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Gear guide · Wildlife from a boat

Camera kit for wildlife from a boat

The camera kit for the days I am in a boat and the subject is not: bears at Knight Inlet from the skiffs and the viewing stands, whales and kayaks on Johnstone Strait from small boats. One body, one long lens, and the things that keep both working when the rain comes sideways and no tripod is allowed. The long lens is the reason the bear photographs exist.

My own kit, carried on the bear and whale trips on this site.

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The Sony 200-600 on the A1 resting on the tube of an inflatable skiff, the strait and forested islands ahead

The body

The author seated in a skiff in a red cap and life jacket, the Sony A1 and white 200-600 raised to his eye, forested hills across green water
The 200-600 from a skiff seat. No tripod, no rail, elbows in.

The long end

Bears, whales, birds: everything worth this lens is far, and the rules keep it that way. The photographs are better for it.

The iShoot Arca-Swiss replacement foot fitted to the collar of the white Sony 200-600, its locking knob and dovetail plate visible
The iShoot foot on the collar. Arca dovetail built in.
The front element of the Sony 200-600 with a K&F Concept 95mm UV filter threaded on
The 95mm K&F UV, which meets the rain first.
The padded JJC lens pouch for the 200-600 standing open on a wooden floor beside the black Sony lens hood bag
The JJC pouch the lens flies in, beside the Sony hood bag.
Grizzly bear sitting upright in tall estuary grass, scanning its surroundings in low afternoon light
Knight Inlet. A grizzly sitting up in the estuary grass in low afternoon light, on the 200-600.

Holding it steady on a boat

Some places do not allow tripods at all; Knight Inlet bans them in the skiffs and on the stands.

Keeping it dry

Sea kayaker paddling close along the shoreline of Johnstone Strait
Johnstone Strait. A sea kayaker close along the shoreline, from Orca Camp.

Hands and eyes

The Fujifilm X100VI held to the eye in both hands, a rust-coloured knitted hat above it, sunlit mountains and sea behind
The X100VI, which is the camera that is always there.

The second camera

One fixed lens, one pocket, and it comes everywhere the A1 does not.

The rules that chose the kit

Read before you pack

Tripods: ask first
Knight Inlet does not allow tripods in the skiffs or on the viewing stands, and it is not alone. A beanbag on the rail, a monopod, or your elbows. Plan the lens weight around that.
The flight in has a weight limit
Floatplanes and helicopters both weigh your bag, and on a floatplane Transport Canada rules mean nothing on your person beyond what fits the seat pocket. The camera and the long lens fly in the duffel, inside the limit. That is where a second long lens loses to the first.
Drones: assume no
Most lodges will not allow drones at all, and Knight Inlet prohibits them during the season under its environmental management plan. I flew with special permission, for the lodge, under a Transport Canada Advanced Operations certificate and with commercial liability insurance, and stayed well clear of any wildlife. If you do not have that permission in writing, leave it at home.

Where it was carried

The trip behind it