What lens should I bring to Antarctica and Patagonia?

[Drew Wiley]

Waterproof darkcoth with Velcro closure, good lens shade to protect from moisture as well as water. Sturdiest tripod and head you can realistically travel with. Mass and weight help. A good parka. Paine is an extremely popular park with accommodations. Won't be like up on the peaks and their horrific weather. I don 't know if my nephew's ole Rock & Ice magazine article is still online too: Twenty Days of Paine by Chris Breemer, an obvious pun for "pain".That will give you a clue about the weather.

[Bob Salomon]

Check out Neelon Crawford's Antarctica photographs.

[Adam Long]

Paine is pronounced Pie-knee, so pain puns are a touch forced.

When I was in Patagonia my favourite images mainly came from lenses toward the normal range, or slightly longer. I did get plenty of use from wides too, just less keepers. I'd say if the 110Xl and 210 are you favourites, take them. They should suit the landscape nicely and you'll get to use your favourite lenses to boot. Your main issue shooting LF in Patagonia will be the weather - and even if it is fine high wind is still the norm. In Fitzroy about one clear day a week was typical, in Paine probably less.

[Drew Wiley]

One of the three climbers was Chilean, and the article was in English anyway. Climber lingo has long involved every conceivable torture of vocabulary possible. I'm packing right now for a hike to Tunemah Basin, named for an old Chinese shepherder shortcut to there which is somewhat disputed per exact location. But it's commonly known that "tunemah" was an expletive so foul that there is no English equivalent. Nobody ever since has dared approach the basin from the same direction. It overlooks the deepest canyon in North America.

[tgtaylor]

I am going to take a 2 weeks trips to Antarctica and Chile by Christmas time. I am thinking to bring a digital camera (5D3) and a 4X5 (Chamonix 45H1). The question is what lens should I bring with me.
for 4X5 I have Schneider 58XL, 80SSXL, 110 SSXL, 150Apo Sironar S, 210 APo Sironar, 300 Fuji C, 360A, 450C, and NIkon SW 90f8
Would you suggest the lens I should bring with me for Antarctica and Torres del Paine.

150 Apo Sironar-S and 90mm Nikon SW.

Thomas

[Greg]

OK... My passion is LF and ULF film photography. That being said, on a recent trip I took with me my FX DSLR and a spare FX DSLR body and another borrowed DX DSLR. Lenses: 14-24mm, 24-70mm, 80-200mm, and a 200-500mm. All fit easily in my ThinTank backpack which was my carry on luggage. For a tripod I only carried a small "table top" Polaroid tripod with its ball/socket head. Also took a Mac laptop with a rugged Lacie external Hard drive, I was able copy the image files onto the laptop and also onto the Lacie as my backup. Upon getting back home, edited all the images in Lightroom. Color images were printed digitally. My primary B&W print medium is Platinum/Palladium. For these images, I made digital negatives. Largest prints 11x14 and I dare to have anyone tell me if I shot the image with film or digital. One thing I do do is compose my images as if I were using a view camera. I read that Galen Rowell shot this way. Seldom do I press the shutter immediately upon putting the camera up to my eye. Seems as though lately for my photo excursions, I either shoot LF and ULF negatives (80% of the time) or only digital (20% of the time). I'd take Digital with backup to Antarctica and Patagonia... but then we all shoot differently which makes this FORUM interesting.

[Drew Wiley]

By the time Galen's snapshots made it to a page or wall print, they looked so fake that even my non-photographer friends started snickering. He was noted climber, but hardly a role model for serious photography. Any real lilly doesn't need to be gilded.

[Jody_S]

I am going to take a 2 weeks trips to Antarctica and Chile by Christmas time. I am thinking to bring a digital camera (5D3) and a 4X5 (Chamonix 45H1). The question is what lens should I bring with me.
For the following three location: Antarctica, Torres del Paine, and Easter island. There is a weight limit for the flight to King Georges island, and for Torres del Paine, I have to balance the weight for the hiking.
for digital: I have 24-70, 70-200, 400, 85, 35
for 4X5 I have Schneider 58XL, 80SSXL, 110 SSXL, 150Apo Sironar S, 210 APo Sironar, 300 Fuji C, 360A, 450C, and NIkon SW 90f8
Would you suggest the lens I should bring with me for Antarctica and Torres del Paine.

If weight and space are a factor you can't go wrong with the 150 Apo Sironar S.

[John Kasaian]

Or just take a brace of 8x10s long like this guy
http://www.popphoto.com/how-to/2008/...tic-expedition

[Drew Wiley]

Hmmm... Right now I'm looking at a copy of The Endurace by Caroline Alexander. It's an excellent guide book on Antarctic view camera photography. Even has a recipe for eating penguin for an entire year.