Need advice on which camera lenses for safari

Old Sep 30th, 2014, 10:38 PM
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Need advice on which camera lenses for safari

I am a fairly amateur photographer, and have been given a Nikon D 7100 to use on safari in Kenya and Tanzania in February 2015, but I need advice on which lenses I should purchase.

The second camera I will be taking in a Nikon 3000.

Thank you
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Old Oct 1st, 2014, 01:39 AM
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Both of those are good DSLRs.
Assuming budget is some consideration, I use a Nikon 70-300mm zoom on one body and a Nikon 18-200 on another body. A wide (18-30) is nice sometimes but you will use the longer length (200-300) most often.

Here's a few safari shots using that (Nikon) combo in Tanzania in 2011.
http://tinyurl.com/bwze4ww
photos from other safaris also there

And use the video capability of those cameras. Limit panning and if so pan slowly. Limit video zooming, e.g. try not to.

And plenty of cards and extra batteries.

regards - tom
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Old Oct 1st, 2014, 03:49 PM
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As above I suggest as a minimum a lens ranging to 300mm. In Kenya and Tanzania where you often don't go off-road something ranging to 400mm is even better and very useful if you'd like to capture images of some of Africa's fabulous birds. On the second camera I'd recommend a shorter walk-around type lens. That said I take the vast majority of my shots with a 100-400 lens.
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Old Oct 4th, 2014, 08:21 AM
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Yeah, I agree about the 100-400mm lens. It is going to be long and bulky to carry, but it should be worth it in terms of your ability to zoom in on more distant wildlife. Personally, I use a Sigma 150-500mm f4.5-6.3 on a Sony mount (http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/54319541). These can be had new for about $850.
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Old Nov 22nd, 2014, 07:50 AM
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We just got back from safaris to Maasai Mara and Amboseli. I'm quite happy with a lot of the shots we took with the aforementioned Sigma 150-500mm lens. If you have a Facebook account, you can view some of the images at:
https://www.facebook.com/albert.frie...=1&pnref=story
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Old Dec 9th, 2014, 08:54 PM
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Or, on Picasa:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1033945...eat=directlink
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