I agree. Didn't see much to do there but we are using it as our base and driving to other areas, since we couldn't find reasonable accommodation anywhere else.
We have rented a 4x4 SUV for the duration of the trip, that we will pick up from airport upon arrival.
As for lenses, would Tamron 70-180 f2.8 be enough? If so, here is the 3 lens kit that I and thinking
- 14-35 f4
- 24-120 f4
- 70-180
TBD: Insta360 X5 and Dji Mavic mini 5 pro.
dalegaspi wrote:
i would suggest to book a car or some kind of transportation accommodation, because the location of the puffins near the cliff is a tad too far for walking. for this location you don't need a very long lens for the nesting area (the house/hut thing is literally next to the nesting area and the challenge is to fighting with other tourists for a space :-/)
honestly though i think 2 nights is too much...there's really not much to do in Westman Islands other than the puffins...but YMMV
Most of my favourite images were with the 24-70mm. I had a bunch that I really liked with the 14-24mm as well. I took the 100-400mm Z lens in case we caught a puffin. I used it for a few detail shots but it didn't provide the bang for buck I was hoping for (no puffins on the trip).
I also took a couple of portrait lenses (28mm E and 58mm G). These lenses provided me with some special sauce for portraits and creativity.
So back to your gear, aside from puffins, I wouldn't bother bringing the 180-600mm. Even with puffins, you may appreciate leaving it behind. Iceland offers stunning environments all around, so for me wider focal lengths are the way to go. I'd consider taking your first 4 lenses if there are puffins, and just the first 3 lenses on your list if you won't expect to see puffins (or if they'll be a small focus point of your photography).....that said, I would listen to others with the puffin recommendation as I didn't have a chance to see them.
If you have space and want to bring the 180-600mm for puffins, just leave it in a separate bag so you don't have to lug it around everywhere. I read that Iceland is very safe and free from theft for the most part and I felt comforted that this is the case but perhaps others have opinions on that too as I've only been there once.
I went in late June last year, took my Z8, 28-400, 14-30, Laowa 9mm. Plus a Z6II as backup. Since it never got dark, I didn't bother with any fast lenses at all.
For family vacation with some photography the Nikon 24-120mm is great. I'm native here in Iceland and most of the time I have that lens attached to my Z8. Sometimes you can get lucky and puffin lands close by you but most often you need 300mm or more, so you need to decide how important it is to get some photos of puffin for you.
You absolute need a tripod if you want to get great "midnight sun" and/or waterfall photos. If you are 2-3 hours before sunset then often you don't need ND-filter for smooth waterfall photos. It's also not bad idea to have a rain cover for your camera in your bag, both for the rain but also if you are going to be near the ocean. It's often windy in Westman Islands and near the coast in Iceland so sometimes sea spray picks up.
Even though it's July when you come, take a warm and water resistant/proof cloths and good shoes with you because it can get cold here even at the peak of the summer. Also it's really expensive to buy outdoor clothes locally if you need it.
Also beware of pick-pockets!
We never had that problem before but in the last 2-3 years it has sky rocketed (not only in Reykjavík area) due to mostly eastern-european scumbags but also because of the mass migration which has been happening from Africa and Middle-East to Europe past decade. If they get visas in EU then they are free to come to Iceland unfortunately.
Few years ago you could leave the car and even your house open, specially outside of the city area, without meaningful risk of theft - but not anymore!
I wish you and your family safe travel and hopefully you will enjoy your stay in my country.
falconbach wrote:
For family vacation with some photography the Nikon 24-120mm is great. I'm native here in Iceland and most of the time I have that lens attached to my Z8. Sometimes you can get lucky and puffin lands close by you but most often you need 300mm or more, so you need to decide how important it is to get some photos of puffin for you.
You absolute need a tripod if you want to get great "midnight sun" and/or waterfall photos. If you are 2-3 hours before sunset then often you don't need ND-filter for smooth waterfall photos. It's also not bad idea to have a rain cover for your camera in your bag, both for the rain but also if you are going to be near the ocean. It's often windy in Westman Islands and near the coast in Iceland so sometimes sea spray picks up.
Even though it's July when you come, take a warm and water resistant/proof cloths and good shoes with you because it can get cold here even at the peak of the summer. Also it's really expensive to buy outdoor clothes locally if you need it.
Also beware of pick-pockets!
We never had that problem before but in the last 2-3 years it has sky rocketed (not only in Reykjavík area) due to mostly eastern-european scumbags but also because of the mass migration which has been happening from Africa and Middle-East to Europe past decade. If they get visas in EU then they are free to come to Iceland unfortunately.
Few years ago you could leave the car and even your house open, specially outside of the city area, without meaningful risk of theft - but not anymore!
I wish you and your family safe travel and hopefully you will enjoy your stay in my country. ...Show more →
Thank you for the details. It is sad to know about the deteriorating safety conditions and I surprised that scumbags didn't even leave a remote island alone.
I will definitely have my tripod (HEIPI 3-in-1 Travel Tripod) and ND filters. What's your opinion about taking drone?
ajamils wrote:
Thank you for the details. It is sad to know about the deteriorating safety conditions and I surprised that scumbags didn't even leave a remote island alone.
I will definitely have my tripod (HEIPI 3-in-1 Travel Tripod) and ND filters. What's your opinion about taking drone?
As someone who has traveled to Iceland and experienced others using drones: please consider not bringing it. If you bring it, don't operate it where they are clearly marked as forbidden and even where allowed, avoid operating it where others can hear or see the drone. I had several people flying them into scenes while I was photographing, flying them repeatedly back and forth overhead on trails, and in one case someone crashed their drone at the Hengifoss waterfall. The upper end of that trail has a boardwalk over rocky terrain, and they lost a number of small pieces among the landscape. The boardwalk helps protect the sensitive plant life along the trail. It looks like there are new drone regulations in place. Please follow them and be respectful of others and nature.
I will definitely have my tripod (HEIPI 3-in-1 Travel Tripod) and ND filters. What's your opinion about taking drone?
I personally don't like it when people are flying drones close to where I'm trying to photograph and enjoy the nature. However, if you are thoughtful about not disturbing other people and/or wildlife then it's generally fine unless you are in no-fly zone. The con is if the drone crashes or loses connection, it can be difficult to retrieve the drone.
You can find all the rules and information about no-fly zones etc. here on this site. You need to register at flydrone.is
falconbach wrote:
I personally don't like it when people are flying drones close to where I'm trying to photograph and enjoy the nature. However, if you are thoughtful about not disturbing other people and/or wildlife then it's generally fine unless you are in no-fly zone. The con is if the drone crashes or loses connection, it can be difficult to retrieve the drone.
You can find all the rules and information about no-fly zones etc. here on this site. You need to register at flydrone.is
Thanks a lot for the links. I registered.
I do not plan on flying where people are. Since I will be driving a lot I am hoping that there will be areas where I can fly it without bothering anyone or anything
I can’t add to the lens discussion. I will say
- bring tripod and use it
- bring graduated filters for your wide angle
-spend the money and hire a personal photographer guide. You will have more great shots with a guide in one day than a week on your own.
My trip was a number of years ago. I shot with a pair of D810.
Thanks for the suggestion. I got everything except for a guide. Itinerary is packed so no room for photography specific stops but will try to do what I can.
Viewed your website and those imagine are amazing. If I could get something even close to that I would be very happy 😊
For those who have driven around Iceland, is it worth taking a car mount for X5 to record some videos of the drive?
Don Ferrario wrote:
I can’t add to the lens discussion. I will say
- bring tripod and use it
- bring graduated filters for your wide angle
-spend the money and hire a personal photographer guide. You will have more great shots with a guide in one day than a week on your own.
My trip was a number of years ago. I shot with a pair of D810.
scenery is amazing- you can shoot best resolution with wider lenses- consider wide primes of best quality, manual lenses stopped down are lighter and are often better and stopped down wide angle autofocus is mostly useless for slower landscape shots- voigtlander for instance makes an outstanding 28/2 that is fairly small, their apo 50/2 is hard to beat. A 21 can be very useful. Long lenses are mainly good for puffins, although landscape compression with a 90 or 135 can also be an outstanding approach and will be useful for the numerous waterfalls
mojoh wrote:
What's the weather like in July in Iceland?
Is September and October a good time to visit (for photos)?
I was there in September and all of the fall colours were amazing. I also appreciated having both daylight and nighttime so we could see aurora borealis as well. That said, we missed the puffins, so will need to go back another time!
180-600 weighs 1955g w/o a tripod collar and is pretty compact as it's internal zoom. For me, it fits in 20L Tenba Axis backpack fine. I don't use a hood ever, which makes it even less intimidating.
Personally, I would take 24-120 and 180-600, throw in a lightweight Viltrox 14mm Air and 50 Air/55mm EVO and I am set.
ajamils wrote:
I am going to go with Z8 plus 24-120 F4 + 14-35. Will also have Rx100 Vii and insta360 X5 for good measure 🙂
Good choices. Re: 35-150 instead of the 24-120, it's really dependent on whether you shoot a lot of wider angles below 35mm. I know with the wind and rain, I would much rather give up the extra stop and slight reach increase to have 24mm at the starting end to reduce lens changes for the way I like to shoot, particularly in a landscape intense environ like Iceland. I also don't like changing lenses.
As far as long lens reach goes, my choice is the Tamron 70-300Z when traveling light. I don't think the 70-180 will buy a whole lot more over the 24-120 unless you also pack the TC.
I did a Z8, 28-400, 14-30, Laowa 10mm. Wished I'd had a bit more reach because the puffins weren't very near me, but worked great otherwise. Hope you have (or had) a blast!
Came back home today and like you 24-120 stayed glued to my camera. I did use 14-35 few times for waterfall pics. Other than that RX100 VII and my phone got used a lot as well.
Drone was a bust as I was only able to fly it couple of times. Either it was prohibited at the location or winds were so high that mini 5 pro did not stand a chance.
I did use X5 at few places and got really nice videos but I just felt weird walking around with a selfie stick and getting stares from people that I did not use it as much as I would have liked. I did mount it on the windshield of the rental and got really nice footage of various landscapes and roads during our the 1200+ miles driving.
ashforth wrote:
I was there last month and my 24-120mm lens was the only one I used.
It's also not bad idea to have a rain cover for your camera in your bag, both for the rain but also if you are going to be near the ocean. It's often windy in Westman Islands and near the coast in Iceland so sometimes sea spray picks up. 