Leaving for Africa on Monday :)

buddy4344 wrote in post #16981383
Say hello to Guts, Killer and Shah at Pangolin for me. Great guys that will put you in position for great shots.

My only advice is to keep the camera battery charged and download the card every day. Good luck and have a great trip.

Thanks. I've heard lots of good things about Pangolin, really keen to get on the boat and in the bunker.

I have a couple HDD's I'm taking and a small laptop, the plan is copy off the cards every evening onto both HDD's so I have a backup should the worst happen to one HDD.

You have a bloody good time, it looks like you have done your research, the vehicle looks great. Everything from here out is part of the adventure!

Thanks for the comment on the pics, post some of your's asap!

Have a great trip!

buddy4344 wrote in post #16981387
That weight limit is a joke. I've never been under 30 pounds with my camera gear to Africa ...even using the lightweight Gura Gear bags. Luckily, airlines seem to not mind as long as you have a soft bag and don't look like you are carrying a ton of bricks. Funny thing is that if you dare carry the pelican case (about 11 pounds empty), they will often make you gate check it.

Yeah it really is. Even with the Gura Gear Bataflae 32L I'm using there is 2kg gone just with the bag. Not to mention the 200-400 with its lens coat gear probably weights around 4kg.

Hopefully since I'm tall I'll make the bag look smaller

Aus.Morgo wrote in post #16982918
Thanks mate, did you use the speedlite much? Its something I've been planning on taking but have read mix reviews of people taking them and not using them. Seeing as I need to cut down the weight a little...

Only used speed lite for some indoor shots in the veterinary labs and for a couple of bush babies outside of the house we were staying at.

When I was in Namibia and Botswana, including Chobe, I don't think I ever got around to using a flash.

Some weight saving ideas, are to pack enough CF cards to not need to download, large chargers like the 1D4 charger in checked bag (risky I know) and anything you can possibly spare in the checked bags.


I took my 500mm prime and the 100-400mm was on a 2nd body the whole time. With the new 20-400mm, that kills both those birds with one stone. Very handy. I also packed my 70-200mm, only used it once, but again, that was due to the 100-400mm being glued to my old 1D2.

Have fun man! Trip of a lifetime indeed!

Some tips:

You'll hate me for this one, You'll really wish you had all that gear in a rolling carry on, as opposed to a back pack.

Pack in your checked bag a small shoulder bag to keep your odds and ends handy. Keep it small enough to be on your lap or at your feet in the backy.

Just got back from 3 weeks in s.Africa We too rented a LR but a more cushy model to get us from place to place. Used Shindzela in the Tamboti abutting Kruger for 5 days, then 3 days in the Tembe Elephant park..the other time spent just tooling around a circle from Jo-burg, Panaramo Route, the two safaris listed above, then the coast/St.Lucia, the Draks (Royal Natal NP and Golden Gate Highlands NP) then back to Jo-burg.
I too read about the weight restrictions before flying out and simply had 20 pounds of photo gear in a BigPocketsVest...durin​g boarding SAA noticed no bags were being weighed and no count of actual bags carried on the person. But with us thinking the weight limit would be rigidly enforced we did keep the carry ons to 18 pounds or less; even out checked luggage was less than 28 pounds per person (including the luggage itself), we come from a backpacking background and get by with little clothes though we took and used down parkas and down pants (cold cold cold in the highlands even in an African winter, and s.Africa dwellings dont have central heat like here in the US).
Took a laptop too. Fed the pics into it off the cards nightly, then backed them up to an external HD, formated the cards for the next day.
Most used lens, the 300 2.8 + 1.4 TC after the sun came up strong, without the TC at the beginning of each days ride through the preserve.
Also took the Tam 150-600. It's a great lens too just for different purposes. There is no way it could have grabbed this little guy:

IMAGE LINK: https://www.flickr.com …icineman4040/14​374818303/

Mybludog wrote in post #16982931
Must be something in the air with Aussie's going to Africa. My wife and I are off in 2 weeks for 24 days. Bags already packed.

I understand what you're going through Aus.Morgo with regard to the weight, but there's 2 off us to share.

We've been told 15kg MAX per person including my camera gear...............

I'm taking a 5d3 and 7d bodies and a 300 2.8, 150-600 Tammy, 70-200 2.8, 24-105 +1.4 convertor. That's 16kg worth and only leaves 14kg for our clothes etc.
I'm not worried about SAA out of Australia but more the small planes from Maun into the camps in Botswana and from Nairobi into the Mara and Serengeti etc

I'm going to have the 300 on the 7d in a Lowepro for the wife to carry and I've got a Tamrac 6x for the rest.
Just hope it works out ok.
Leaving Monday........you won't sleep all weekend lol

Have a great trip

Thats a tough weight limit, helps having two people thats for sure. My last trip overseas was a family trip so I had plenty of carry on allowance, this trip is certainly a lot harder

Sounds like your all set mate, hope you have a great time from another Newcastle member

Haha. It's a small world.
Have a bloody great time mate. Maybe we can catch up for a beer down the track and share some war stories.

Enjoy

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #16984594
When I was in Namibia and Botswana, including Chobe, I don't think I ever got around to using a flash.

Some weight saving ideas, are to pack enough CF cards to not need to download, large chargers like the 1D4 charger in checked bag (risky I know) and anything you can possibly spare in the checked bags.


I took my 500mm prime and the 100-400mm was on a 2nd body the whole time. With the new 20-400mm, that kills both those birds with one stone. Very handy. I also packed my 70-200mm, only used it once, but again, that was due to the 100-400mm being glued to my old 1D2.

Have fun man! Trip of a lifetime indeed!

Thanks

I don't think I'm going to end up using the flash too much, still threw it in just in case.
I've managed to keep by checked bag under weight which was a surprise even though I've had to put all the chargers and spare batts in there, might change this up in the morning to have one 5d/7d charger in the carry on.

The Gura gear bag is pleasantly comfortably even with 14kg in it

Mybludog wrote in post #16984900
Haha. It's a small world.
Have a bloody great time mate. Maybe we can catch up for a beer down the track and share some war stories.

Enjoy

It certainly is! Sounds like a plan mate

Have a great time Aus.Morgo

200-400 wow! Awesome piece of glass to be taking along I am sure it will do the trick!

Not sure if you've left yet. We have been in SA for 6 days leaving tomorrow. Its been an awesome trip. The 200-400 is VERY restricted here, lots more bush than Kenya, so hard to use to its best. BUT when it did come in it shone!

Cheers guys,
I arrived back home last night, had a great time