Sony Kit for New Zealand Travel?

I am off to New Zealand for two weeks next Saturday and will travel with equipment that I already own.  I am travelling with other people and both weight and space are a concern.  This will be mostly near-car photography with moderate walks. I plan to stuff everything into an F-Stop Tilopa with medium ICU as carry on.  I could dump the ICU use a different backpack with separate lens cases.

I currently plan to carry the Sony A7 RII, FE 16-35 F4, FE 24-70 F2.8 and the FE 70-300 G 4.5-5.6 .  I will be leaving behind the Sony 24-70 OS F4 and the Canon 70-200 F4 IS with Metabones adapter.  

Will I be happy with the image quality of the Sony 70-300, or will I wish I substituted the trustworthy Canon 70-200?  I do like the superior close-up magnification of the Sony so I am thinking that the Sony is good enough.

I may squeeze in Sony 55 mm  and/or Sony 35 mm primes but this may be equipment bloat as the BIG zoom is good (but bulky).

I may also squeeze in an A6000 body spare with E mount 16-70.

Thanks for any thoughts from those who travel more than I.

Mike.

The Sony 70-300 is excellent, I would not hesitate to take it and you will get the extra 100mm which will come in handy at times.  I would definitely take the a6000 so that you have a backup in case something goes wrong but there is no point in taking the 16-70 since you can use the 16-35 and 24-70 that you will already have with you.

See page 9 of my most recent newsletter for a short mini-review of the 70-300:
http://www.ejphoto.com/Quack%20PDF/Quac ... 202016.pdf

Moderate walks?...the South Island is very rugged unless you are going to the tourist points with parking lots and tons of people.

Mike in O wrote:Moderate walks?...the South Island is very rugged unless you are going to the tourist points with parking lots and tons of people.

That largely depends on time of day.  Early morning you will find yourself relatively isolated in even the most touristy of places.

One of my favorite place was the hide early or late waiting for the yellow eye penguin to show (never saw a soul)

Mike in O wrote:One of my favorite place was the hide early or late waiting for the yellow eye penguin to show (never saw a soul)

At Moeraki, the Yellow-eyed Penguins walked right up to me, no need for a hide

I think the hide was to keep people from mixing with the birds.

E. J., Thanks for the insight on the lens. I have taken a few sample shots and I was impressed. But, this is not a substitute for real experience.

Mike, thanks for your input. I am travelling with my wife and another couple and I will not be able to control the schedule. We will spend about one week on each island. We are happy to walk and used to climbing rugged trails up a few hundred vertical feet. No backpacking or serious climbing will occur. Now, I am more aware of the crowd factor on the road but this might be alleviated because it is a bit cold and early in spring.

I will be looking for Penguin opportunities. I have seen them in South Africa, maybe I can see them again.

Thanks again for the tips.

schlansker. wrote: I will be looking for Penguin opportunities.  I have seen them in South Africa, maybe I can see them again.

Thanks again for the tips.

There are two types of Penguin that you can see in New Zealand - Yellow-eyed and Little Blue - both are dramatically different species from the African "Jackass" Penguin:
http://www.ejphoto.com/yelloweyed_penguin_page.htm
http://www.ejphoto.com/little_blue_penguin_page.htm

I thought that I saw the "Rockhopper" in S.A. Is that the same?

schlansker wrote:I thought that I saw the "Rockhopper" in S.A.  Is that the same?

Nope, that is another species not quite as common as the African Penguin there.  But both are very different from the species in NZ.

E.J. Peiker wrote:

schlansker. wrote: I will be looking for Penguin opportunities.  I have seen them in South Africa, maybe I can see them again.

Thanks again for the tips.

There are two types of Penguin that you can see in New Zealand - Yellow-eyed and Little Blue - both are dramatically different species from the African "Jackass" Penguin:
http://www.ejphoto.com/yelloweyed_penguin_page.htm
http://www.ejphoto.com/little_blue_penguin_page.htm

Actually there are 3 types of penguins - Yellow-eyed, Little Blue and Fiordland Crested 
http://www.andytrowbridge.com/pages/birds/fiordland-crested-penguin.php

True, unfortunately I haven't seen that one