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Hi all,
A friend recently gave me a 200mm lens to fit my DSLR. I'd like to use it for stalking moose and caribou, which you can typically get very close to (15 yards). It is pretty heavy, as is the whole DSLR approach in general. I'm curious what other options are out there for photographing wildlife in the backcountry other than the typical DSLR, tripod, telephoto setup. Thanks!
I don't remember how the moose are in Alaska, but I would never want to get as close as 15 yards from a moose elsewhere. Plus, if you were at 15 yards, you might be too close to get the entire animal within the frame. A photo of just the front half of a moose isn't so great.
If I expect to find wildlife, I normally carry my DSLR with 100-400mm lens mounted. If I do not expect any wildlife, I normally carry it with 18-200mm lens mounted. A zoom lens will give you a lot more flexibility for varying size animals at varying distances.
–B.G.–
The other option is remote controlled stealth cameras.
Either way I think the whole kit is rather cumbersome. It's still a bunch of gizmos and doodads.
15 yds is OK with caribou. For moose at that distance I would be in a car or on the porch. Thanks for the rec.
no one mentioned compact zoom cameras or micro 4/3s type. I take it those would be a disappointing route to go?
At my house, I'm careful at 15 yards, but it rarely an issue. If they have no calves and they have escape options, and I'm doing something else (not approaching or stalking them), then they're cool. There certainly are times when we surprise each other at 4 to 10 feet in the dark, but that usually feels too close to me and apparently to them.
The kids fondly recall "moose petting season" – that second week of May when the calves have been chased off by mom and wander around kind of lost, looking for a friend. One came up to us in the hot tub and my 10 year old petted him on the nose.
Bob is right about them filling the frame. A few times each month, I'll look up from my computer, initially puzzled why the entire viewscape out the window is brown fur. It means they're nibbling the petunias again. Moose look much better from a distance. Up close, they have these warty growths on their hindquarters, their fur is often mottled and coming off in chunks, and there's often a big cloud of mosquitos following them around.
Will, you need to go test that out on a musk ox.
–B.G.–
18 oz. Wide angle to megazoom. 500 bucks. Good photo quality. F2.8 at all zoom settings. Shoots RAW. Good battery life.
Samples:
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