a7iii lens and acccesories for Alaska

[FLHTC]

Second post: 

I received my a7iii today, and in the box was a strap, NP-FZ100 battery, plug in ac adapter to USB to charge my battery in the camera.  I bought just the body, so now I need to start buying the rest of the stuff I will need.  I am riding my motorcycle across Canada into Alaska next summer, so I am limited to what I can carry.  I am looking for one good lens and thought maybe the Sony FE 24–105 mm F4 G OSS Lens  at $1300 would allow me to take pictures of mountains, and wildlife along the road.  

I need two SD cards, and don't have a clue what to buy for this camera.  Should they both be the same, or different. No idea how many pictures I can store on these cards, and I don't plan on taking a computer so won't be able to move them.   Maybe I will need additional cards, what do you think?

I need a battery charger, and Sony offers the BC-QZ1, is this a good one?  Since I will be on my bike most of the day, thought a second battery would be a good investment.

I currently have a 12V DC charger for my phone, and wondered if one is made for this camera vice plugging it into an AC outlet or putting the battery on a batter charger plugged into the wall outlet?

I need a camera bag.  Any suggestions?  

I have a tri-pod already, but can't figure out how I could take it with me on a motorcycle, but have 8 months to figure that out. 

 

 

 

 

  

[Iansky]

The 24-105 is a superb lens but large and expensive, if you can live with a 24-70 then I can highly recommend the Sony Zeiss 24-70mm f4 OSS - you can pick them up used for a good price and they deliver superb image quality and are small and sturdy as well as weather sealed.

For a really good camera bag that will take the body & 3 lenses and fits neatly into a larger bag have a look at the Tenba BYOB/Packlite flatpack bundle 10 - it is perfect for the A7iii.

I must admit that with the superb IS I have not had any need for a tripod yet so again you may be able to dispense with that.

I hope this helps and it is purely food for thought based on what I am using - good luck.

[FLHTC]

Thanks for your reply.  So the Zeiss 24-70 will allow me to take good pictures of Mt Denali from afar,  and also of a brown bear 50 yards away?   Any suggestions on SD cards while I have you.  

[Chrissie]

7 hours ago, FLHTC said:

So the Zeiss 24-70 will allow me to take good pictures of Mt Denali from afar,  and also of a brown bear 50 yards away? 

Wait one big fat minute! Please.

This sounds like you are trying to read something out of Iansky's answer which he didn't promise.

A 24-70 lens will give you a choice of FOVs (field of view angles) ranging from 34° til 84°.

Please do the math and find out for yourself, which part of the sensor Mt Denali would cover from a distance of your choice, and which part of the sensor could be covered by a brown bear "50 yards away".  Hint: a brown bear has an estimated size of maybe three yards, and you are expecting to "shoot" him from 50 yards away. That would be viewing him at an angle of arcsin(3/50) = approx. 3.5°. Using a lens which can cover down to 34° FOV, this would amount to around one tenth of the sensor width.

Being a layman in brown bear encounters, I would definitely suggest taking a longer reach tele with which to capture a brown bear from a safer (i.e.: longer) distance.

[FLHTC]

Chrissie,

I am not sure I understand what you said, other than it may be dangerous to take a picture of a brown bear at 50 yards. Sorry.    

 

[Chrissie]

OK. I assume, traveling to Alaska is not something one undertakes every day, even when living in Canada already. Therefor it would probably be a shame, if your gear can't deliver the kind of pictures which you seem to have in mind. One aspect of "can't deliver" is, for instance, not being able to get close enough to the object you want to take a picture of. With a brown bear for obvious reasons so. The "close enough" could also be expressed as: how many pixels of your sensor would an object cover, given its size and the distance you're shooting from.

The a7iii you will be using has a 24.2 Mix sensor (6.000 pixels wide by 4.000 pixels high). If the brown bear would only cover 600 by 400 pixels out of all available pixels, that would only be 1% of what the sensor can capture. In yet different words: your picture would show 99% surrounding landscape, with only1% bear in it. This would severely limit your ability to magnify, clip or print the part of your picture which does show the bear, after having taken the shot. You might be disappointed afterwards.

Using a dedicated telephoto lens would give you a better "magnification" of an object, while keeping the distance constant.

I recommend you experiment with different lenses, having varying focal distances, shooting at bear-sized objects from 50 yards away and compare the results.

You may also want to read up on the theoretical aspects of this. Good luck with your choice, and enjoy your trip!

[FLHTC]

I got so confused looking at lenses, zoom, prime, cheap and expensive.  So today, I bought the Zeiss 85mm F1.8 Batis.  I hope I never have the need to put something else on.  Thanks for the "help".  

[bschafer]

I made two trips to Alaska this summer and if I only were to take one lens it would be the  Sony 24-240.

Not as tack sharp as the 100-400 but a wonderful all around lens

[A7CH]

Great choice you made, much better than the other ideas.

Prime lens and focal length will make things more difficult and therefore oblige to think before shooting: better photos !

Watch out safe distance with bears and you can certainly crop your photos and realise good results.

If you have to carry with you, as photo gear, only your A7iii and the Batis, dont bother to take a dedicated bag,  just look for the bag that suits the best and you can always take a thick cloth to protect it when inside.

Enjoy yourself and let us see your shots !

 

Flickr: Svend RS

SR S / visit also: srsatvs
 

 

[EchoAlpha]

Going to Alaska or anywhere with great landscape to wildlife. I do not have the A7M3 but an A7S (2014) A7RM2 (2016) and a number of lenses, bags and support gear. You are lucky first to have have a camera with built in IS, so you can use any lens with or without IS (get old lenses at estate sales). Two main lenses SEL24240 (IS) for close up to far away, SEL1224G (non-IS) for those wide landscapes and night stars or Milky Way or Aurora really all you need. Ok, two lenses one camera get clear kitchen trash bags to change them in to reduce dust and moisture on sensor. Now for support a sensor cleaning kit, do not get obsessed with purely clean will never happen but learn how to do it and have plenty of swabs and correct liquid.  https://briansmith.com/eclipse-sensor-cleaning-fluid-warning-sony-a7-users/     In cleaning mode leave on to clean sensor.  A good blower, lens cleaning fluid and micro cloths. Of all apps PhotoPills for phone and pad (use pad the most save phone juice). Your camera is the fastest of the fast, almost best with noise (A7S top), best at focus Brian Smith has some early books on Sony A7 cameras (a lot to learn). But somethings to remember if you need to get closer try APS-C (x1.5) mode will get you 36mm to 360mm with your SEL24240 or if the SEL1224G is on you can get 18mm to 36mm. Also learn about Bright Monitoring http://www.mitzenmacher.net/blog/?p=1751   https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=wkEeNJ8L7ik and  ISO invariance, basiclly shot at a lower ISO get a darker image but increase exposure in post the same number of stops you lowered ISO to get less noise (great for blue hour sunsets and night shots on a tripod) The take is the lower the ISO the more Dynamic Range (more detail and brighter shadows all less noise to deal with in post. In the past it was about how high ISO you can go with least noise (A7S 12MP) but today it is Dynamic Range and you get more detail at a lower ISO (slower speed shot so a tripod is needed)  http://www.mitzenmacher.net/blog/?p=1793 https://www.dpreview.com/articles/3389926460/sony-a7-iii-dynamic-range-and-high-iso-improve-over-its-predecessor

Night shots will be great in Aperture mode but if you go manual just get a +.7 M.M. for brighter image, for day shots use the zebra function and adjust the +3 to -3 dial to reduce and do not be afraid to do a HDR -2, 0, +2 to get the colorful sunset but also the shadows.

Also practice in camera panos really cool when mastered.

You have the best of the best camera with the most tools and a lot to remember in a short time you will have it for 20 or more years, really!!!!   

[tinplater]

Since you are traveling by motorcycle, I would recommend you consider a backpack style camera bag.  I use the Lowepro slingshot 102W and it is a great little bag.  It has a raincover too!   I hope the 85mm batis works for you...I would have advised against a single prime lens and instead use a more flexible zoom such as the 24-105 f4.  In your backpack or bag you probably wouldn't notice the slight weight/size difference.  Your 85mm is not optimal for landscape photography and isn't very long in terms of telephoto reach.  Generally considered more of a portrait lens.

Edited October 19, 2018 by tinplater
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