New lens for Alaska cruise?

[ClaireinTN]

I have not thought about camera gear for three years, when I bought my Pentax K100. I have three lenses: 18-55, 50-200 and 50. These have worked well for what I have wanted to take pictures of in everyday life, but I am planning an Alaska cruise and don't think these lenses are going to work well for taking scenery or wildlife photos. So I need some advice! Is there one lens that would be really excellent? My very limited understanding of lenses suggests that a lens that is good for scenery is probably not going to be good for wildlife. I suspect that I have a much better chance of taking decent scenery photos than wildlife photos (we aren't planning any excursions specifically focused on wildlife) so scenery is the priority.

Any and all advice is very appreciated!

 

[ukcatfan]

You have the same kit as me. It is really pretty good for versatility. I suggest considering an upgrade to a K-x or K-r. I moved from a K100d to a K-x a little over a year ago and was amazed how different it was. The K100d seems like a dinosaur now The increase in fps will help with any wildlife shots. That was one of the K100d's weak points. Now Pentax is above the curve in that feature and are faster than most other brands. Sony is fast as well to be fair, but Canon and Nikon are not at the entry level.

 

[jcb]

I know nothing about pentax but if you want wildlife photos and are not doing an excursion, consider a longer telephoto. I could not come close to filling the screen image with a 300mm in my photos of humpback whales. Your other lenses should work fine for landscape. I never used my wide angle except for photos of the ship, the towns, or people.

 

[ukcatfan]

I know nothing about pentax but if you want wildlife photos and are not doing an excursion, consider a longer telephoto. I could not come close to filling the screen image with a 300mm in my photos of humpback whales. Your other lenses should work fine for landscape. I never used my wide angle except for photos of the ship, the towns, or people.

The Pentax DA 55-300mm is a decent lens for the price.

 

[mom2rtk]

I would go one of 2 directions:

1) A nice all in one (if those are available in Pentax mount) so you didn't have to keep changing your lens out or

2) Renting a really nice big telephoto lens. There are several online places you can rent from.

BTW......... I'm WAY jealous. I'd love to do an Alaskan cruise!

 

[ClaireinTN]

Thanks for the replies. You have given me several things to think about. As for the changing lenses issue, I am not sure that there is really any way around that completely since I already have two lenses but I am hopeful that I can use different lenses for different parts of the cruise and not have to be switching back and forth a lot.

Perhaps I have spent too much time on the ultra-wide-angle thread, but it has made me really want one for Alaska. I guess I am a little skeptical about getting good wildlife shots even if I rented a telephoto lens. We are not doing any excursions specifically for the purpose of seeking out wildlife (going too early for bears), so I am thinking I would get a better return from concentrating on scenery shots.

Can someone provide a ball-park figure for renting a lens? That might be a good compromise.