My Grand Canyon plans are changing by the minute =)

Sam Posten · 06-19-2007, 09:26 AM

You may recall that I had mentioned my plan to take the parents to the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon before the EMA show kicks off. It's a hectic schedule but it's definitely doable in a single day and is relatively inexpensive to do.

Well, looks like they have convinced me to actually do a helicopter tour instead! We're still narrowing down which one we'll do, but I'm pushing for the full Vegas to Canyon run instead of the bus ride to the helicopter and bus ride back.... If anyone has done one of these before I'd love to hear your experiences and what you liked / didnt like.

I'm actually renting some big glass to go on the SLR and reading up on insights as far as that goes. I don't expect to be Vincent LaForet Jr. but I also dont want to smack any of the other passengers in the head with a lens I don't own!

The downside is doing this will probably put the kibosh on doing any of the shows while in Vegas, but we'll have to play that by ear. My parents figure they don't know if they will ever get back to the Canyon so they want to do it in style this time, and who am I to argue with logic like that!

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Ronald Epstein · 06-19-2007, 09:47 AM

Sam,

What is the helicopter excursion costing you roughly?

Where does it pick up?

Sam Posten · 06-19-2007, 02:25 PM

We are still narrowing down packages. My understanding is that the Bus/helicopter trips start out at around $300 and the Vegas pickup and drop off round trips are about $450 or more. Not cheap but not out of the orbit either.

Oh, and speaking of orbit, I did it! I rented the Canon 100-400 L zoom lens, I expect to be able to track the space shuttle with it for the week =)

mylan · 06-19-2007, 02:49 PM

My advice to you is to book before you go. We took the bad advice of our travel agent and waited, he said we could find better deals if we waited until we got out there. When you get out there ticket brokers on the strip attempt to sell you packages that were about $750! Availablity was limited as well, needless to say, we did not go,that and our relentless bad luck at the tables kinda sealed the deal on that.
Ron, I think shuttles would pick up and drop off at your hotel for the short trip to the airport.

Edit: Just remembered something, there are several variations on the trips, one where you fly the whole time and another where you land in the canyon and have lunch.

Adam Gregorich · 06-19-2007, 04:42 PM

Where can you rent lenses? I have a 70-300IS 4-5.6 lens that I like (112x480 with the .6 CMOS), but at full zoom it has to be a bright day to not be too dark. The IS on the long zoom makes all the difference! I need to pick up some polorized filters before the trip. What is your "everyday" lens?

Michael_K_Sr · 06-19-2007, 10:26 PM

When I went to Vegas for the first time years ago, there were tour helicopters taking off and landing in a vacant lot next to Bellagio. It seemed one was taking off and landing every 3-4 minutes. I was impressed with the efficiency. Alas, I'm sure that makeshift heliport is gone since that area south of Bellagio is in the midst of construction on a huge development. The only other place I know where helicopter tours are based is at McCarran. They would fly over the Mandalay Bay pool area on their final approach to the airport the last time I was there.

Sam Posten · 06-20-2007, 08:24 AM

Here's a good thread on lens renting:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=190688

I wound up using borrowlenses.com and lensestorent.com but there are 3-4 other legit businesses that have fairly good customer service reports on POTN.

We definitely intend to book before going there. Thanks for confirming that to be a good idea!

Sam Posten · 06-20-2007, 08:32 AM

Oh and Adam I had that very lens myself and didn't care for it, as you noted it just wasnt fast enough, both from an F stop perspective and focus lock. My every day walkaround lens is the Tamron 28-75 F2.8 XR DI which I consider to be the best bang for buck lens available for the canon mount. I use it more than my Canon 17-40 F4, which is an L lens! I also carry the 85 1.8 when I need a really fast lens with amazing bokeh, and I have just bought a used (and slightly damaged) 60 Macro, which is an EF-S lens which only works on the Rebels and 20/30D series. That lens arrives today and I will have to evaluate how bad the damage is before deciding to keep it or resell and get the 100 Macro I really wanted.

As you can see, I'm set on the wide to just past normal range, but I have no telephotos to speak of. This is where the rental will pay off for me, as I dont have the $3k to buy the two I want (yet!), and I expect the 100-400 to be replaced any year now anyway, it's getting long in the tooth and I'm sure a new rev using the latest IS technology will make its way to that model sooner than later. So for $130 I get to try both the brand new lightweight 70-200 and the big daddy 100-400 for a week, should be fun! And I'll be more than willing to let other HTFers try em out if they bring Canon mount SLRs with them.

For those of you who aren't photo geeks, sorry for the 2 paragraphs of gibberish! You now know what J6P thinks when he sees us talking about HTs!

Adam Gregorich · 06-20-2007, 11:07 AM

I have found the focusing to be fast enough. I have the newer model that has the L glass in it. Here is a pic I took freehand at full zoom last week of a Red-Tailed hawk near out driveway. Even at full zoom it did a decent job of locking on the hawk and not the branches. I have obviously zoomed the picture in. We will have to talk more in LV. THis thread is being returned to its normal purpose. Thanks for the lens rental links...

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Sam Posten · 06-20-2007, 03:47 PM

I'm not aware of a current model 70-300 L series, just the Diffractive Optics one that also has IS but is over $1k as well, so it's in the L price range but no red ring =)

Adam Gregorich · 06-20-2007, 04:14 PM

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=150&modeli d=11922 It's not an L per say, but it uses some of the same glass as other L series. The newer version has a lens lock switch on it to keep it locked in the 70mm position when you are carrying it. The older version didn't. If they one you had but didn't like had the lock switch then we are talking about the same lens. If yours didn't, then there is a newer model out that you might like better. You are welcome to try mine in Vegas if it different from the one you used to have.