Non UK Tanzania Safari Lenses

Jim_Tod

Jim_Tod

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Jim
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OK. Off to Tanzania for a week on safari end Sep/ early Oct. Northern circuit.

Looking for some advice on the kit to take. It will be 4 wheel drive vehicle stuff mainly.

Body wise I've got a D810, D500 & D7100 and was intending taking the D810 and D500- D7100 for the classifieds soon I think

Lens wise I've 16-35 f4, 24-105f4, 70-200f2.8, 120-300f2.8, 1.4tc that goes with last 2, 150-600 sigma contemporary, 35mm 1.4, 50mm 1.8, 14mm 2.8 & 105mm 2.8 macro

They're not all going!

I've been told that the issue is often about animals being too close rather than too far away.

I was thinking about 24-105 and 120-300 as a good starter set with the tc giving the option on those bodies of 35mm equivalents of 24-105, 36-150, 120-300, 180-420, 250-600.

What else would you take, if anything, and why? I've limited luggage space to carry it in and don;t know about the 150-600 or 70-200 as back ups. I like my landscapes but thought I'd have to compromise on the wider stuff and filters for weight reduction.

No tripod going, monopod(s) and bean bag stuff.

Thoughts welcome.
 
I haven't been to Tanzania but I went to Zimbabwe last year and took two cameras, both full frame with the 24-70 on one and the 100-400 on the other.
I did have a 1.4 converter but didn't really use it as well as the 16-35 for landscape but again didn't really use so if weigh is restrictive then that may help out not taking then.
I wasn't taking pictures of birds though as pretty hopeless with the bl0000dy things.

I was on a 4wd vehicle and yes we got very close to some so with two set ups that should suffice.
Others I'm sure will be along to help, and sure ndwgolf has been there so perhaps he can help.

Hope that helps and have a great time.
 
You're going to be in the Serengeti, most of the time you will want as much length as you can possibly get. It is also a truism that there will always be something further away that you want a longer lens for.

That said, I managed in the Serengeti with just a 70-300 on a D700 and was more than happy with the results, sure occasionally longer would have been nice but then I like a bit of context in wildlife shots. Images here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/72341657@N02/albums/72157634845929635

Something else to consider is that unless you are specifically hiring your own vehicle/driver then the rest of the people there won't want a camera bore with masses of equipment getting in the way. 2 bodies, 2 lenses and leave it at that, also it is sooooo dusty you probably won't want to change lenses out in the field so taking lots of lenses is a waste of time anyway.

Given your options I would probably go 24-120 on the FF camera and 120-300 on the crop body.
 
We're going to South Luangwa National Park, Zambia in November.
I'm taking a 7DII, EF-S 15-85mm, EF 100-400mm MkII, EF 1.4x III. Will probably take an EOS-M and EF adaptor along too as backup plus my Swarovski 8.5x42 EL SV for general observation.

Biggest problem for us is the measly 5kg carry on allowance on the internal flight :(
Something has to go in the hold, which I'm not especially chuffed about. Going to see what can go in pockets.

Anyway enjoy your trip!
 
I took :
6D + 150-600
500D 17-50

It was perfect for me and the 500D hardly got used. the 150 end wasn't bad for landscapes really.. I didn't want to switch lenses at all due to the dust, so it worked well. Get an excellent backpack that fits them in along with room for passport etc.
 
Nawty said:
Something else to consider is that unless you are specifically hiring your own vehicle/driver then the rest of the people there won't want a camera bore with masses of equipment getting in the way. 2 bodies, 2 lenses and leave it at that, also it is sooooo dusty you probably won't want to change lenses out in the field so taking lots of lenses is a waste of time anyway.

Given your options I would probably go 24-120 on the FF camera and 120-300 on the crop body.
Click to expand...

Thanks Ned

24-105 on FF and 120-300 on crop was my thinking also.

Believe it will only be the 2 of us plus driver or possibly one other couple so hopefully less space issues. I think the 70-200 might go in the bag JIC as a backup though and I was planning on a couple of old pillowcases wrapped around the cameras + lenses generally for the environmental issues.
 
I'd take 150-600mm JIC instead of 70-200mm. You for most of that range covered very well with other lenses.
 
^Joe said:
I took :
6D + 150-600
500D 17-50

It was perfect for me and the 500D hardly got used. the 150 end wasn't bad for landscapes really.. I didn't want to switch lenses at all due to the dust, so it worked well. Get an excellent backpack that fits them in along with room for passport etc.
Click to expand...

Had to look up the canon references, 150-600 on ff most of time for you then?

Where were you and were the animals not that close?
 
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