In September of 2014, my wife and I had the great fortune to take the trip of a lifetime to South Africa, Botswana and Zambia. The trip was more than a year in the planning which gave me the chance to think about what camera equipment I wanted to take along. Our itinerary was not one of the ones designed specifically for photographers however I had no doubt we would have plenty of opportunity to take pictures!
As a starting point, my camera gear consisted of a Nikon D50 and a Nikon 18-200 VR I zoom, however, just prior to booking the trip to Africa, I had purchased a D3200 and a Nikon 85mm F/1.8G lens. This new gear inspired me to rediscover my passion for photography and moved me away from the “snapshot” mode I had fallen into with the D50 and zoom lens. Clearly though, an 85mm prime was not going to cut it for wildlife photography!
My first consideration was what sort of telephoto lens I would buy to accompany me on the trip, the 18-200 producing rather soft images and also being slower than I would like. After much investigation including the reviews at Photography Life, I decided to invest in some good glass and purchased the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II. Needless to say, I fell in love with this lens, a love affair that continues to this day. Of all the shots I take, it is the ones I take with this lens that thrill me the most…it just never lets me down. I will say however that mounting this lens on a D3200 was an exercise in imbalance.
One of the pieces of advice I picked up in preparing for the trip was to manage the risk of possible camera failure by bringing along more than one body. Originally, I thought the D50 would fit this need but ultimately, I became spoiled by the 24 MP sensor in the D3200. Given its size and light weight, I thought the D3200 would make an outstanding back up camera and so started to figure out what my main shooting body would be.
It was about this time that the D7100 came out to rave reviews and that the D600 was running into the oil and dust issues on its sensor. At the end of the day, the extra $1000 for the FX body and the uncertainty surrounding the sensor issues led me to purchase a D7100. While there are times I still wonder about getting an FX body, I have to say that I have been delighted with the D7100 and the crop factor offered by the DX sensor was actually appreciated while in Africa. My travelling kit was slowly coming together!
Another piece of advice I took advantage of, was to practice taking pictures of animals at the zoo before getting on the plane. This was a very informative and useful experience. Not only did I get a much better feel for the limited depth of field offered by shooting a telephoto lens at f/2.8, I also found that 200mm was still a bit short for taking pictures of animals…and this was at a zoo!
This led to my investigation into teleconverters, which ultimately ended up with the purchase of the Nikon TC-17E II. The TC-20E II was not recommended by anyone including Nasim due to the impact it had on picture quality. With the TC-17E II mounted, I had a 340mm F/4.4 lens with an equivalent field of view on the DX sensor of 510mm.
The final piece of glass that I added to my Africa kit was the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G lens. As readers of this website know, it is a highly regarded lens and I felt with it mounted on the D3200, I would have very good coverage with the advantage of not having to switch out lenses too often in a potentially dusty environment. My kit was rounded out with B+W 77mm UV Haze MRC filters, a B+W 77mm Kaesemann Polarizing Filter and two B+W ND filters. Again, Photography Life came to the rescue in sorting out what filters to buy.
I dislike using my DSLRs for video (which is code for just not being very good at it) so I also took along a Canon Powershot SX260 HS to use for this purpose. My wife was suitably armed with her Lumix DMC-FZ200.
Here is the summary of what I brought on the trip:
- D3200 Body with the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G
- D7100 Body with the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II
- Nikon TC-17E II Teleconverter
- B+W 77mm Kaesemann Polarizing Filter
- B+W 77mm Neutral Density 3 Stop Filter
- B+W 77mm Neutral Density 6 Stop Filter
- Two batteries for each camera and chargers
- Two JOBY DSLR wrist straps (I used these for drop protection only, not for actually carrying the cameras)
- Giotto Rocket Blaster dust removal tool, lenspen and cloth
- Canon Powershot SX260 HS
There are three other critical components to my photography kit that I want to let you know about. The first is my camera bag. While in Africa, my wife and I were each allowed a 24”x12”x10” soft sided duffle bag for all of our personal belongings and one “carry on/purse”, the combination of both which was not to exceed 44lbs or 20kg. This is because flying from one African safari camp to another is done on small aircraft with very limited luggage compartments.
I wanted a camera bag that would hold both bodies and lens mounted, because we had been warned that Africa was a very dusty place – not ideal for camera sensors. My thinking was that I would rarely if ever be removing the lenses from the bodies although in reality, this happened a lot more that I thought particularly in removing the teleconverter from the 70-200mm. I also needed my camera bag to “work” for travel which means having separate zippered pockets for things like cash, itineraries, passports and so on. Knowing that we would be sitting in safari vehicles, I also felt a backpack would be less than ideal and wanted more of a messenger bag.
I ended up buying a Think Tank Retrospective 20, which seemed to fit the bill. It held the equipment well but two things caused me to look elsewhere for the ultimate solution. First of all, there is only one zippered compartment inside the bag and a second zippered compartment for an iPad on the body side. The other compartments are all open at the top or partially closed with a small Velcro flap. This didn’t really provide the security I was looking for. The second thing was that as a messenger bag, there is a flap that folds over the top of the bag to contain its contents. Again – the more I read about travel in Africa the more I became convinced that I needed a bag that actually zipped closed sealing the camera equipment from the elements, particularly dust. So, I kept the Think Tank bag, but continued to search for a “better travel” bag that would hold my two cameras with lenses mounted and have the zippered pockets I was looking for.
Horror of horrors, I ended up not taking a camera bag at all but rather a messenger bag made by Mancini. It held everything I needed to carry and the way that I wanted to carry it and as a canvas bag, it was very, very understated. The downside of course is that it is not padded the way a camera bag is. I solved this by lining the bottom of the bag with inserts from my various other camera bags. This created a “floor” of stuffed velcroed panels that seemed to do the trick. As for the sides, the body side has a padded area for holding a laptop and the outside was “protected” by the various documents, pens and so on that I needed to carry. The ends of the bag were not protected at all, so I did have to be careful in flinging the bag around. To keep the two cameras from knocking into one another, I often had my hat, a light jacket or zip off pant legs in the bag as a buffer. Just to be clear, this is the solution that worked for me but I am in no way recommending that people forsake the protection of a dedicated camera bag when travelling to Africa!
The second thing I wanted to share with you, was what I ended up using as a stabilizing device. Many articles suggest taking beanbags and filling them up with corn or something when you are in the camp but as you can see from the picture below, the vehicles we were in did not have doorframes or anywhere else to rest a beanbag.
Other articles recommended various tripod set-ups or even monopods strapped to the vehicle itself. Knowing what I know now, neither of these options would have been practical or ideal, as there was a lot of game on both sides of the Land Rover simultaneously. Swinging a camera and monopod around would have been cumbersome and awkward within the confines of the vehicle.
So what was the solution? I took the advice of another photography website (Ron Martinsen) on how to improve your handheld shots and bought a Leica tabletop tripod and large ball head to use as a chest pod. Ron’s site has a video showing how this works. Mounting this specific head on these specific legs allows you to support your camera and lens on your chest. It gives you complete freedom of movement and reduces camera shake tremendously. If there was an opportunity to mount the tripod on something more stable, I took advantage of it, but otherwise, I felt I was able to get some decent low shutter speed shots because of this very portable “chest pod system”.
The last equipment making decision that I agonized over was how much memory to take. Shooting in RAW with a 24 MP sensor typically yields picture files in 30-35MB size. Knowing this, I ended up taking ten 32 GB SanDisk Extreme Plus cards with an 80 MB/s transfer speed. Each card had the capacity to hold almost 600 files and this proved to be reasonable for the 11 days we were on safari.
Table of Contents
So much for the preparation, how did it work out?
Here is what I learned about taking pictures in Africa and what recommendations I have for others taking a similar trip:
Lesson #1: There is no such thing as too much glass
There were many times when I wished I could have filled the frame with the various birds we saw. Even with my D7100, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II and TC-17E II, there were a number of circumstances when I was disappointed in not being able to get that little bit closer. I will say that I was pleased with the flexibility of the systems I chose particularly the ability to swap one camera for the other when elephants came in too close for the 70-200mm! The only lens I think might have offered that next little bit of flexibility and reach is the Nikon 80-400mm but not only was it more expensive, it wasn’t as fast and according to some reviews, it isn’t quite as good optically as the 70-200mm f/2.8G. The new Tamron or Sigma 150-600mm would seem to be ideal for this sort of expedition.
Lesson #2: A lot of action happens at twilight
How much overall picture speed capability do you need? The answer is quite simply as much as you can afford. A lot of the more interesting action happens during the morning hours or the evening hours just before sunset. As a result, you will definitely be pushing your camera’s high ISO or low light capabilities. This picture of the leopard was taken at ISO 5000:
I took others at even higher speeds but the graininess was just too severe for the picture to be useful. So – if I were to do it all again, would I perhaps take an FX body with better low light capabilities? I think the answer would be yes. As it turns out, I was very happy to have F2.8 available to me on the 70-200 and many of these shots would have been very blurry had it not been for the “chest pod” arrangement I mentioned earlier.
Lesson #3: Shoot in manual with auto ISO
Our first day of Safari, I was shooting in aperture priority mode but found that the corresponding shutter speeds weren’t quite what I wanted – okay needed – in order to keep the blurry demons at bay. I eventually switched over to manual – set the shutter speed at 1000th of a second and the lens at f/4 or f/8. I set the camera up for automatic ISO and set a max ISO limit of 800. Of course as the light started fading, I opened up the aperture and eventually lowered the shutter speed before finally incrementally adding more sensor speed as needed. I found this technique worked quite well for me – allowing me to get decently crisp shots without a lot of noise.
Lesson #4: Back button focus is the way to go
Long before I got to Africa I set both my cameras up for back button focus. For shooting wildlife in Africa, it is hard to beat this set up. When the animals are moving – which is constant – you can use continuous focusing mode. When they stop and look at you – you can lock the focus and fire away. It works very well indeed. Also, because I was using center point focusing, I found it easy to focus, compose and shoot. While I know it may be preferable to move the focal point around to match your subject in the frame, I found this to be one too many operations for me on the fly and so I just locked the camera focus on the center point so I knew with great certainty what was being focused on. I think with more practice I could get a lot better in moving the focus point around the frame but I didn’t want to practice while in Africa!
Lesson #5: A messenger bag with two bodies and two pro lenses can get heavy
While we were in the Land Rover, my messenger bag was usually either on the seat beside me or on the floor between my feet. More often than not my camera was on my lap under my jacket to keep the dust off – turned on and ready to go with the other system, usually the D3200 and 24-70mm off and in the bag. The only time I noticed the heft of the bag and where a backpack would have been preferable was on the long walk through Heathrow in London where we changed planes. Behind security there was little in the way of luggage carts and it often was a 20-30min walk to get from our landing gate to the lounge and then another 20-30 min walk from the lounge to the departing gate. Please keep in mind that we were also carrying all of our luggage in duffle bags so needless to say our shoulders hurt a bit. I think next time I will look for a backpack solution rather than a messenger bag for this reason alone.
Lesson #6: You will take a lot of shots
Sorting through 6000 pictures is not for the faint of heart. The easy ones to trash are those that are out of focus or have important parts of the animal cut off. While I think quite a few of the pictures I took are nice, with so many to choose from the process had to move away from “this is a nice picture” to “what is the story of this photograph?”. This latter question is the only way of cutting the inventory down to a reasonable number for a hobbyist to handle. I haven’t trashed all of the pictures that don’t tell a story but they are not ones I have taken into my workflow process.
Thoughts on Workflow
I try to keep my photo post processing workflow as simple as possible for the very simple reason that I love shooting photographs much more that I enjoy tweaking them on the computer. My biggest issue with post-processing is in deciding that “this setting” looks better than “that setting”. They often look different to my eyes but which one is “better”? I don’t know!
In light of the above, my workflow consists of uploading the RAW files into iPhoto on my Mac. From there, I sort out the poor ones and trash them. iPhoto is a pretty quick RAW “viewer” and most of the functions for file management are very intuitive for me.
Once I have selected a picture I want to work with, I export the RAW file and import it into DXO Optics Pro 10. I use Optics Pro to do the lens corrections although much to my chagrin, it doesn’t recognize teleconverters so many of my pictures do not have the benefit of this correction/calibration. If I want to crop and/or straighten any of the pictures I also do this in Optics Pro. Like Thomas Stirr, I have found the Optics Pro Clearview correction to be very good and I also use the Prime noise reduction features offered by this software package.
Once I have tweaked things in DXO, I use MacPhun Snap Heal to cut out any annoying distractions and then import the file into MacPhun Intensify Pro for sharpening. The JPEG out of Intensify Pro is typically the last correction I make before uploading back into iPhoto as a JPEG file. Please keep in mind that I only go through this process on selected shots.
I hope this article has been of use to you and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about the trip and how I made it my photographic trip of a lifetime. Here are a few more of the many shots I took.
This guest post was submitted by Gord Aker. Gord is a Professional Engineer, Professional Certified Coach and amateur photographer. Some of his photographs can be seen in his gallery at 500px.com
Gord
Great Article….fast forward to today…2024. Going on a Safari trip in July. I have a crop Nikon D7200 with a 16-80 F1:2.8 to 4 zoom and a Nikon FX D750 with a new FX Tamron SP 150-600 F5-6.3 zoom. Filters for both set ups, several SD cards, chargers, lens cleaning materials, and a waterproof backpack (dust proof) for cameras in a the jeep. Any suggestions? Will I be ok with twilight and early mornings? Thanks for your advice.
Hi Mark:
Sounds like you have a decent kit for Africa. As I mentioned in the post, there is no escaping the reality that a lot of the big cats are only going to show up in the morning and in the evening when the light is marginal. I would have loved to have the 150-600 for birds, however you may have a gap in your low light capability with these two lenses. I would be tempted to rent or buy something that would give you the 200mm range with an F2.8 option.
Still – there is always “more” and I totally understand how sometimes you gotta bring what you have. The up side is that these days, (and esp with the D750) you can really push your ISO and with noise reduction software, still come out with some amazing shots, so from that perspective the 150-600 will serve you well. I use DXO for noise reduction but there are many great options.
Enjoy your trip!
Great article. Very helpful. Going through the motions for a planned trip in 2023. Especially with twilight, I am thinking about a 70-200 F2.8 as my main lens, maybe a 100-500 on a crop sensor for birds, and possibly a 16mm for wide angle shots.
Hi Gord,
Excellent article…very informative.
I am going to Africa in 2022 (my second trip). I will be shooting with a Nikon D780 FX camera using a Nikon 70-200 mm f/4 lens with a Nikon 1.4 teleconverter. That will give me a reach of 280mm. I know that is a little short but if needed I would crop the image. Is that a reasonable solution? On my previous trip I had the Nikon D70 DX camera and used The Nikon 70-300 mm f4.5-5.6 lens. I no longer have this combination.
Would appreciate your advice. Thank you.
Hi Noshir:
Thanks for engaging in the dialog. I think there are probably many people on this forum who are better able to provide you with the advice you are looking for than I am however based on my experience, the D780 and 70-200 + the TC 1.4 should give you quite a bit of flexibility. Not all of the best shots I got took place at twilight and certainly not all the best shots I took were at the full effective reach of 510mm. Having said that, that doesn’t mean there were periods of frustration and not having quite the lens speed or the reach. That is life!
I do recall shooting the pictures of the leopards and it was getting darker and darker by the minute – and I was shooting full open, trying to keep my shutter speeds at a point where I wouldn’t end up with motion blur – and…the ISO reading was often 5000 or above. Thankfully with today’s software packages (I use DXO) you can do a lot to reduce image noise, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have loved some even faster glass!
Part of the joy in photography I guess is the challenge of getting the image you want before the animal in question high tails it back into the bush.
Cheers,
G
Gord,
Thank you for your quick response. Your advice is very much appreciated.
Best Wishes,
Noshir
I live in Africa. You need a much better bag than a messenger bag. Tenba, Tamrac, Think Tank back packs. There are so many brands.
Dust can be everywhere, even when you don’t think so. I carry three bodies with me. One with a 70-200 f/2.8, one with a 500 f/4.0, and one with a wide angle. Don’t change your lenses and cover your camera bags when on a game drive so the dust does not get into the bag when you open it up.
Wait until you are inside your tent or banda or other such room when you change your lenses. But first take a flashlight with you and don’t change the lenses if you can see dust in the air when you shine the light.
So decide what lens configuration you are going to have for the shoot. The last thing you need on safari is dust. If you want to put on a teleconverter, then do so before hand and be committed to keeping it on.
Most vehicle do have places to rest a bean bag on, unlike the vehicle shown in this pic. Most safari tour operators supply such bean bags for their clients.
Forget about a tripod unless you plan on doing some astro photography. I carry a tripod. But I live here. I sometimes set it up for sunrises and sunsets as well for astro work.
Take a computer and some hard drives and download the files every evening. Most safari camps are hooked up with solar power and battery backup and they have charging stations. You will be able to plug your computer in and charge up your batteries. And some vehicles will have charging stations for batteries and phones as well.
I would take a minimum of three batteries per body. You never know when you might lose or misplace one. Sometime batteries go bad. The last thing you want is to have your only working battery die when you are about to see elephants chasing lions.
Practice shooting with focus tracking before heading to Africa, if you are unfamiliar with that method. Your trip will be more rewarding that way. I agree. Shoot in manual with auto iso. But there may be times when you want to shut off your auto ISO.
Just program your memory banks for different types of shooting. I have one for action, one for static, one for macro and one low light action. It’s easier than changing settings on the go becasue if you are like me, I often forget to readjust all my setting for a different type of scene or action or lighting.
Most of all, enjoy your safari. I suggest Kenya, where I live, as it is very diverse geographically and is the only African country where hunting of all wildlife is illegal. And it has been that way for more than 30 years. And it is only one of two countries where elephant population has increased in the last few years.
Good luck.
Great article! Thanks for the ideas. Heading to South Africa in August 2020. I have a lot to think about in regards to my equipment. Love the zoo idea.
Hi, Gord and others.
I am planning my once-in-a-lifetime trip to Kenya and have started reading about the equipment I might need. I really like taking photos but have to admit that I really dislike selecting and sorting through the thousands of shots typical to a trip like this. This has discouraged me from the hobby for several years, but now that I am about to take this trip my enthusiasm is returning.
Your article caught my eye among the many out there because it is the most relatable: you showed that outstanding results can be reached with cameras under $1,500 and a relatively short focal range. Thanks for posting—and giving me hope!
My kit is a D7000 with the 18-300 5.6-6.5. My question is: could I get away with that? I am not sure that I want to be so consumed with my equipment, managing two cameras, to the point that it will distract me from the experience. If the 18-300 is not enough reach, would the 80-400 be adequate as the only lens in my kit? Alternatively, if I cave and decide for two bodies, should I go for the 80-400 or the 200-500 as my second lens? The former is lighter, but really only adds 100 of reach to the 18-300 I already have.
Thanks for your advice,
Leo
Hi Leo:
Thanks for writing.
In my opinion, the biggest issue and opportunity you have isn’t necessarily a reach issue but rather a maximum aperture one.
While there are great differences in safari experiences, I personally found that I was only wistful for more reach for some of the bird shots I wanted to take. Other than that – the animals we saw were quite close indeed and a 300mm (450mm perspective on a crop sensor body) is going to give you a most of what you need.
The bigger issue I think is going to be that maximum aperture of 6.5 on the long end. Your two other options, 80-400 and/or the 200-500 are both 5.6 so a bit better off but still less than great for those moving animal at dusk shots, where it is very challenging to capture a blur free picture.
I rented a lense the last time I went to Africa and was pleased to have done so. I couldn’t afford to buy it but renting it for three weeks was an investment I was more than happy to make. In this case it was a 24-120 F4 so not quite what you are looking for but renting 70-200 f2.8 or 70-200 f4.0 would provide you with additional low light flexibility.
Cheers,
Gord Aker
Hi, Gord.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. You make a really interesting point. Perhaps, instead of a kit with two lenses to cover shorter and longer focal lengths, I should consider two lenses to cover brighter and lower light conditions.
With the 70-200mm f2.8, did you feel that the shorter end was appropriate for most closer encounters? Did you use it with or without the teleconverter most of the time? I am thinking that, instead of juggling two bodies all day, I could use the 70-200mm f2.8 at dawn and dusk, and the 18-300mm f3.5-6.3 for the rest of the day. This way, I would be switching cameras only at dawn and dusk, for shots wider than 70mm.
Thanks again,
Leo
Hi Leo:
It is obviously difficult to predict what one will see and also how the photographer (you) want to capture the shot. I think your approach though is very reasonable and pragmatic. The 18-300 will give you a lot of flexibility during the lighter hours and the 70-200 is an awesome lens for when the light starts to dim. I used the teleconverter quite a bit when it was bright out and then just took it off as the light dimmed, sacrificing a bit of reach but improving the low light performance.
I also ended up using higher ISO than I would normally care to but if the option is to not get the shot at all or find that it was blurry – well, I’ll take a bit of noise. I found the noise reduction capabilities of DxO Optics Pro 10 (now DxO PhotoLab) really helped save some shots.
I hope you have an awesome trip. It is an amazing continent to visit.
Cheers,
Gord Aker
Hi Gord,
I stumbled upon this page while researching lenses for safaris, and I am glad I did! Great pictures and really useful article. Thank you.
I am going on a self drive trip very soon to Namibia, and like many others, I would like to invest in a new lens. I own the D7200 and D750, planning to bring my 16-35mm for sky and landscape, but now my dilemma (and I see I am not alone ;-) is either the Nikon 70-200 f2.8 VRII + teleconverter 1,7 (more versatile lens that could be used for many different subjects) or the 80-400mm f4. I am also looking into the Tamron 150-600mm, and of course the prime 300mm is on my bucket list. When I started this hobby 7 years ago, I had a D90 and a cheap 70-300VR, which gave me great results, but I got pretty frustrated on my first trip to Africa about the limitation of range and the lack of sharpness at 300mm. Weight is definitely an issue for me. I live in Northern Norway, so I shoot either night/landscape or wildlife (whales). If money was not an issue, I would get the 70-200 and a prime 300mm + teleconverter! Thanks again for the great article.
Hi Aurora – Thanks for your kind words. I think all of us who get to take photos on the African continent are faced with the same set of dilemmas. Even if price were no object (beyond having a porter to carry all of your gear until needed), there would still be a number of trade offs between weight, flexibility, light capture, sharpness and on and on it goes.
I am really excited to hear about your trip to Namibia as I have no doubt your 16-35 will serve you well in capturing the stunning landscapes. I have often thought about what I would do differently were I to go back to the continent and after lusting after some of the amazing new gear currently available, I think you are very close to my thinking in your equipment selection.
I now own a D610 (bought used) in addition to the D7100 and thus for landscapes (and weight and flexibility) I would likely take a 24-120 F4 VR mounted to the D610. As for the telephoto end of things – I just love the 70-200 F2.8 VRII even though it is quite heavy. With the crop factor on the D7100 and the 1.7 times converter I can get an equivalent field of view of 510mm and personally I think much beyond that – things like my technique and heat distortion start to negate any real advantage of buying a longer lens.
Having said that, the 150-600 G2 Tamron is a great lens – I have rented one and really found it to be a strong performer for my purposes, but…for the amount of room in the bag and strength in the shoulder, the 70-200 F2.8VRII with the teleconverter and both a cropped and full frame sensor – hits a sweet spot for me. And as I think I have mentioned in the comments elsewhere, the 70-200 just never seems to let me down. It is quick to focus, the colours are great and it is fast enough for 99% of the shooting I do.
I know I didn’t add much of anything to the dialog here but wanted to respond and look forward to hearing of your experience upon your return.
Cheers,
Gord
Hi Gord! That as exactly my thought as well… a 70-200 f2.8 could be very useful in many ways, I need that extra stop especially when shooting in the winter here in northern norway- and on a crop sensor, I could still get a pretty good range for wildlife. Some friends are talking about the 70-200 f4 version, very light, cheaper- but I can’t find good reviews when mounted with a 1,7. The 200-500mm and tamron 150-600 seem amazing, but weight is really an issue for me.
I have not long returned from Botswana and South Africa having completed safari tours in four different camps. I read this article prior to the holiday and found the advice invaluable. I used a NikonD7500 with the latest Nikon 300mmF4 fixed length. The photos were amazing. I concur with the comments made about low light performance of photographic gear in twilight, with animals that are moving and changing position. I often had to have ISO above 2000 for blurring to be avoided. However a good lens and sensor ensured I still took fantastic photos.
Thanks for sharing your experiences Noel and I am pleased the article was of use.
Cheers,
Gord
I am going on a Safari to Nairobi for 6 days. I have a D800 and I would like to take one lense if possible. Would you suggest the Nikon 80-400, or 70-200 with the TC17E11. My aim is to capture some beautiful pics, but not be over loaded with camera gear. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Hi Devora:
This is a tough one and I can understand the conundrum. Given my experience with low light situations, I would personally lean towards the 70-200 F2.8 and the teleconverter. You obviously give up a bit of reach and “one lens” convenience but I think when the sun begins to set and the light begins to dim, you will want to be able to use every bit of light available to you since this is when the animals are most active. Having said that, I don’t think you can really go wrong with either of your two options. Both offer compromises in different areas.
Enjoy your trip!
Cheers
Gord
Hi Gord, this was a great informative article. I am heading to Cape Town for two weeks for a wedding at the end of March, and will be doing the fun and usual tourist sites: Robben Island, Table Mountain, Boulder Beach, Botanical Gardens, Seal Island, wine tour and the Aquila Game Reserve. While I certainly want to enjoy the trip and be in the moment, I also want to make sure I have great photos. I am taking a small Olympus camera that takes film and creates regular prints plus 4×12 panoramic prints, plus a Lomography AC Wide that is 17mm for landscape, because I love the look of film, plus a Nikon D750, which is pure magic. I am likely taking the 50mm for every day and the 80-200 for the safari. I am thinking about leaving the 20mm at home since I have the 17mm Lomo camera. Last thing I want is to be over loaded. We are staying in Cape Town and not doing any other travel except day trips. Any tips or thoughts for me?
Hi Tara:
It sounds to me like you have the wide and normal end well covered. If I have a suggestion at all, it might be to consider a bit longer focal length lens for the Safari. As you will note from my pictures, many of them were taken with my 70-200 F2.8 with a 1.7 teleconverter, giving me a 340mm focal length. I was also using a crop sensor camera, D7100 so the actual field of view was closer to 510mm. Depending on your style and the kind of images you are looking to capture (tight animal portraits vs environmental portraits), buying or renting some additional reach will increase your flexibility considerably. I hope you have an awesome trip!