Africa Safari

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winterlight

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I need some advice. Thinking of a trip to an African Safari. Have a Canon 550D, 17-55mm 2.8, 70-200mm f4 IS and 300mm F4 L. I am thinking whether a 100-400 L IS would be a better suited with less lens change or a second body?
THanks
 
Hi,
I'm working in Africa. You will want the bigest lens possible, wild life either too shy or too dangerous [some of the best birds are very small too], plus the 2.8 will be ideal, sun goes down early and quick plus ideal if you get a storm !
 
On Safari wildlife can be distant or exceptionally close. So I'd recomend the 100-400 over the prime (which will give stunning images at the expense of flexibility). I took a 120-400 and a 17-85 and that was all I needed. A good driver will get you closer to wildlife than you will expect so even a 200 on a crop sensor will get good results (although this would be the minimum long reach I'd recomend).

Dust is a problem in Africa, so changing lens can be an issue, so again picking lenses that offer flexibility will reduce changes and there dust ingress. You'll definitly need some cleaning kit with you.

The other thing to remember is that you have to carry the gear around - big bags and constantly changing lenses can be a distraction to other safarists in your vehicle. You also hit luggage limitations.

If you're in the position to take a second body - do it. Not only will it back up your main camera, it will also give the short and long body options. I usually fitted the wider lens on the 30D and the longer on 50D. There were times in the Serengeti when I was flipping one camera to another almost on a shot by shot basis.

Just my thoughts - hope these help
 
I am so glad someone has flagged this post up, I am going in three weeks and have never shot wildlife at all.
I just bought a 70-200L f2.8 IS and I own a 24-105 and a 135mm f2, I have two bodies (5DII and 50D) would you put the 24-105 on the 50D and have the 70-200L on the 5D? Or would you hire a 100-400 to get the extra reach?
 
I'm going in sept and am renting a 100-400L as it's widely regarded as a cracking lens for the job. No prizes for guessing what my advice would be!

Norah - I'd swap the lenses on your bodies as the crop factor on the 50d would make the effective length of your zoom longer than if it were on the full frame 5d.
 
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norahbattie said:
I am so glad someone has flagged this post up, I am going in three weeks and have never shot wildlife at all.
I just bought a 70-200L f2.8 IS and I own a 24-105 and a 135mm f2, I have two bodies (5DII and 50D) would you put the 24-105 on the 50D and have the 70-200L on the 5D? Or would you hire a 100-400 to get the extra reach?
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100-400 (definitley hire one) on the 50D and 24-105/70-200 on the 5D.
 
Same here - I hired a 100-400 L for a Kenyan safari and it was supurb.

You'll also need a second lens for closer/wider angle stuff, Ideally on a secodn body but not essential
 
norahbattie said:
I am so glad someone has flagged this post up, I am going in three weeks and have never shot wildlife at all.
I just bought a 70-200L f2.8 IS and I own a 24-105 and a 135mm f2, I have two bodies (5DII and 50D) would you put the 24-105 on the 50D and have the 70-200L on the 5D? Or would you hire a 100-400 to get the extra reach?
Click to expand...

I'd have the 24-105 on the 5D and the 70-200mm on the 50D, reason being that the 5D is full frame so you can get a wider angle for landscape type shots whilst the crop of the 50D increases the effective focal length of the 70-200mm making it better for wildlife.
 
Thanks very much for the advice. I am erring towards getting a second body and the 100-400 L IS in addition to the 550D, 17-55 F2.8, 70-200 F4 IS. May leave the 300mm F4 at home. I guess hauling too much gear may also make things difficult. Also not particularly keen on checking in any lenses!

Has anyone tried the Canon 70-300mm DO IS lens for wildlife? This looks interesting to reduce equipment weight.
 
winterlight said:
Has anyone tried the Canon 70-300mm DO IS lens for wildlife? This looks interesting to reduce equipment weight.
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I used the DO on my first ever safari - pics here. I was very lucky, in that the wildlife was, on the whole, very close. I'd chosen the DO because it was much better than the 75-300 and the 100-400 was a bit too expensive. At the time Canon's non-DO 70-300 hadn't been released so it wasn't an option. But it is, in fact, slightly lighter than the DO and has comparable image quality.

By the following year I was getting more interested in birds and I knew that 300mm wouldn't be enough for my next Africa trip. So I got the 100-400 and it's been used for three trips to Africa. Last year I bought the 300 f2.8 and took that to Botswana.

However, I'm still trying to decide between the 300 and the 100-400 for my trip to Namibia in September. It'll almost certainly be the 100-400 as this trip isn't a safari - I'm volunteering for a conservation project. So photography will be incidental to working.
 
Would the 1.4x extender work just as well with the 70-200 2.8 lens on the 50D body? I don't want to be taking too much gear out with me with the fear of getting dusty or stolen even!
 
norahbattie said:
Would the 1.4x extender work just as well with the 70-200 2.8 lens on the 50D body?
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Well, it wouldn't be as good as the 100-400 for the vital 280-400mm range;)

I understand all too well the weight problems. But I'd leave the 70-200 behind in favour of the 100-400.
 
hollis_f said:
Well, it wouldn't be as good as the 100-400 for the vital 280-400mm range;)
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Correct me if I am wrong, 50D body so crop is 1.6x which makes my 70-200 essentially 112-320 with a telecoverter it would be 156-448 which makes it better than the 100-400 right?
 
norahbattie said:
Correct me if I am wrong, 50D body so crop is 1.6x which makes my 70-200 essentially 112-320 with a telecoverter it would be 156-448 which makes it better than the 100-400 right?
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No. Applying that same, flawed, logic the 100-400 on the 50D becomes a 160-640. Crop factors do not change the focal length of a lens.
 
Here is a post that I have posted before on my experience in South Africa this year.

Sabi Sands private game reserve is on the South West edge of Kruger National Park in South Africa, it borders Kruger and there are no fences between the two. Vegetation is basically exactly the same in both. From talking to people whilst on the trip it became apparent that you get a lot closer to the game in Sabi Sands then you do in Kruger its self, this is because the rangers are allowed to track the game off road in Sabi whereas in Kruger all vehicles must stay on the roads.

We went for 7 nights, staying at a Lodge called Elephant Plains.

Here is a list of kit that I took with me:

- D700
- D300
- 70-200mm f/2.8 VR
- 200-400mm f/4 VR (rented from a company in Johannesburg)
- 20mm f/3.5 MF
- 24-60mm f/2.8
- 50mm f/1.4
- 90mm f/2.8 Macro
- SB-800 Flash
- MacBook
- 500GB Portable hard drive
- Manfrotto Carbon Fibre Monopod
- Slik Carbon Fibre Tripod

We went on 2 game drives per day, the first leaving at 6am (sunrise was at 6.15am) and returning at 9am. The second left at 3.30pm and returned at 6.30pm, and it got dark at about 6pm. The drives were in open top Land Rovers.

99% of the time I used the following set up. D300 with the 200-400mm on the monopod and the D700 with the 70-200mm hand held, the other 1 % I used either the 20mm or the 24-60mm on the D700 for landscape shots.

During the early morning and late evening, for about 25 mins, I had to use the SB-800 to assist with light. The results with the SB-800 were somewhat artificial but it was a case of either getting the shot or not getting any shot!

Over the 8 days I took a total of 3,950 shots, of which 59% was with the D300/200-400mm combination, 40% with the D700/70-200mm combination and 1% was with the wide lenses I mentioned earlier. Its going to take me weeks to go through all the shots and pull out all the keepers!

So from these figures you can see that the 70-200 on full frame got quite a bit of use, more then I had expected.

I will admit there were a few times when I did need a longer lens, something like a 500mm or 600mm f/4, however we I go back, and I definitely am going back I won’t buy or hire such lens as it really was just a couple times throughout the 8 days that I could have done with it.

On a number of occasions I had to really push the ISO on the D300 using the 200-400mm, I am not entirely sure how useable these shots will be yet but will report back once I have run them through noise ninja.
So on that subject I would not recommend considering any lens with aperture smaller then f/4, if you can then use/take f/2.8!
Although saying that I thought the 200-400mm f/4 is an amazing lens, so versatile and on first impressions image quality looks very very good. It will definitely be my lens of choice when I go back.

Its going to take me a while to go through all 3,950 shots so please be patient to see some images!

I hope this is of some help to others and feel free to post any specific questions.
 
Wow we are staying in Elephant Plains too, we are only staying 3 days though, did you get to see quite a far bit? I am guessing with almost 4000 photos I have answered that question myself :) Did you go to Cape Town or J'Burg? Can you recommend places that are must photograph?

Also how much did it cost to rent the lens and could you tell me the name of the company. I looked here and it is around £70 pw for a 100-400mm
 
Take a bean bag also and a pillow case for changing lenses to elimimate dust.

Have a great time I went last Sept and thinking of going again either this year later or next year.:thumbs:
 
I'm out in South Africa covering the World Cup and we just went on a day safari on one of our days off. We took:

24-70
70-200
300
500
600

plus 4 D3/1D3s.

Go for the biggest glass you can get your hands on. There were times when even the 6 was struggling so the bigger the glass, the better.

One more thing; a monopod is vital.
 
norahbattie said:
Wow we are staying in Elephant Plains too, we are only staying 3 days though, did you get to see quite a far bit? I am guessing with almost 4000 photos I have answered that question myself :) Did you go to Cape Town or J'Burg? Can you recommend places that are must photograph?

Also how much did it cost to rent the lens and could you tell me the name of the company. I looked here and it is around £70 pw for a 100-400mm
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Its a very popular lodge so I'm not surprised you are staying there. There is a reason its so popular, value for money is unbelievable! We saw tons of game, here is a list of the major ones:

Leapord
Cheetah
Elephant
Wildebeest
Buffalo
Hippo
Impala
Waterbuck
Warthog
Giraffe
Zebra
Mongoose
Grey monkey
Baboon
Fish eagle
Chameleon
Inyala
White backed vulture
White spotted owlette
Kudu
Dwarf mongoose
White Rhino
African Wild Dogs
Lions
Hooded vulture
Tawny eagle
Black backed jackel
Bushbuck
Barn owl
Bush baby

We flew in to Jo'burg and stopped at the hotel at the airport before getting picked up for the drive up to Sabi Sands early the next morning, so no photography in or around Jo'burg. I wouldn't want to take my stuff out on the streets anyway, way too risky.

Are you flying or driving from Jo'burg to Sabi Sands? If you are driving then plan to stop off at Blyde River Canyon in the, its not too far from Lydenburg, we didn't actually stop as we didn't have time but from the scenery around it we did see it was pretty amazing.

The Nikon 200-400 f4 that I rented cost me R450.00 per day, thats about 40 quid per day I think. However it is a much more expensive lens then the 100-400 you are looking at hiring. You may find you'll struggle for speed first thing in the morning and last thing at night with the 100-400. Some of the time 400mm was way too long and I used my 70-200 a lot more then I expected, they get very close to the game.

Here is my gallary of my best shots from the week.

If I can be of any more help then give me a shout, probably best by PM.
 
I am not a professional wildlife photographer just someone who loves photography and only recently got into it about a year ago. I have self-taught everything I shoot and don't think I will be able to afford (time wise as well as cost) to go on another safari for a while (my husband and I only get 9 days off every 4 months and even then not allowed to take it in one go)

So my dilemma is do I opt for the large glass (100-400mm) or compromise and use a 1.4x/2x telecoverter on my 50D with the 70-200 f.2.8L?

very confused now, was thinking about buying the 100-400 for the safari and then selling it on afterwards...this may be an option
 
100-400 - definitely.

If you can buy one second-hand you should be able to sell it after with minimal loss.
 
We're going to South Africa later this year so I've also been thinking about this.

When we were in Kenya 3 years ago it was very dusty and I wouldn't like to change lenses in the field.

I bought a second body on TP, a Canon 20D for a good price and I shall put my 24-105L on it keeping my 100-400L on the 40D.

When we return I'm sure I can resell the 20D for a similar price.
 
footman said:
We're going to South Africa later this year so I've also been thinking about this.

When we were in Kenya 3 years ago it was very dusty and I wouldn't like to change lenses in the field.

I bought a second body on TP, a Canon 20D for a good price and I shall put my 24-105L on it keeping my 100-400L on the 40D.

When we return I'm sure I can resell the 20D for a similar price.
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Laurence, where abouts in South Africa are you going? If you are going to Kruger then dust is not really a problem, it is very different to Kenya (central Africa), no open plains, more bushveld type landscape.
 
Steveo_Hants said:
Laurence, where abouts in South Africa are you going? If you are going to Kruger then dust is not really a problem, it is very different to Kenya (central Africa), no open plains, more bushveld type landscape.
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We're going to the Madikwe National park which is close to the Botswana border.
I really don't know what type of landscape there is there. What is the difference between bushveld and plains?
 
footman said:
We're going to the Madikwe National park which is close to the Botswana border.
I really don't know what type of landscape there is there. What is the difference between bushveld and plains?
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Bushveld is pretty thick/lush vegetation. It sees a lot more rain then the open plains of central Africa so you don't get anywhere near as much dust.
 
Ok, I ve been on 6 or 7 safaris over the years and am amazed people are saying long glass is the most important thing. It is nt, do not go on a safari with only one body! What you going to do if the only one fails on your first day? Long lenses are nice to have but big heavy and difficult to hold, shooting from a vehicle with the engine running, which is the usual scenario, with a long lens is a recipe for some nice blurred images, done that. Two bodies with a short range zoom on one and a mid long zoom on the other so you dont have to swap lenses will get you 99% of all the shots. Take a 2x convertor if you think you will need longer. You will miss shots if you have to swap lenses. I ve taken tripods and not used them, beanbags are good though. Depending where you go and the time of the year, it is very dusty, I usually take a dust filter mask like the DIY ones and have been very pleased when we have been travelling behind another vehicle. Finally dont get too fixated by the photography that you miss the overall experience!
 
Thanks for all the replies. I have a very underused Canon 1.4x which I bought hoping to use with the 70-400 F4IS. Probably used it 3 x in 2 years. Any thoughts of using these on a safari?
 
Hi
I wanted to "open up" this thread again, I am off on safari tomorrow and debating over what to put in the camera bag. I was going to buy a wheelie but thought its pointless to spend so much money for one trip so its backpack all the way.

I have the following:
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 50D
24-105L f4
14-70L
70-200L f2.8
100-400L f4.5-5.6
50mm f1.4
85mm f1.8
35mm f2
135mm f2.8
extender 1.4x

Now my dilemma is which to take in the bag?
 
norahbattie said:
Hi
I wanted to "open up" this thread again, I am off on safari tomorrow and debating over what to put in the camera bag. I was going to buy a wheelie but thought its pointless to spend so much money for one trip so its backpack all the way.

I have the following:
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 50D
24-105L f4
14-70L
70-200L f2.8
100-400L f4.5-5.6
50mm f1.4
85mm f1.8
35mm f2
135mm f2.8
extender 1.4x

Now my dilemma is which to take in the bag?
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The 5D coupled with the 14-70 for some stunning landscape shots and animals that are quite close and the 50D coupled with the 100-400 for some fantastic reach. Just my tuppence worth.

Space may be quite limited in some safari vehicles. Oh, and some binoculars!
 
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norahbattie said:
Hi
I wanted to "open up" this thread again, I am off on safari tomorrow and debating over what to put in the camera bag. I was going to buy a wheelie but thought its pointless to spend so much money for one trip so its backpack all the way.

I have the following:
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon 50D
24-105L f4
14-70L
70-200L f2.8
100-400L f4.5-5.6
50mm f1.4
85mm f1.8
35mm f2
135mm f2.8
extender 1.4x

Now my dilemma is which to take in the bag?
Click to expand...

Lord almightly, how much do doctors make!? Do you practise in Harley Street by any chance? :lol:

Take your 50D, 100-400, 24-105L F4, 1.4 extender. This will give you enough length for all your safari stuff, the 50d has a faster shutter than the 5DMKII. The 24-105L F4 will give you what you need for general holiday walkabout needs too.

Also did you mean the 17-40L by any chance? :D
 
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Sorry meant to say 17-40 not 14-70 whoops!! I did notice that but a bit too late :)
 
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hahahaha!!! Harley Street..I wish!!! I just spent my entire first year wages as a junior doctor to pay for the equipment and the safari trip...don't worry some of the equipment will be sold on here as soon as I get back to fund the debts!
 
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Just read through this thread:help::help:
I shall be going to Kenya in Sept and still trying to work out what to take:thinking:
I have:
7D
30D
70/200L 2.8
150/500 5/6.3 Sigma
10/20 4/5.6 Sigma
17/70 2.8/4.5
100 2.8 macro
+ chargers/batteries/CF cards etc

Would you take any filters? Lee etc

Even this lot weighs a ton. I can get it in a lowerpro 200 vertex which is within carry on size.
Decisions,decisions decisions:bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk::bonk:
 
Min requirements, INMSHO, are:

Two bodies; long lens on best APS-C, wide lens on remaining body with biggest sensor. Circ-Pol for wide lens. At least two batteries per body. CF cards enough to handle 1.5 day's shooting. Dual backup system for images. Beanbag.

In addition I'll normally take the 50m f1.8 as it weighs virtually nothing and a small (tabletop) tripod (I like to do starfield shots with the wide-angle).
 
norahbattie said:
OK now i have my camera equipment sorted, what do I pack to wear??
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you are a photographer... wear what photographers normally wear. For men its a cargo pants with a tshirt of some sort (preferably of some obscure punk band).

That should give you some ideas!
 
Thought I'd check the South African Airways cabin luggage rules. In a nutshell the bags overall dimensions must not exceed a total of 115 cm. and the total weight not exceed 8 kg.

I checked out my gear this morning and the nearest bag I could find in my collection was a Lowepro Slingshot 300AW whose total dimensions were 101 cm.

I packed in a Canon 1D Mk2N with a 100-400, a 20D with a 24-105 and a pair of decent binoculars.

This lot had a total weight of 7.05 kg. Factoring in chargers, batteries spare cards and in-flight entertainment then the limit is easy to reach.

2 people I know recently had their cabin baggage weighed and measured on SAA!

My question is about monopods. Are these advised when used in a safari vehicle?
I shall be taking a light bean-bag in my hold baggage.
 
SAA are no worse than any other airline for weighing cabin baggage - and a lot better than some. I've flown with SAA a few times and I've never had my bag weighed, which was fortunate as the average weight must be around 11 to 12 kg. It helps that I'm a big bloke, so the bag looks smaller on my back. When asked about hand luggage I casually swing it off my shoulder and say 'Just this', then swing it back. Treating the person behind the desk as a human being - make eye contact, smile, chat and generally be pleasant - also helps.

As Plan B, I always travel wearing a Country Innovations vest - with pockets large enough to carry most of my gear on its own. If challenged I'll just transfer 4 kg to that. This year I'm off to Kenya with BA - no weight limit on hand luggage as long as you can lift it into the lockers. Many tour companies will quote you a 'land-only' price - allowing you to sort out your own flights and pick your own airline.

Oh, the monopod. Not much use in the vehicles, but if you plan on doing any walking about then they can be very handy.


Oh! Another tip. I always pack some clothes (socks, undies, t-shirt) into my hand baggage. It helps protect the delicate contents and it's useful if your bags get lost.
 
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You look spoilt for choice but if it were me....
I always take the minimum I can. wildlife and birds seldom pose on cue so it would be a long lens and a landscape lens...thats it. even if I were a dr;)
i'm a nurse btw so it'd be a disposable boots 35mm and sod the expense. ;):D
al
 
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