Safari combo advice pleeeeeeease

Tractor Boy

Tractor Boy

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Nick
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Hello wise people,

My brother in law and his misus are of to Kenya in Nov and are thinking of buying a DSLR for the trip and hiring a decent big lens for the safari bits as a compact would probably not be up to it :thinking:.

Now, never having been on safari just wondered if anyone could suggest what kind of zoom would be sensible to consider.

They seem to prefer Canon or Nikon over other well known, and perfectly adequate brands, as there seems to be more posibilities for lens hire. My thoughts were to go for either a 1000d or a 450d with kit lens and hire the 100-400 from Stewart, or the D5000 and 70-300VR, again from Stewart, but I don't know if this is either a) overkill , or b) too much for travelling.

I have told them to get down to a camera shop and have a feel of both brands so that they can decide which is for them. Not sure on budget but probably in the region of £4-500. I think they would prefer to buy the body new as they would get a waranty but they may consider s/h.


Any comments or other suggestions very welcome.

Thanks

Nick
 
When I asked a similar question recently about my upcoming trip to Kenya the 100-400 came out as the top lens. I'm already committed to Canon though.
 
tlr said:
When I asked a similar question recently about my upcoming trip to Kenya the 100-400 came out as the top lens. I'm already committed to Canon though.
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That's what I took to Tanzania on a 30D, sure there will be times you want more reach but I was pleased with my choice.
 
Thanks for that.

It is a reasonable price to hire from Stewart so with either a 1000d or a 450d would come in around the price.

My only question is this. Would the lens be overkill on a bottom end camera such as the 1000d - as a nikon person this is not meant as a dig at Canon - or would they see differences if it was on a 450d :shrug:

Having just looked on camera price buster I suspect they will go the canon route as the lower end Nikons have just changed and are a bit more expensive at the moment - also Nikon have no sensible answer to the 100-400 as the 70-300 doesn't have the required reach (damned good lens though(y))

Thanks

Nick
 
The range (100 - 400mm) is good for general safari photography, and is probably the best choice. It's not ideal for all situations (smaller birds, moving subjects at dawn and dusk etc) but your brother in law would have to spend more to cover all the eventualities. Most people don't think about macro lenses for safari, but they can get you some great shots in the bush, when there's nothing else going on. I'd suggest something around 100mm for this - some African goggas bite/sting quite badly!
 
We are not long back from Namibia and the 100-400 was used extensively.

The only time it wasn't with us was when we took a light aircraft, too big to work in a cramped space so used the 70-200 f4 with a 1.4TC

We also needed something wider and closer than the 100-400, we kept a 17-55 f2.8 on a spare body.

We kept lens changes to a minimum because of the dust but chose each day which was likely to get the most use and put that lens on the main camera with the other going on the spare body.

Sadly we didn't take any of the macro gear as we were already overweight, but we did see some fantastic opportunities to take bug shots.
 
I've never taken 100-400 on safari as I tend to work with bigger lenses. However, it is the obvious choice and will give good results. I hope they will have time to practice before they go as you need more than just a good camera.

It would be fine on a 450D although something like a 40D may offer better noise performance. I would really recommend buying used as the depreciation would be lower and then it can be sold afterwards if necessary.
 
grumpybadger said:
I've never taken 100-400 on safari as I tend to work with bigger lenses. However, it is the obvious choice and will give good results. I hope they will have time to practice before they go as you need more than just a good camera.

It would be fine on a 450D although something like a 40D may offer better noise performance. I would really recommend buying used as the depreciation would be lower and then it can be sold afterwards if necessary.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, I will probably suggest that they hire the lens for a few days beforehand and try it out at the local zoo or some such to get an idea of how to handle it. I think that they will probably only use the camera on auto so the 40d would be a bit of overkill btu I will suggest that they look for a decent s/h 450d or 500d.

Thanks for all of the other comments - I guess the 100-400 is the winner :thinking:
 
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