Panama Canal Cruise: The Equipment

Well I didn't want to take my heavy lens that far and a bagful of gear was out. I decided to give a try to a "travel lens" which for me is one lens that can do it all. I read up on a bunch of lenses and despite the so-so reviews, grabbed a Tamron 18-400 lens to see how well it performs. My initial thoughts were favorable, it's lightweight and has a great range so it should be perfect for travel physically. I also was worried about theft because I've had lots of gear stolen over the years so this would be a cheaper alternative to losing out on any more expensive lenses.

Out on the cruise the physical functioning definitely matched my expectations. Being lightweight, I was easily able to take it out on buses and carry it all day with no trouble at all. My "bigma" lens would have worn me out. I had tested it before my trip and did find some significant purple fringing esp with trees and doubly on a cloudy day with the sky in the background. Most of my other test shots were good and some were fixable in Lightroom so I decided to take a chance and use that for my trip.

I take a lot of photos when I'm out to make sure I get some usable ones because there's nothing worse than going out somewhere, esp if it's a once in a lifetime trip, and not getting any decent photos. With this lens I think I needed that. The focus was generally good but there were occasions where it missed focus and unfortunately one of those occasions was when I saw my first tri-colored heron but we were whizzing by pretty fast so it wasn't entirely the lenses fault. I did not have the same amount of fringing that I had experienced on my test shots though most of the weather was sunny and I was able to correct the small amount I did find on some of my photos so no problem. Although on the other hand, most of the bird photos, I cropped which may have removed some of the peripheral fringing. I'll have to experiment more with that.

The range was excellent and I didn't really miss out on not bringing my Bigma lens but it just didn't feel like I nailed as many tack sharp shots so you definitely want to take extras for when you get them into Lightroom and check them up close. Overall I would say that I got a lot of good photos and was pretty happy with choosing this as my long distance "travel lens". Some of the photos from my trip are on this website so take a look around - esp monkeys and gators and sloths-oh my! Plus some classic Central American birds like the fellow above. Would I use this again? Yes, depending on the anticipated surroundings, subjects and travel location. We're planning a U.K. trip for next year which will be a lot more scenery than wildlife so I think this lens would do great. I probably won't take it with me to Alaska for whale and wildlife photos because it's a much closer travel location for me and I like the extra reach and reliability of my big lens for whales and bears.