots to familiarize yourself with the camera. I got a fairly new D750 with me. I shot vigorously before the trip and familiarized myself with it but did not know about some video options which would have made for some killer videos.<br> Hope this helps.</p> <p> </p>

<p>Thanks a lot for the replies. <br> @Kent, the advantage of D750 that I have noticed in the last few days is higher dynamic range (crazy details recovery from shadows), higher fps.<br> @Shun Thanks for sharing the exif and good point regarding resolutions. I would probably keep the D90 as a true backup and go to shore with D750 with 80-400 strapped on and 24-120 in the camera bag. <br> For camera bag, I am planning to carry an Lowepro 250AW messenger bag inside a Sealine 30L dry bag. Is this a good combination?</p> <p> </p>

<p>Thanks a lot for your replies. The only reason I was considering was that it I read that it is not advisable to change lenses ashore in the harsh conditions in Antarctica. Is that true?<br> My reasoning was that if I cannot change lenses, 28-300 would have offered me a chance to shoot with the D750 at longer focal lengths. <br> If I take 24-120 and 80-400, should I put the 24-120 on D750 and 80-400 on D90 for shore landings? This covers all focal lengths from 24-640mm (FX equivalent). However,I don't get D750's advantages at tele lengths.<br> The other option would be Nikon 18-35 on D90 and 80-400 on D750. This allows me shoot D750 at tele lengths but the total range is lower.</p> <p>PS:<br> a. I already got my D750 and started shooting. I am blown over by the quality. It is a huge step up from my D90.<br> b. The shuttle I fly into Ushuaia has a carry on bag limitation of 8kg. I can't see an option to carry more by paying. The camera backpack itself is 2 kg. D750+D90+laptop is 3kg. That leaves 3 kg for lenses. 80-400 is ~1.5kg, 18-35 is ~400g. 24-120 is ~700g. Leaves <1kg for my filters, batteries, 50mm (for Buenos Aires) and other gear.</p> <p> </p>

<p>I am planning to go to Argentinian patagonia for a week and Antarctic peninsula for about two weeks. I am totally confused right now regarding lens choices after reading various accounts on this forum and others.<br> I have a D90 and am planning to get a D750. I would take 2 bodies. <br> Currently I own the following lenses: Tokina 12-24 (DX), 30,35,50 primes, 70-300 VR (DX/FX), 105mm macro. reading various accounts, my preliminary plan is to buy a few lenses and am trying to decide between the two choices<br> Choice 1:<br> Nikon 18-35 (for wide angle on D750 in Patagonia. Not sure if this would be useful in Antarctica) <br> Nikon 28-300 (use with D750 on shore landings?)<br> Nikon 80-400 (use with D750/D90 from ship for birds/whales/landscape)<br> Choice 2:<br> Nikon 18-35 (for wide angle on D750 in Patagonia. Not sure if this would be useful in Antarctica) <br> Nikon 24-120 VR (for use on the D750)<br> Nikon 80-400 (use with D90 on shore and D750/D90 from ship for birds/whales/landscape)<br> I would be carrying tripod,ball head, Polarizer, Lee kit with 3 stops soft grad ND and 3 stop full ND, ziplock bags.<br> My confusions:<br> 1. The lens choices were driven by weight restrictions. The 28-300 has okay performance, so not too happy about the choice. However, is the 28-300 a better lens to carry considering that it might be difficult to change lenses in Antarctica?<br> 2. Would I really need a 18-35 if I carry a 24-120? <br> 3. What backpack would you recommend. I would probably get a drysack to wrap around the backpack?<br> 4. Would any other lens choices be better? I can spend upto $3K but my major restriction is weight. <br> 5. Can I substitute the 28-300 with any other lens? Is the 80-400 useless if I carry a 28-300 anyway?</p> <p>Thank you for your time.</p> <p> </p>