Tripod on Alaskan cruise

[Kmom1]

We leave this weekend for our Alaskan cruise. We have a balcony room. Is it a good idea to bring along a tripod to use on the balcony when cruising the glaciers? I don't own a monopod & don't want to purchase one for this cruise. Thanks!

[derrick22]

I just used the railings and had no problems.

I did bring along a little (8") tripod and it never came out of the bag.

 

There is also another discussion further down the forum on this.

 

Denise

[pierces]

We leave this weekend for our Alaskan cruise. We have a balcony room. Is it a good idea to bring along a tripod to use on the balcony when cruising the glaciers? I don't own a monopod & don't want to purchase one for this cruise. Thanks!

 

A tripod with one leg extended is a good substitute for a monopod in a pinch.

 

Dave

[Lizzie1]

As noted in the blog for one of the ship's on-line communities for the digital workshops (I don't recall which one), you can improvise a monopod inexpensively. I'd heard of this trick somewhere else as well. Not being a techie or an experienced photographer, I don't know how well it works, but I put one together to try for our cruise to Alaska soon. You just take your camera to your local hardware store and buy a screw-eye that will screw into the tripod mount hole on the base of your camera. (A camera store told me the 1/4" I got was standard.) Then buy a length of chain (like light-pull chain or bathtub-stopper holder chain) and a fastener so that you can loop it through the screw-eye. Get it long enough to hold your camera up high, with extra length for stepping on the chain to hold it tight. The chain comes in various sizes - I'm trying the ordinary one for least weight, but it might snap if I step too hard. I got a slightly bigger screw-eye, because it also makes another place to grip the camera on that side. If it works, great. It clearly won't eliminate all human error with a self-timer, but I figured, especially for someone with my limited skills, it's worth a try. If it doesn't work, it takes up no room and costs virtually nothing. I hope you have a great trip.

[pilotdane]

First if you are flying commercial how close are you to fitting your things into your bags and what are their weights? If you are close on space or weight and have lenses less than about 200mm I would leave the tripod at home. If you have ample loom and weight allowance I would consider bringing it especially if you are bringing a long telephoto lens.

[picsboy]

I just got back from my Alaska cruise YESTERDAY! I can still feel the rocking of the ship, even though I'm back at home.

 

Regarding monopod vs. tripod vs. nothing, I wasn't sure what to bring, so I ended up bringing both with us on the cruise. Luckily, we didn't have to fly, so we didn't have the luggage weight restrictions.

 

I carried my monopod at Icy Strait Point (our 1st port), where we did the whale watching & brown bear search excursion. Even though I carried my monopod, I didn't end up using it at all. Because of that, I didn't bring my monopod to any of the other ports.

 

We were lucky that we had a balcony with our stateroom. I totally used the tripod on our balcony, so I didn't have to constantly hand-hold the camera with a huge, heavy telephoto lens. I was also able to take lots of pictures of me & DW together on the balcony with scenery in the background.

 

Other than that, I hand-held my camera for all the other pictures. It would otherwise have been a hassle to bring & set-up a tripod for all the excursions.

[Lsimon]

I always take a tripod, if for nothing else than to take pictures of us and our friends toasting the sunset from our balcony. Often it is just one of the small pocket tripods that I use to set the camera properly on a table or chair. But before our last cruise I found a very lightweight and inexpensive taller tripod that will now be a staple on future cruises. It isn't terifically sturdy - I wouldn't want to put an expensive SLR with a huge long telephoto lens on it, but works great for our compact and mid size cameras.

 

http://www.adorama.com/TPK.html?searchinfo=TPK#Compact-8-section-Tripod-with-and-3-Way-Panhead