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Going on a Safari, what lenses should I bring??
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HI All,
Luckily for me I’m off on a Safari in July of this year (Honeymoon) in the Serengeti :D :D :D .
Currently I have the following lenses:
- Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6 IS
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 IS
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 IIBut I am wondering if I should get one other one, preferably a wide angle one, maybe a 10-22?
Also as I am a bit restricted on the weight, I need to think about bringing a tripod or is there something else I could use, I have a Gorilla Pod but need a head for it though? Any thoughts here :?: :?:
It is just that I think I might be taking a bit of the photos in low light especially if I want to get a good sun set or sun rise..Thanks
O :D :D
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Firstly, dont bother with the tripod, get yourself a beanbag & bring it over empty. When you get to where you’re staying ask them to fill it with rice, that’s then your tripod/rest for the open top 4×4 or van whatever. When I went to the Mara I had a 500mm, 70-200mm, 20-35mm. The 500 was used 90% of the time. I know not everyone can bring one of those, so bring everything you have listed. I personally wouldn’t splash out on a wide 10-22. I specifically went to get photos hence all the kit, you’re on your honeymoon, so enjoy it!!
If your honeymoon will be like mine, you will get nagged every time you try and slip off for a few shots. I ended up getting up at 4am each morning to get the early beach shots when I was in St Lucia. :-)
Africa will be totally different,. I reckon go long as Mark has stated. Most shots will be of the animals and the people. The widest that you have at the minute is 17mm and I am sure that this will be more than enough to fit in the landscapes.
Good luck and congrats on the forthcoming event
DeeHere’s my diary from doing Tanzania back in 2005. http://www.highwaycsl.com/Travel/Tanzania/Tanzania.htm I was still a total novice back then so the photos aint the best. I wrote the tips stuff a little later on based on what I’d learned.
I used a 100-400L IS most of the time. Longer = better because the laws in the national parks prevent the trucks going off the tracks. You can get lucky – we had Lions right beside us loads of times.
Bring a good polariser too. I did take some landscapes. Odd’s are if you’re not flying into the Serengeti “airport” that you’ll be stopping in Ngorongoro and Manyara on the way out and in. There’s some opportunities to shoot there. In the parks – not much opportunities to shoot landscapes because you can only walk short distances. The private parks like Ndarakwai can organise something with the staff.
BTW, do you know who the local operator is?
Thanks – just remembered it was in Feb 2006, not 2005 like I said above. My memory is like that of a goldfish these days.
What does a trip like that cost Aiden and how would one go about organizing it?? Did you go with a photography organized or shanks mare?
That trip cost a lot – I’d gotten a nice payoff from a sill finance company that decided to try to layoff their senior IT before migrating everything to Germany. Silly buggers still haven’t figured out how to do it 2.5 years later :)
Anywho – The flights alone were around 1000 per person: Dub – Amsterdam – Nairobi (Kenya) – Arusha (Tanzania). The safari was around 2.5 per person after that (I think).
I went to a company called seekasafari in London. They custom build the trip for you. I said photography and they knew what I wanted. They deal with the second largest operator in Tanzania (around 125 trucks on the go I think) at that time. The company, Leopard Tours, can also be dealt with directly. They offer an AMAZING service. I’d have no problem going directly to Leopard again if I had the money to go again. It was just me, my buddy and the driver all day long. We set the agenda every night with the driver with his guidance. I knew what I wanted to shoot or see, he knew where to find it.
You can do cheaper trips. The local neighbourhood travel agency will have brochures. You have to be very careful abotu finding out what the details at the other end will be like. Do you want to be in a truck with other people? Will they be like “we’ve seen a lion, let’s move on” while you’re thinking “I want to stay a while to get better photos”. Do you want to be in a convoy of trucks? Worse … do you want to be in a prefab building that’s been stuck on the back of a gigantic army truck? Yeap – we saw those. And equally worse … do you want to be in a Rav4 that can’t go anywhere? You should be in either a Toyota Landcruiser or a Landrover Defender. Anything else – forget it.
You can just fly into Arusha and organise a trip by cold calling into an agency. Problem here is that you can end up sharing a truck with people in other accomodation. You could be in lodge A while they’re in Lodge B. The Serengeti is the size of Northern Ireland and A and B could be as far apart as Derry and Belfast. Imagine been the first passenger int he morning and the last in the evening while the driver does the rounds before and after the daily safari trip.
You’ve got to ask lots of questions and get written assurances about what the service will be. The typical tour gives you no time anywhere. In, wham, bang, thank you mam, and out. We had 5 days in the Serengeti, camping a couple of KM’s from where the migration was at that time of year. We knew it was coming but not exactly when. Imagine paying a couple of K for a trip, in, no migration, out and missing the biggest spectacle nature has to offer by 24 hours.
I’d love to go back. Just can’t afford it now. And I certainly couldn’t do a half-job on it now just to go over.
Hi Guys,
Thanks for the feedback here, ya your right about enjoying the honeymoon, but then the missues is the one that is trying to make sure I capture as much as possible as well. Just bought a 16gb memory card for the camera as well, think I have more money than sense.
I booked my trip through Expert Africa in the UK, very good so far with good tips. Booked it in STG last Oct/Nov when stg was a lot dearer for us and have to pay yet for it, think I may have saved over €1k already with the exchange rate. I booked the flight myself through KLM, Dub – Amsterdam – Kilimanjaro and back through Dar es Sallam as we are going to Zanzibar for over a week as well. We have got a private jeep with us as well, didn’t want to be sharer with other people as with Aidan above.
Aidan really like your photos & story telling very informative
By the way does anyone know if I can use one of those extender tube things to make my 70-300 longer???
Hi OJ – When you say you have a private jeep as well what do you mean?
I’ve been to a few African countries, and usualy hire a 4×4 and camping gear and just get on with it. The 4×4 hire is pricey (as I’m sure you know) but if you have one, be sure you know how to drive off road. getting stuck on your own is not a funny prospect! I usually travel with a buddy of mine so we take 2 4×4’s (and a rope). For me, this is just about the best way as you can go and stay anywhere as long as you want.
Next best (possibly better on your first trip) is as per what Aiden said above where you have your own private guide/driver.
As to gear, I dont think the extenders work with the 70-300. other than that, get more memory. You have no idea how much you will shoot, and you do not want to have to spend your evenings reviewing and deleting on the camera. Imagine making a mistake and deleting a load of pictures on a card!
just bring the bean bag as described above. Make sure it’s large enough to hold the camera steady if you set the 10 second timer and run over to be beside your new wife! Be sure to get a few of them, or this will be your last trip with a camera :-)Enjoy!
Merv.run over to be beside your new wife! Be sure to get a few of them,
:o :shock: :?: :?
Hi Merv,
Ya sorry meant that we have a private driver, won’t dream of driving out there, I’d get totally lost and all that.
As regards the memory well I have approx 21gb of cards which should give me 2100 photos if shooting in RAW, which I normally dont but might for this trip. I’m only after buying a 16gb card, but I do think I probably need more battereis though as I only have 2 da moment.
Also I have one of those remote controls as well, just need to be able to operate it without out it been seen as well….Your right about if I mess it up , as I’ll get killed, was just in Rome with the camera and had to make sure I got things right….
OJ
You’ll be amazed. on a busy safari day, I could shoot over 1000 shots. I dont normally, but I bracket a lot on safari when shooting backlit, or anywhere around dust. Animals move a lot, and give very different expressions etc. Also, with birds in flight, I jump into high speed mode and let fly. Similar with hippo’s yawning or similar.
Other days, I might shoot between zero and 20 shots where I have time to work it and nail it rather than shooting frantically.
beg borrow or steal a downloader, that would give you another 20 to 100 gig depending on what you can get.
Oh, and I meant to get photo’s of you and your wife before, I may not have worded it very well!
Dont forget to look around and enjoy yourself! Make the effort to go on a night safari drive, and leave the camera behind, especially if the guide knows about the stars. Amazing!
Enjoy!
Merv.
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