I've been reading many posts about lens selection for East Africa and Rwanda and wanted to get some additional insight on the best combo for my trip. We will be gorilla trekking in Rwanda, then on safari in Tanzania. I already own the following:

-Canon Rebel XTi body
-Basic 18-55mm lens (came in the kit)
-Canon 70-300mm F/4-5.6 IS lens
-Canon S3 camera (used for back-up and video)

A few questions:
-Should I "upgrade" and get the Canon 100-400 IS lens? I was pretty happy with the 70-300 in Botswana, but it seems like in Tanz, I might need a longer lens.
-What about for gorillas? Do I need a lens like the 70-200mm f/2.8L?
-Should I get a second body?

I don't want to break the bank on this, but would like to get great photos. (Well, as good as a person with my limited experience can get!)

Photography is an ongoing learning process for me...so I appreciate any insight you can give. Thanks!

Lots of good questions. I'm a Nikon shooter so I can't answer too much on the Canon set-ups but I'll try to help with lens choices.

The 70-200 will certainly come in handy in Rwanda because of the propensity of low light situations. Thus, the 2.8 will help a great deal if the gorillas are in the bamboo forest or in very thick vegetation where there is little sunlight.

The 100-400 will certainly come in handy in Tanzania. I think there are a couple of Canon-shooting fodorites who use the 100-400 who may be able to answer better on the use of that lens.

And if you are serious about your photography, a second body is always useful. A few years ago, I had the unfortunate experience of my only body failing on me in the middle of my trip and ever since, I've always taken two bodies.

You may want to check out the lens rental websites to rent a lens and/or extra body for your trip instead of purchasing.

I'll be leaving in the next couple of weeks to go gorilla trekking and then hopefully on to the Serengeti and the Mara, so I may be in the same boat trying to decide on what lens(es) to bring. I'd like to try the Nikon 70-200 for gorilla trekking and the 200-400 for the rest of the trip so I'm in a similar situation as you.
Renting will give me the opportunity to try the lens(es) without having to drop major $$ to buy them.

And photography is an on-going learning process for all of us, so you're not alone on that front. The never-ending learning curve! I think that's why so many of us love it!

Molly, as you may have seen, we talk about this issue a lot. I definitely would take the 100-400 -- I think you will need the reach for Tanznia, and maybe for gorillas too, and the image quality is excellent when the light is good.

For gorillas, we used an XTi and 100-400, and got good results with it, but for many gorilla-trekking situations, a 70-200/2.8 would be much better. The reason is the common occurrence of low light in gorilla treks, and in that environment, the 100-400 just doesn't do well. It will miss focus and you will also get blurred pictures because of too-slow shutter speeds. If I were going back to Rwanda today, I would take both lenses and decide on the spot which one to use for a particular gorilla encounter, based on how much light is available. But if I had to choose one lens for your trip, it would be the 100-400 because of its versatility. Just depends on whether you want to spend the money to buy (or rent) both lenses.

Chris
www.pbase.com/cwillis

We're in the exact same situation...we have the XTi with the basic lens, the Canon 70-300 mm 4-5.6 IS lens and the Canon S3 and digital Rebel for back-up. We just purchased the Canon 70-200mmf/2.8L IS specifically for when we go to see the gorillas in September. We will be in the Mara also in September and are considering purchasing the 100-400 IS lens, if we can save our pennies (or win the lottery!) It was a tough choice between the two lenses but in a perfect world we'd take both.

loru100--You really are in the same situation! It is a difficult choice, as both lenses are expensive and both seem necessary. I like divewop's suggestion about renting a lens...I might buy the 100-400 and rent the 70-200 (or vice-versa) to save money for now. I can always add to my collection later!

Umm, just my 2 cents. You can crop a photo taken with a 200mm lens to make it look like it was taken with a 400mm lens (even 600mm). In fact many photos benefit from little cropping to improve composition. If the original photo is sharp and you're not making a print larger than 8x10 or just putting it on the internet (Kodakgallery, Smugmug, Pbase, etc) it will still look very good.

Of course this is if you are using Nikon gear. Canon stuff may be another story

regards - tom
ps - and don't tell me you don't know how to crop digital photos, I won't hear of it !!!!!

I used the 100-400 with an XT in Tanzania and was very happy with it. Finally got a shot of a lilac breasted roller I could be happy with:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9406244@N06/2142745539/

Thanks everyone for the great feedback. I decided to bite the bullet and purchase the 100-400 and a backup body, and rent the 70-200 from www.lensrentals.com. I figured it's a happy compromise. Now I have to get a new bag to accommodate everything!

For the amount of stuff you are going to be carrying, I would suggest the Lowepro Photo Trekker Classic or Photo Trekker AW (if you want one that is weatherproof). It is a well-built, comfortable bag that will easily accommodate all your gear.

Chris

Thanks Chris. I was thinking about the Lowepro Mini Trekker (seems like a lot of Fodorites have this one)...will it not be big enough? I'm going to leave the 70-300 at home, but take the 18-55, 70-200, 100-400, two bodies (Rebels XTi and XT), and the S3. The mini is a big cost savings and is within carry-on size.

Molly, I am not sure if the Mini Trekker will fit yur gear or not, but I suspect the answer is yes -- perhaps the Lowepro web site can give you a more definite answer.
We used the photo trekker on our most recent trip, which included U.S. carriers, Chinese and Mongolian carriers, and multiple turboprop flights, and carried it on every one of our flights without incident. I got mine used.
Keep in mind you may wish to put more than just your cameras and lenses in this bag, at least for your flights -- things like a sensor cleaning brush, portable storage device, etc. We were carrying one body (XTi), 70-200/2.8, 100-400, 17-85, chargers, 2 portable hard drives, sensor brush, batteries, memory cards, etc. and the bag held it all with no problems (but it was heavy).
My guess is that the Mini Trekker would do, though.
Chris

If you are looking for a good cameraa bag you need look no further than Think Tank. Not only do they not look like camera bags they are also considerably lighter.

try rent the 70-200mm with IS (Image Stabilser)a huge bonus in the low light of the forest, will eliminate the need for a tri-pod which becomes heavy after a long days trekking. A 1,4X TC also works very well with the 70-200IS especially if you take into account the built in 1,6 of your camera.
100-400 will be useful in Tanzania as the majority of the parks do not allow off-road driving
have a great trip

damian,

Thats what I would call blatant self promotion...................tell us the distance from the animals?
Thats like answering how long a piece of string is! It is the wild after all.

Damian - It is good that you are interested in helping your clients take good photographs. And since many, if not most all, safari goers want good photographs you should be knowledgeable in how to help them. But what I find is too many safari guides, maybe not you or your guides, who seem to have no experience with (let alone knowledge about) photography. I see very few guides with cameras. (But I would not want a guide that let his photography interfere with his guiding of me). So I'd like to suggest that as often as you can that you encourage guides to develop their photographic skill.

regards - tom

I took a Canon 20D and a Rebel xTi that with a 100-400, a 17-85, a 50, and a 10-22. I think I could have gotten by with my 70-300 IS DO but I did a get a couple of fabulous shots of a leopard with the 100-400 that were not to be missed. I bought the Rebel to just have another camera and not have to change lenses. I agonized over spending the extra money, but am so glad I did. The leopard was two football fields away and crystal clear so I could crop and enlarge it to fill the photo when printed. Also got a black rhino about 1/4 mile away. So I would still recommend the extra length! We went in November, 2007 and I am ready to go back (northern Tanzania).

Hi Damian

Glad to see that you are a realist. It is true that the majority of Tanzanian (a generalisation and no offence intended as they ae wonderful people)guides are not yet on a par with guides further south. the entire safari circuit in fact differs vastly from other countries (no need to give details here though)

for tourists wishing to spend extra time on photography i would recommend hiring a photographic guide to join you on the trip or alternatively book a vehicle souly for your use. this way even if the driver is clueless about photography you can still ask him to reposition the vehicle as often as you would like without impacting on others in the vehicle. this in turn will assist drivers with the desire to improve their skills to learn more on how to better position their vehicles

personally i have taken my best pics in Botswana and there are lots of camps/concessions beyond the borders of the national parks which means sensitive off-road driving is permitted.

a safari operator with a decent reputation and desire to please it's customers should provide their guests with bean bags. surprising how any do not though.

happy snapping