First time to Africa, what gear to take?

[mesodan]

Just going on a short trip to Kenya & Tanzania next month:
http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/ygot#overview

My first time to Africa. Unfortunately no big telephotos, but will definitely be taking the following:

7D, 70-200II, 1.4x III TC.

First Question: A 2x TC would be nice, although I wouldn't use it often. Is it worth buying one if I use it only a couple of times a year?

Second Question: Do I take also...

A. 10-22mm, 24L II.
Or.
B. 5DIII, 17-40L, 50L.

Any help/advice appreciated.

[watt100]

Originally Posted by mesodan

Just going on a short trip to Kenya & Tanzania next month:
http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/ygot#overview

My first time to Africa. Unfortunately no big telephotos, but will definitely be taking the following:

7D, 70-200II, 1.4x III TC.

First Question: A 2x TC would be nice, although I wouldn't use it often. Is it worth buying one if I use it only a couple of times a year?

Second Question: Do I take also...

A. 10-22mm, 24L II.
Or.
B. 5DIII, 17-40L, 50L.

Any help/advice appreciated.

I suppose it depends on weight/size restrictions, safety concerns, backpacking, etc., but I would take the best - 5D3, 70-200, 17-40 - (and have insurance!)

[Harpo63]

Originally Posted by watt100

I suppose it depends on weight/size restrictions, safety concerns, backpacking, etc., but I would take the best - 5D3, 70-200, 17-40 - (and have insurance!)

Agreed. Was at Masa Mara a couple years ago. 60% of the animals were too far away unless you had a big telephoto (500mm at least). Most of the photographers I saw with decent equipment in other safari vehicles had long, white lenses. Thats where you make the best with what you have and your 17-40 would do well with the landscapes. The rest, the safari vehicle gets you close enough that the 70-200 will do very well. Sometimes so close you need the 17mm!

While traveling through towns especially cities, dont point your camera outside the vehicle windows. People are notorious for reaching in to steal some expensive tourist's cameras.

[hollis_f]

I'd hire a 100-400, or buy one second-hand and resell it for near-zero loss on return. Your big-game viewing will be done on the Serengeti Plain and in the Ngorongoro Crater. Neither location allows vehicles to go off-road and the wildlife can be a long way off. The 70-200 +TC would probably be OK in some situations.

You're spending quite a bit of time doing 'cultural' visits, so the 5D3 and 17-40 will be great for those.

But the most important thing will probably be some cushions. You've got an awful lot of driving on some pretty bad roads.

[Alyx]

do bring 2 bodies with you though.
you don't want to waste time every now and then to change lenses....plus you would avoid loads of dust entering your body.
I do agree pretty much with harpo63's post.
other advice is to be carefull with making pic's of people, my experience is that tanzania is ok with it as long as you ask (don't be surprised when they ask money for it)
and in Kenya I saw plenty of times that unasked photographing resulted in throwing stones at the photographer or at least at the car he was in.

[tupper]

7D with the 70-200 and 1.4x
5D with the 17-40L

Thats the minimum I'd suggest to take. You could probably get away with just the one body really if you want to travel even lighter.
For my personal taste I'd take the 5D, 24L and 70-200 and work with what I had.

[mesodan]

Thanks guys,

Looks like the 5D3 is coming on a ride to Africa with the 7D.

Would love to get the 100-400mm, not sure gear budget will stretch that far at the moment though. I'm relatively close to Kenya (5 hours flying time), so will get back there sometime again though with a
longer lens.

Got a 9 hour drive on the first and last day too, so a pillow or two sounds like a must!

Just been to Morocco so know all about locals charging for photo's unfortunately.

[lensfreak]

Take a bean bag to rest camera on hen shooting outside car window

[Kirill]

Originally Posted by hollis_f

I'd hire a 100-400, or buy one second-hand and resell it for near-zero loss on return. Your big-game viewing will be done on the Serengeti Plain and in the Ngorongoro Crater. Neither location allows vehicles to go off-road and the wildlife can be a long way off. The 70-200 +TC would probably be OK in some situations.

I saw reports that 70-200 II with TC performs on par with 100-400 (My reasoning for not buying 100-400)

So if renting - I would suggest some prime in 300-500 range instead

[advaitin]

I second a second body and approve the 2x TC. If available as a rental, nothing wrong with 400mm DO IS--light and white.

[condyk]

Good frame per second can be vital but not essential. Min 400mm is generally essential and you need Af with that to make keeper ratio decent at distance. beanbag for sure but depends on vehicle set up. The 70-200 is a great lens but I'd always have that on a 2nd body and use a 400mm 5.6 or similar on main body. the 400mm does a great job with a 1.4 tcon if your body supports Af with it. that's a good safari range to work with.

[MCAsan]

The wife and I got back Tuesday from our second photo safari to South Africa. Always have two camera bodies. Having only one along is asking for problems, and will let you have range of lens available to use when something exciting happens.

I took my 5DIII and 7D. My had her 5DII and 7D. On the 5Ds we have 17-40, 24-105, and 100-400. We rented 500s in country and did not use them very often. For the 7Ds we had the Tamron 18-270 PZD.

The majority of my shots were with the 100-400. The same is true from our last trip.

[mesodan]

Thanks for the advice guys, this is what I took. Had an awesome time, will post some pics shortly. Glad I took two bodies, but definitely will take a telelphoto prime next time.

[MCAsan]

Glad you have a great time! We would go back to SA every year if the budget allowed. ha ha

If you go to SA, Stu at Wild 4 Photo Safaris has a couple of Canon 500mm he rents. They are in good shape and the convenience of having them on site when you arrive is hard to beat. He also has a couple of tripods for the few occasions when you will be out of the truck.