Norma Pearson

I need to buy a new lens for a safari in Kenya and Tanzania. A long zoom lens is so heavy, and needs a tripod or some support. But I do want close up photos of the animals. I'm looking at a 28-300mm zoom, or a 200-400mm (heavy!) Any advice out there? Thanks.

Kavey

When we were on safari at Little Mombo camp in Botswana we were so incredibly close to the animals I sometimes found myself wanting to switch back to my wider lens (28 - 135) because I was too close the the animal to use my 100 to 300!!!! <BR> <BR>The rest of the time I used my 100 to 300 and got very close. <BR> <BR>In other camps where you cannot get so close physically a longer lens might be better. <BR> <BR>But take a monopod as tripod would not be convenient in a jeep and hard to handle. <BR> <BR>Also remember that the longer a lens you use the harder it is to keep it steady and the more you will have to shift up to faster film. <BR> <BR>I took 100 and 200 and 400 speeds. <BR> <BR>I found that some of the shots on 100 and 200 were blurred, I was in a stationary vehicle but with a long lens and the lower light of early morning and late afternoon, my camera had to give me a longer exposure and so I got shake... <BR> <BR>As for weight, the new zooms are incredibly light. <BR> <BR>My new Sigma 100 to 300 is tiny and weights way way less than my old 28 to 85!!!! <BR> <BR>Hope this is of some help... <BR> <BR>Kavey

Kim

If you have a canon body the fairly new 100-400 IS is great. The is stands for image stabilized and I handheld at 400mm with no bluriness. I would take a second body rather than trying to change lenses. You can get a used body on Ebay for about $150. Contrary to the last reply I never took my telephoto off. If you can't afford the 100-400, then the 75-300 IS is adequate with the use of the extender that you can add. The problem with this is that there is no autofocus on most cameras with this combo. I used this set up last year and again hand held and manually focused with no problems. I always use 400 speed film now as the grain is great and I blow up to 13x17 with no problem./Any other questions, just email me. I have been to both Kenya and Botswana and I believe I was always farther away in Kenya than in Botswana.

betharwein

I am wondering what you use to keep your camera steady when you are in a vehicle trying to take photos. Once we were told to take plastic bags and fill with sand. do you have better suggestions? Betty

Kavey

Beth
A beanbag can be very useful indeed (whether it's home made with plastic bag and sand, home made before you leave with fabric and proper filling beads or shop bought) but it does depend what kind of vehicle you're in. In the open vehicle style common in Southern Africa you'd have to skoot down onto the floor to be able to rest the beanbag on the hand rest. In pop top vehicles it would be of more use as you could use it on the roof.

Some use monopods or tripods - personally I don't find those useful inside a vehicle so I don't use them much.

I just handhold and make sure my shutter speed is high enough to avoid camera shake - not always easy in low light although one CAN bump up the ISO on a digital camera which helps a lot.

What camera are you using and what lenses are you considering?

daviesg

A small bean bag is ideal to rest a camera \ lens on while in the vehicle - most lodges should have some to hand (or something similar) if you ask.

daviesg

Ah .. sorry Kavey - you beat me to it with the bean bag. Just wish I could handhold the long lenses steady.

Certainly one of the advantages of digital is the ability to change ISO between shots without having to push the film speed which is especially useful on a game drive where conditions can change significantly from start to finish.

Toshi

We used our travel pillows - the camera body rests in the inside the lens rests on the &quot;u&quot; shaped part - worked great.

It really depends on how close you can get to the animals. This depends on several things including 1) the animals, and 2) whether or not you must stay on the road. For Tanzania I used an 80-400mm (borrowed) and my husband used an 80-200 with a 2x teleconverter (rented) - and there were times when I would have wanted to be a smidgen closer. Actually, you can NEVER be TOO close.

SeeSee

We used almost exclusively a 80-400mm zoom lens with vibration reduction in TZ. The VR really helped with blurring and we didn't have to use tripod or bean bag except when the lens is in full zoom. And I agree, you can never be too close.