How many wide angle photos per safari?
 

All the recent threads on packing got me thinking a bit about logistics even though my trip is 100 days away. My question for the photographers on the board is: Out of the many gigabytes you shoot on safari, about how many photos are true wide-angle shots (wider than 35mm on a film equivalent)?

I'm wondering if it's worth bringing my 18-70mm lens for my Maxxum 5D (crop factor 1.5x). I invested in the dSLR mainly for high ISO shooting in the forests of Uganda with a 70-210 f3.5-4.5. I will also bring a compact ultra-zoom (probably Fz7, maybe Canon S2) for video and longer telephoto. How often am I going to want a picture in the 28-35mm (film equivalent) range badly enough to switch lenses?

I realize that everyone is different but I am interested in hearing the range of those experiences. Perhaps a focal length of 35mm just can't do justice to those rift valley landscapes. Thanks for your advice.

-Matt

I always take a few as I like to have a record of the environment as well as the close-ups of animals. However, I'm not instinctively a landscape photographer so I don't tend to shoot as many as I might.

I want to share a couple of African landscapes with you that were shot using a wide angle lens. The only site where they are online is my print sales website so I hope it's OK to use those links here:

http://www.fsquaredimages.co.uk/Imag...%20and%20Gold/

http://www.fsquaredimages.co.uk/Imag...%20the%20Mara/

The other reason I take my wide angle is that I love to take "memory shots" of the inside of our tents and camp public areas. I use them for snaps of our guides, each other and other people we meet too.

Beautiful photos, Kavey! Matt, I take wide angle photos like Kavey does. Some landscape/environment and camp photos. I used my wide angle (16-35mm) more in Botswana than I ever have before.

I don't know how much difference there is between the 28-35mm range but I would probably take it. I didn't have a wide angle lens on my first couple of trips and there were times I wanted one. I did have the 28-135mm (on a 1.6x crop camera) and that wasn't near wide enough.

It's not a big deal to change lenses, especially if you aren't in a hurry. And if you are switching to your 18-70, you probably aren't in a hurry.

I like to take a lot of wide angles of different landscapes. Lots of times during a quiet drive, when animals are hiding in the bush......i just pick a good view and get a good wide angle shot. Later when the animal activity is buzzing, it is hard to get an account of the landscapes.

Wide angle is also good for nice sunsets.

Hari

I guess it depends what you're interested in taking photos of.
For me I hardly take any wide angle photos

In terms of lenses, the one I use now, on the 20D, is a 18mm-125mm. Taking the crop factor into account that's equivalent to about 29mm-200mm on a 35mm film camera.

When we had the D70 we our wide angle was the 18mm-70mm kit lens (equivalent to 27mm-105mm on a 35mm film camera).

The two pictures above were both taken on my film SLR using a 28mm-135mm lens.

I have many friends also into photography and several have much wider lenses than this. I like playing with these from time to time but the ultra-wide doesn't appeal to me that much. If you do buy an ultra-wide lens do take into account how much distortion the lens creates towards the edges of the image - some create more than others.

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I've been out of town and not checked the board in a while. Wider than 35 really does make sense for capturing the feel of safari accomodations and the lens shouldn't add too much to my load, so I'll probably bring it along.

-Matt