Safari lens hire options 120-300 or 80-400mm?

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Hiya - Am off on a camping Safari trip to the Serengeti and am unsure what lens to hire to go with a D90.

I'm tossing up between these two:
Sigma/N APO 120-300mm f/2.8 EX G HSM
Nikon AF 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 D ED VR

I will have a 1.4x teleconverter with whichever one I go for.

Anyone have any experience of using these lenses for wildlife? There is quite a bit of difference in size between these two with the sigma weighing twice as much (2.6kg).

I would be quite happy to lug the sigma around if it meant that the IQ and usability was significantly better than the Nikon. I'll be in a jeep (with a beanbag) for the 10 days so size shouldn't matter too much (??)

I have no other zoom lenses except a 18-55mm and will keep that (and a 10-20) on a back-up body.

Any thoughts appreciated.
 
having lived across the border in Kenya for over 10 years and been on countless drives. a few points.
1. you will not want to change lenses or add converters on your game drives, there is simply too much dust and will mean you will have a dirty sensor.
2. the animals are very comfortable with vehicles and in some case have been on the vehicles. 120mm maybe too long for some shots and if you have the tc on you have no chance.
3. I recently did fine with a cheap 70-300mm
4. you dont need fast glass as i think personally you might appreciate some envioment in the shot so will be shooting over f/4 anyway.
5. check my gallery as there are some sample shots of my recent trip.
6. if you have/can borrow a spare body keep something like a 17-70 for closer work.
7. find out what type of vehicle you will be on. some are open sided some have a roof that opens up that you can stand in. If it is the latter a bean bag will help and also means you have a better 360 view.
 
This article is what persuaded me to buy the 120-300mm. it's in Japanese, i didn't understand a thing but there are so many full-sized photos from so many different cameras with and without teleconverters, that it will keep you busy for a while!
 
You won't be needing f2.8 in Africa during the day so the extra reach on the 400mm may be of use..but I've never been on Safari so not sure what the encounters with wildlife are like!
 
Hi,

I know most Canon users on Safari favour the 100-400 so the Sigma is a good choice ( although heavy ) as it will have fast AF for moving shots and ok you possibly won't need the F2.8 but that means it will be super sharp at F4/5.6 upwards, the 80-400 has very slow AF.

The other option and cheaper is to look at a Sigma 100-300 F4, as good a lens as the 120-300mm and be far cheaper to rent, lighter too.

Mike.
 
Bear in mind also that the 80-400 will probably be manual focus with a TC on it. You might get lucky, but it will hunt and be slower than the 80-400 normally, which only has screwdrive AF.

If it was me I would take the 120-300 and borrow a second body for a shorter lens from somewhere....
 
When i went I found 200mm quite adequate, The guide gets you very very close. :eek:
 
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