Camera gear for Glacier (the mega list)
06/21/10 20:41
Arrow Lake, 21 mm elmarit, Leica M9.
OK, so you’re headed to Glacier and you want to know which camera and lenses to take ... this is what I’d take if money were not an issue:
A Leica M9: Fits in a big pocket or small case, and the Leica lenses are superb. My favorites for Glacier are the Leica 21 mm 2.8 elmarit aspherical and the Leica 50 mm summicron. The 21 is my go-to lens in Glacier’s tight valleys (the 16-18-21 wide angle tri-elmar would be sweet, too) and with aspherical elements, this lens is brutally sharp. It’s also compact. Without the hood, it fits in the palm of my hand. I can also hand-hold it easily at 1/15 a second and go down to 1/8th or slower if I crouch down or just sit down.
The 21 elmarit is a better lens than Nikon’s 14-24 mm and a lot smaller, too.
The 50 mm works great for larger valleys, including Lake McDonald. The views from Lake McDonald looking northeast are almost a perfect 50 mm angle (45 degrees) or for a slightly wider shot, choose a 35 mm lens.
If all you’re taking is landscapes, these two lenses should suit you fine. I also like the Leica 90 mm elmarit for tighter shots, but make sure yours is calibrated to your camera correctly. Mine wasn’t, and all the images at infinity were soft, so it’s in the shop for some adjustment.
The 50 and 90 are great portrait lenses, too.
You could make some great pictures of Glacier with just the Leica setup, and keep the total weight easily below three pounds.
The Leica M9 with a 50 summicron is great for portraits of muddy children.
But if it’s wildlife and birds that you seek, you need long glass. A 300 mm is good for large mammals, but I prefer the Nikon 400mm. You really need reach for birds. Mine is the f2.8 AFS II without vibration reduction. This lens is super sharp and super heavy, at just under 10 pounds. Still, I lug it around on a monopod, even on long hikes. I must admit, I’ve recently purchased a lighter lens, the Nikon 200-400 f4 AFS VR. Hopefully this lens will work out (and save me nearly three pounds). I use Nikon’s D300 which has a 1.5 crop factor, making the 400, a 600 mm effective focal length for extra reach. The D300 is lightweight and durable, though like any camera, it will only take so much rain.
Tip: In dark conditions, set the D300 at ISO 800 and “push” the exposure a stop or two if you have to. The Raw files can be fixed for the underexposure later in post processing, rather than shooting the camera at 1600. This keeps the “grain” in the photos down.
I also carry the TC-14e II teleconverter and an el cheapo (manual focus) Nikon 55 mm lens. The 55 is very sharp, lightweight and takes great pictures.
All told my pack, with all the other survival gear, tent, sleeping bag and food, runs about 45 to 60 pounds depending on the number of days I’m out there.
Yep, it’s heavy.
This snowshoe hare wandered into camp at dark. I shot it at least two stops below normal at ISO 800 with the D300 and Nikon 400 mm f 2.8 afs II and adjusted the exposure in post processing to keep the grain (noise) down.
As far as expense, if you bought all this stuff brand new, it would cost a bundle. But the cool thing about Leica and Nikon is there’s a significant used market out there. With Nikon stuff, I started out with manual focus glass (The Nikon 400 f3.5 is a great lens and costs about $1,500 on eBay) and slowly worked my way up.
Ditto for Leica, though the used market for Leica stuff is still pricey (though some of the older glass can be had rather cheap). Be patient, add a lens or two now and then.
Most of all, have fun.