Anyone been to Africa? Any ideas what kit to take?
I can either take Canon 60D or EOS-M body
Happy to rent lenses (only a short trip)
Printable View
Anyone been to Africa? Any ideas what kit to take?
I can either take Canon 60D or EOS-M body
Happy to rent lenses (only a short trip)
60D - 400mm 5.6 for those wildlife shots - 10-20 for landscapes
And a cheapish bridge camera that you don't mind getting ruined by sand and dust
Take my Canon SX60HS ;)
Depending on where you are going you will need to be weary of humidity,dust and sand.
Africa is a huge continent with many different kinds of hostile elements to Cameras.
Some parts it's simply the change in heat, I had over 45°C and -10°C in the space of 48 hours. Others it's the sand. I swear I was finding the fine Saharan sand in my bags years later. This stuff is murder for a lens that isn't very well weather sealed.
Then sadly there is the poverty side, I know one good friend and too many horror stories online of people being mugged. This is going to again be hugely dependant on where you are. The road to table mountain is sadly infamous.
Also it's going to come down to what you are doing, what you are wanting to see.
mid Africa. not to sandy. muddy when wet. hilly near equator. more worried about humidity than dust- shouldn't get too dusty until june so I gather anyway.
I have a 10-18 efs lens and 17-55f2.8. my debate is whether to go with my 55-250 efs which is reasonable and light ish or hire a 70-300 f2.8 l series for the faster speed weather sealed and take the hit in weight.
A large wide brimmed hat to protect you from the sun.
with or without corks?
Corks are for Australia only.
Camera kit, if you're going to be outside in the dust and dirt for a long time you might want to consider the above about weather-sealed kit. Or just be-careful. Look at lens rentals for long lenses, no point buying something super expensive for a holiday.
If I was going, I'd be tempted with renting a weather sealed Micro-Four-Thirds camera and either the Olympus 100-300mm pro or the Panasonic Leica 100-400mm (remembering the x2 crop factor if you're trying to work out 35mm field of view). Much more compact than a FF or APS-C kit, which if travelling is a big bonus.
If you're hiring equipment, hire it early and familiarise yourself with it. A decent tripod would also be useful, either for stabilising a long lens or for rock steady landscape shots.
And now for the biased/jealous part - a lot of Africa is truly dark. Get some milky way shots! The rule of thumb to avoid star trails is shutter speed no longer than 500/focal length (focal length at 35mm equivalent, so FL x 1.6 for your 60d). Of course that's just a rule of thumb and dependent on other factors (e.g. pixel size on the sensor), and some people can tolerate more trailing that others!
Corks are generally de rigour only in Australia!Quote:
Originally Posted by ik9000
Removing tongue from cheek, you could do a lot worse than investing (and it is an investment!) in a Tilly hat. http://www.tilley.com/uk_en/
I bought a T4 http://www.tilley.com/uk_en/catalogsearch/result/?q=T4 for a trip to Zimbabwe and Botswana a couple of years ago - absolutely brilliant! The T5 is more generally available but has a smaller brim.
It also enhances any photograph of the subject!
They look interesting. How heavy are they? Does the enhanced airflow one have sufficient grill to stop mosi's getting to your head?Quote:
Originally Posted by peterb
They aren't that heavy - I've just weighed my T4 and its 165 grams. the mesh on the enhanced air flow is reasonably fine, but I'd still use mozzi reliant anyway. Apparently Avon's skin-so-soft is very good - yes, honestly - this is not a leg pull although I just used a proprietary repellant. However, depending on where you are going mozzis may not be a problem - although you should still take appropriate anti-malarial prophylaxis appropriate to the regions you will be visiting or passing through and be aware of other mosquito borne diseases.
Cotswold Outdoor and GoOutdoors stock limited ranges of Tilley hats, so if you have one of those nearby, you might want to pop in ad have a look. GoOutdoors do a 10% discount card (I think it costs a fiver) so it may pay you to get one if you are planning on buying some new kit.
I would probably take some Optech rainsleeves with you,just in case.
Also the more lens changes the more likely you will be getting crud on the sensor too - I would be tempted to take the EOS-M with the 11-22MM STM attached,and the EOS60D with the 50-255MM. This way you won't need to change lenses,and it will be less likely to miss shots.
I get where you're coming from but if I'm hiking 3 days to see gorillas I'm not taking two cameras! I'm looking into whether I can get some ex-army webbing to have the camera kit around my waist and accessible without fouling my day pack. There must be some way of doing this easily.
Definitely a time to make sure you've the sensor cleaning turned on, and are happy changing a lens without pointing the body "up".
How much hiking and stuff are you doing? I guess I'm saying are you worried about weight as you shuffle between bus and taxis, or are you going to be carrying everything on your back for hours?
The days that large sensor sizes really matter are long dead, you can tell this because Pentax have just launched a full frame digital camera. Ok that's a bit tongue in cheek but it's probably true for you. If you are renting and doing lots of active things, maybe look at getting an Olympus or similar if you are renting? The 300mm f/4.0 is considerably smaller and lighter than anything in DSLR space.
I really recommend the pacsafe camera strap it will prevent someone snatching the camera.
An EOS-M and the 11-22M weighs about 480 grams. The 10-18mm weighs about 230 grams. Its not that huge.Quote:
Originally Posted by ik9000
I mean even the EOS60D and 50-250MM weighs around 1.2KG. Even with a few batteries,the total weight of carrying both cameras is probably under 2KG.
To put in context my Sigma 100-300MM/F4 with 1.4TC alone is around 1.6KG and with my D600 I am looking at 2.5KG alone,plus the weight of a gimbal head,tripod,extra lenses,etc.
The 70-200MMF/2.8 alone is 1.49KG plus the weight of a TC.
Looking at this article even with a full frame body,200MM to 300MM should be enough:
https://photographylife.com/gorilla-photography-tips
I would say ideally take the 10-18MM,17-55MM and 50-250MM.
However,in order to save weight you need to consider whether:
1.)You take the EOS60D or EOS-M,as the EOS-M is much lighter but does have worse AF
2.)You take the 10-18MM(16-28MM) or 17-55MM(27-88MM).
3.)You take the 50-250MM or go for a constant aperture lens which is not only bigger but also much more conspicuous.
If I was in your situation I would probably take the 10-18MM and 50-250MM if weight is a concern. The 17-55MM does give you a 35MM equivalent setting which is a nice focal length,but for landscape 27MM is OKish but the range of the 16-28MM gives you more options.
The 50-250MM will cover everything from the 80MM to roughly 400MM range. Yes,a fixed aperture lens would be better,but they are large and heavy.
I would also invest in some lens pouches for the lens so you can use a standard rucksack and I assume you are using one with a decent arch,etc which will spread the weight well??
The only dedicated case I would take is a holster of some sort - I use an ancient CCS one(and also have a Think Tank one for my tele lens),which is built like a tank and is weather resistant.
If you want something more modern I would look at the ones made by Miggo:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_ud...a+IPX3&_sop=15
http://the-gadgeteer.com/2015/05/29/...ra-bag-review/
start up time of the M takes forever!Quote:
Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH
the 400mm 5.6 is very light consideringQuote:
Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH
But he does not want to carry another body due to the extra weight - the 400MM is "only" 1.25KG,but it depends if he thinks he wants to walk around with it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobster
Edit!!
Having said that,I wonder how one of these might fare:
http://www.photozone.de/reviews/201-...report--review
They can be had for under £300 secondhand.
I know this is an old post but I wonder how it went and what would be done differently if doing it again as this kind of knowledge is invaluable.
I took an old Minolta 7xi camera on my first safari to Masai Mara and I still think these were some of my best photos with only a 100-300 lens.
Later safaris I used my Sony a100 and then a700 and a lens that I bought just for the safari and sold after rather than rent.
I guess something with higher speed was required for shooting gorillas due to the lighting?
Currently on the road with intermittent signal but will respond more fully when I get chance. My recommendation though would be go light and portable as possible so M series eg M5 or M6 which are better than basic M or if wanting better lenses Sony 6500 etc or Micro 4/3 from Olympus/Fuji/Panasonic etc.
I'm currently traveling with M5 and it is excellent but could do with a fast Tele option. My friend had a dilemma a few months back and went and took a full 5Dmkiii yes seriously for a backpacking trip. We warned him it would be too heavy and he both regretted the weight and the constant hassle of not feeling like he could leave it anywhere in case it got nicked when we saw him again. Chump. He did get some epic shots though so it's all about what you want I guess.
Re gorillas on a good sunny day even slower teles are fine. Africa has so much light. If the clouds and rain come in then yes, you are forced to higher iso than I would like, but gorillas are slower than birds etc so you can get down to 1/400 without too much issue.
ok look this was for a trip i did in 2017 and I replied with updated info when someone restarted the thread in 2020. I think in 2021 we can kill this off now. @mods please close.