Safari photography help

Old Jul 24th, 2015, 05:23 AM
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Safari photography help

I am going on safari in Botswana and Zambia. I wondered if the animals generally ignore the safari vehicles so they (vehicles) can get close. I will bring a [heavy] super telephoto lens if necessary but thought I would ask about distance first. Thanks for your input and ideas.
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Old Jul 24th, 2015, 05:30 AM
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We were on safari in Tanzania, and many animals ignored the vehicle and got quite close.
Leopards were the most elusive; we only saw 4--the closest was probably 30' away.
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Old Jul 24th, 2015, 05:52 AM
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The animals largely ignore vehicles provided everyone remains seated and reasonably quiet.

For what it's worth, I would strongly recommend a hand-held zoom rather than a big telephoto; you'll have just as many occasions when you'll want a wider field of view and a bigger aperture than most long lenses can offer. If your camera has a decent number of mp, you can crop and enlarge later without losing too much detail.

Also, if you do any evening or early morning game drives, be sure your ISO setting is adequate for sufficient depth of field and shutter speed to deal with moving animals in brush; I have dozens of blurred or out-of-focus lions because my shutter wasn't fast enough or because the autofocus landed on some tree branch rather than the leopard behind it.
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Old Jul 24th, 2015, 10:55 AM
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You can ordinarily get very close to wildlife and if you had a fixed long telephoto you might find yourself too close. Unless you are specifically doing bird photography you would do well with a 70-300 or better with a 100-400 for probably >90% of your shots. You might want to consider using Auto ISO when dusk arrives.
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Old Jul 25th, 2015, 05:52 AM
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Please excuse my message to sdb2 on this thread but I cannot find another way to reach him. Please I will be leaving for a safari in South Africa in a few weeks. Need advice on a good SLR. I will be replacing my Nikon D50 old I know, but great. What Nikon camera would you suggest or more importantly which 2 lenses would you recommend? which 2 lenses should I not leave home without? Zoom, wide angle, I mostly take photos on auto, but will be practicing manual settings for trip. I cannot justify spending more than $1500 and that's high for camera and 2 lenses. I have an old NON!!! VR 75-300 I THINK! Friends recommendations are like $2700 for a lens, I cannot justify! I will be visiting camera shops in the next few days, but want safari tried and true advice. I can be reached at [email protected] if you prefer to reply directly. Thank you
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Old Jul 25th, 2015, 08:25 AM
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Wanda, I'm a Canon man so have no advice for bodies. Sorry about that. Image stabilization, I think that's VR in Nikon lingo, is essential as many ops come during low light times...dawn and dusk. I'd be sure to have something like the 75-300 and a shorter zoom, say 24-105 or similar. If money critical consider renting a good long lens. If you're in US, take a look at lensprotogo.com. They have good prices and service. I used them to rent a 100-400 for canon. I'm on a plane ready to take off. If other questions, ask and I'll address later.
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Old Jul 25th, 2015, 01:46 PM
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Try looking at a Sony A5100. Costco has it going on sale August 3rd with free shipping. Comes with SD card and camera bag. $700

I am not such a pro, I bought Sony A3000. Will probably buy 1 more zoom lens for our safari and other wild life pictures.

Both are mirrorless cameras with both LCD and viewfinder.

http://www.costco.com/all-digital-ca...201%2b13938%2b

{note the price for A5100 is not correct; it will be $350 off starting 3 August. }

Hope this helps.
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Old Jul 29th, 2015, 10:16 AM
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Wandy1, I'm a Nikon shooter and will also being in South Africa in a few weeks. The best camera for one who is upgrading from a D50 and reasonably priced would be the Nikon 5500 (@$750) If you want to stay under $500, the Nikon 5200 is a sweet camera and, since you shoot mostly auto mode so far, either camera will give you lots of room for growth in your camera skills.

For lenses, I would rent what you needed on safari and buy for what you use at home. There are wonderful rental companies.

I'm a bit more advanced that you are as a photographer, but I was also struggling on what to take and what to leave home.

I'm taking a wide angle (Nikkor 16-34 f4) for landscapes a mid range zoom (Nikkor 24-70 f2.8) and a longer range soon (Nikkor 200-400 f4) I have no need for anything longer as I'm not too interested in birds and for wildlife with a high mega pixel camera, one can crop. I'm taking two camera bodies so that the zoom lenses will be fixed to their cameras while in the field--dust on the lens is to be avoided. So, if you only have one camera, practice switching lenses quickly and with a large lens cloth available. You might consider taking your D50 and using it as a second camera.

sdb2 is spot on about the lenses that would work perfectly for your trop. Get his recommendations and you will be very happy.
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Old Jul 30th, 2015, 12:18 AM
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if you go to chobe in botswana, there is a company that will take you out on their little boat (maybe 8 or 10 people) and they supply you with their camera with very long lense, properly fastened to the boat and give you the memory stick at the end. you won't see leopards along the water, but you will see lots of other animals, and some amazing birdlife. you may be more advance than this... but having a camera on a boat that swivels around seemed like a great thing. we didn't learn about it until our last day there.. so didn't do it ourselves.
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Old Jul 30th, 2015, 05:17 AM
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FWIW --

I have been reading up on this subject and have read in several places that changing lenses can be problematic - takes too long so you miss your shot and that the dust can wreck havoc with camera when changing lenses being the 2 most common problems mentioned.

A solution = 2 cameras, each with a different camera. I can't manage this but it's an interesting thought.
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Old Jul 30th, 2015, 06:06 AM
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A solution = 2 cameras, each with a different camera. I can't manage this but it's an interesting thought.

Or another solution is to get a competent "super zoom" P&S camera with a lot of megapixels and a quality lens, and don't bother with the DSLR at all.

One of these was taken with a Nikon DSLR and lens and the other with a Lumix P&S, both in relatively challenging light conditions. Which is which?

http://gardyloo.us/SAf09J%20076as.JPG
http://gardyloo.us/africa5M%20120a.jpg
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Old Aug 15th, 2015, 07:45 PM
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I actually checked out a 100-400 lens today at out Houston Camera Exchange, but it is so heavy! Store has recommended the Nikon 7200 @ $1200! and a Nikkor lens 18-300 $899! or the Tamron 16-300 includes macro for Nikon cameras @ $629! I never expected to pay more for the camera body than the lens! supposedly with this 18-300 Nikkor I won't need to switch lenses. Still need to research more. What do you think?
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Old Aug 16th, 2015, 03:57 PM
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That sounds like a good, convenient combination to me, though I must admit it sounds like a pretty sizeable outlay. I know you're a Nikon person but if you're open to Canon I think you can get a little more bang for your buck. For example, the Canon 7D (not the Mark ii version), which I believe is in the same class as the 7200, can be had for ~$750. You can even add the 28-135 and still come in well under $1200. Canon's 70-300 image stabilized lens, an excellent consumer lens, can be had for ~$650 or so and will give you some extra reach, I believe (7D + 70-300 effectively gets you to 480mm with the 1.6 crop factor vs 7100 + 18-300 effectively reaching to 390mm with the crop factor which I believe is 1.3). Just something to think about. You can check BHVideo for pricing.
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