Most likely if you’ve owned a DSLR or any camera system with a range of lenses for any length of time you have a pretty good handle on what you like to shoot and which lenses you’ll want to bring on the expedition. We recommend covering a wide range of focal lengths with as few lenses as possible.
Wildlife is one of the main attractions in Antarctica and capturing wildlife images is typically one of the more challenging aspects of photography because of the animals’ tendency to be elusive and at a distance – this is not always the case in Antarctica! The animals’ behavior and our guidelines allow us to be often relatively close. For wildlife photography, we recommend a telephoto lens with a focal length of at least 300mm (in 35mm equivalent) with up to 500mm as a bonus. Our Photography Coaches usually bring either an 80-400mm or a 200-500mm telephoto lens for their long shots. An 80-400mm has an especially versatile reach for a compact lens and is a good ‘traveler’. If you have a point and shoot, or other smaller camera, the manual will often give your camera lens range in 35mm equivalent. Many compact cameras have a surprisingly long reach!
Other than a telephoto it will be nice to have coverage at wide-angles (~14-35mm) and normal ranges (35-105mm) for landscapes, special effects, portraits etc.