safari gear

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im going to kenya next year, going on a safari in tsavo east and west.

now its my 21st next week, and will be buying my first dslr

now im 80% on the canon 450d with kit lens

other lenses i have on my list are

*canon 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM
*canon 50mm f1.8 II
*tamron 90mm f2.8 macro

is there another lenses i should be looking to take? something for landscapes?

looking to spend no more than £200 on extra lenses

i will most probable invest in a 20d to take aswell, so what would be a good back up lens for this?

any help much appreciated
 
Not sure how useful a macro would be on safari, never been but it's not something that would spring to mind.
I'd 'personally' go second hand and see if you can get a used 30D or 40D body (I wish I had), the 70-300 is probably a good choice as a budget zoom although most advice seems to point towards getting as much reach as you can :)
I'd also ditch the macro and 50 1.8 and get an upgraded walkaround to cover landscape and other general shots, I mention it alot but the Tamron 17-50 would suit or if budget allows a Canon 17-55 IS, both are f2.8 and have good IQ. The Canon may have a slight edge and it does have IS but it is twice the price of the Tamron.

I am not sure that with the 70-300 you would need a back-up. If you had a long prime then a 2nd body would be good to accomodate say a 70-200 or similar but with a 70-300 range I doubt you need to lug around 2 bodies. The money you would save would allow you to spend more on the main glass maybe?

Bear in mind this is not from personal experience, it is merely thoughts from reading numerous threads on this when I was looking to go next year :)
 
There are 2 other threads open about safari gear with good info on I certainly would not bother taking a macro.
 
Tbh, searching the forum for the word 'safari' does bring up a wealth of information on lenses to take. You just need to filter out threads that talk about lenses that have price tags reading like a London telephone number ;)
 
ive heard a few people who regretted not taking a macro as you can get some intersting bugs in the bush.
i was thinking of a wide angle lens but cant afford the 10-22mm
is there any other cheaper alternitives for landscape shots?
 
smalls said:
ive heard a few people who regretted not taking a macro as you can get some intersting bugs in the bush.
i was thinking of a wide angle lens but cant afford the 10-22mm
is there any other cheaper alternitives for landscape shots?
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As I said above, take an upgraded walkabout. 17mm will be fine for most landscapes. The only alternative is looking for a 2nd hand Sigma 10-20.
Tbh if you are on a budget you need to get the best quality glass to cover as many situations as possible, I don't think buying a UWA is going to be the best option, but that's just me :)

I would imagine that whilst there are some pretty interesting bugs your main focus will be experiencing the trip. You don't want to spend all your time either looking through a lens or changing lenses.
 
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