Always Be Prepared

So, I am going to Yellowstone over the summer, and wanted some advice on what kind of camera gear I should bring. I know at least a few of you here are into photography.

What I have:

D80, 18-55 f/4-5.6, 55-200 f4-5.6 VR, 50 f/1.8, Nikon Speedlight, sturdy tripod.

I was thinking I would need a longer lens, as well as polarizing and neutral density filters.

I am looking at the new Sigma 120-400. Any opinions on that lens? What kind of filters should I get?

Any other tips/advice about Yellowstone?

One more thing: I'm paying for this myself, so I am on a budget.

Yeah, wear bells to scare away the bears.

BTW, how do you identify bear crap?

It has bells in it.

Inbetween Yellostone and Grand Teton National Park (separated by all of 10 miles, so you'd better do both!), there used to be Flagg Ranch Resort- up past the campground, there are a couple of nice warm pools to sit in. Also, just inside the south entrance, there's a river that partially fed by a warm spring- under the falls used to be another killer place to swim.

While Yellowstone is really, really nice, I far prefer the Tetons.

I take it you are camping? There are some good places to pitch a tent out there. Places were you don't have to worry about the bears.

E

Make sure you identify all your stuff with stickers , business cards , etchings , serial #s , photograph all equipment and what not in case stolen or lost . Well help in the recovery . Have a great time sounds fun .

Oh, and make sure your set up is good at taking black and white pictures. When you are out there, you'll know what I mean.

Eric

Yikes with I had money for a 120-400.

I rarely use that kind of zoom, but lately I've felt that my 50-150 was is not being used because it's just too short for wildlife shots.

alfadriver wrote: Oh, and make sure your set up is good at taking black and white pictures. When you are out there, you'll know what I mean. Eric

I second that.

Some of the most incredible pictures ever taken were at Yellowstone in black and white. Here's some great Ansel Adams stuff (who worked almost entirely in b&w)

National Parks- Ansel Adams

PHeller wrote: Yikes wish I had money for a 120-400. I rarely use that kind of zoom, but lately I've felt that my 50-150 was is not being used because it's just too short for wildlife shots.

Well, technically he doesn't have the money either, but he's willing to indenture himself for the summer in order to get the money. (One thing about being almost 16: you don't have much income, but it's practically ALL disposable income.)

Margie

Yes, it is ALL disposable. I have people to take care of the other stuff (food, clothing, home, etc.)

alfadriver said: Oh, and make sure your set up is good at taking black and white pictures. When you are out there, you'll know what I mean.

Yeah, I was planning on shooting all color, then converting to B&W later.

alfadriver wrote: I take it you are camping? There are some good places to pitch a tent out there. Places were you don't have to worry about the bears. E

dude, he's 15. he pitches a tent everywhere.

thanks folks, i'll be here for the rest of my life.

Ba-dum-che.

For hiking to the scenic picturesque spots I would recommend a backpack to put your padded camera bag into. Most camera bags have the one strap and even carrying it over the shoulder messenger-bag style it still moves around a lot. I found it to be irritating and wished I had a regular two-strap backpack instead to keep it still and to keep the weight centered on my back. Can't beat the protection for your stuff that a camera bag has, so that's why I would say put the camrera bag inside of the backpack.

Shoot some B/W. Converting later isn't the same.

That's the only thoughts I have, other than the thread title made me think of Tom Lehrer's "Be Prepared." But I'm not posting it.

You should probably watch the 6 videos in this series for some good ideas.

http://www.tipsfromthetopfloor.com/2007/12/24/tfttf260-video-canyonlands-photo-adventure-part-1/

EastCoastMojo wrote: Ba-dum-che. For hiking to the scenic picturesque spots I would recommend a backpack to put your padded camera bag into. Most camera bags have the one strap and even carrying it over the shoulder messenger-bag style it still moves around a lot. I found it to be irritating and wished I had a regular two-strap backpack instead to keep it still and to keep the weight centered on my back. Can't beat the protection for your stuff that a camera bag has, so that's why I would say put the camrera bag inside of the backpack.

My camera bag is a backpack. Yay!

I'm far from the most accomplished photographer here, but I'm not a big fan of wide zoom range lenses. This is especially true now that image sensors have so many pixels that you can fix over-inclusive composition by cropping quite easily.

Given what you've already got, why don't you look for a fixed lens in the 300-400 range. My guess is you could save some coin that way. Use your 55-200 walking around and smack the fixed lens on when you've set up. (Incidentally, I don't like hand-holding anything longer than 300, either.)

Full disclosure: I rarely use my 35mm film setup any more and do 90%+ of my shooting using a Canon G10.

I can't find a fixed 400mm lens for less than $2,000. Also, the zoom is very good for what I mainly shoot, cars on a track.

Tommy Suddard wrote: Yes, it is ALL disposable. I have people to take care of the other stuff (food, clothing, home, etc.)

alfadriver said: Oh, and make sure your set up is good at taking black and white pictures. When you are out there, you'll know what I mean.

Yeah, I was planning on shooting all color, then converting to B&W later.

any chance of finding another camera body? When I did my cross country epic voyage (a month and a half), I ended up having two- one for color, and one for black and white. And being the pretend artist I was, I also took a lot of slides. But the pair of cameras was a perfect set up for various film.

Or is all that hardware for digital?

Eric

Yeah, I am shooting digital. I can switch between color and B&W quite easily. I am going to bring my Pentax K1000SE with a few lenses and some film as a backup, though.

Hmmm for a fixed long I would say go with the Nikon 300mm F4 and a teleconverter when you need the extra little reach.

For a long zoom I have not had any problems with my Sigma lenses however they are not the fastest focusing, not terrible but not great. If you can try it out first if you have a local shop. Another thing is you can try saving some money and rent one of the Nikon pro lenses from a shop instead for the trip.

Supposedly, this Lens focuses well. I'll try it at the shop first, though.

I don't really want to rent anything, because I can use a long telephoto lens a lot.

Shop the forums Tommy. Craig's list and even....Ebay There are Lots of folks out of work and need cash.

SOunds like a wonderful, once in a lifetime trip.

Enjoy every second of it.

( I have dreampt .. dreamed.. of the same trip all my life and now and too old for the hiking camping route. Enjoy every second and take gigs of photos! )

Tommy Suddard wrote: I can't find a fixed 400mm lens for less than $2,000. Also, the zoom is very good for what I mainly shoot, cars on a track.

http://cgi.ebay.com/SIGMA-NIKON-400MM-F5-6-APO-LENS-EXCELLENT-CONDITION_W0QQitemZ280345634917QQcmdZViewItemQQptZDigital_Cameras?hash=item4145e6e865&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

Doesn't fix your second problem, though.

I have never been a fan of Sigma lenses as every one I have ever had has always seemed soft. My personal preference for 3rd party has always been Tokina AT-X series. At any rate even Nikon 75-300 lenses are pretty cheap and get great reviews. 400mm is quite a reach and combine that w/ an aps-c sensor and your looking at 600mm. But if you do want that much reach than a teleconverter is also another option. They are small, can be cheap and don't take up as much precious space in a bag. While carrying a big pro lens might seem cool, after a couple hours that 5lbs monster gets to be a PITA.

As far what I consider a must have is a Tiffen Moose filter. Get whatever size your biggest lens is and then get adapter rings to step down from there. That way one filter will cover all your lenses.

Second must have since your carrying a film body is infrared film, both B&W and color. Great stuff to play around with and I still don't think any PS action will match a true infrared pic.

Also if you want to shoot any type of moving water pick up a couple of ND filters as the light will probably be too bright to get any type of movement.

BTW, since you'll be outside you really don't need any lens faster than a 5.6. Faster lens doesn't mean a sharper lens.

Edit above post: I see you already mentioned ND filters.

What about a Better Beamer for your flash? Gets great light on wildlife without getting close.

I could go on for days. It's easy to spend others money.

I once had $20,000 in photo gear, Then I moved on to cheaper hobbies, like cars.....

zoomx2 wrote: What about a Better Beamer ...?

He's already got an E30. Oh, wait a minute...