cmp6e

I will be climbing Kilimanjaro and going on a safari in August. I'm throwing around the idea of buying a Nikon D80. However, I'm unsure about making the purchase because of the monetary investment and I worry that it will be difficult to carry and protect a large camera on my five week trip.
I'm not an expert photographer by any means, but photographs are valuable to me and I will be disappointed if my pictures don't turn out well.

I realize that having the nicer camera would be ideal, but I was wondering if anyone has had luck getting good pictures in Africa with a point and shoot camera.
If you have point and shoot pictures posted and would be willing to share them, I would be very interested. I'd also love to know what camera you used.

I have a Canon Powershot with 3x optical zoom and 7 mega pixels. I like it a lot, but, naturally, it has limitations.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Patty

3x optical zoom may be enough for Kili but you'll want something more for safari.

Lots of posters here use point and shoots. You'll find a link to my photos from our last safari in my trip report http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...4&tid=35112503

I used an old Canon S1 IS which I've used on 4 previous safaris. I'll let you be the judge of whether they're any good

I finally upgraded to a S5 last week.

cary999

Here are about 20 photos (of maybe 1000) we took on safari in 2005. The camera was the Canon S2.
http://tinyurl.com/377m5w
Click on one of the three photos on the left to bring the others up.

The Canon S2 is a super zoom type, lens zoom ranges from 38mm-430mm. The Canon S2 is now the Canon S5 and sells for around $330 (Amazon). These Canons also take excellent videos. Similar to the Canon S5, Sony and Panasonic also have super-zoom cameras. These cameras can make excellent photos with good enlargements to at least 11x14 inches. Their primary limitation is in low light situations, less than daylight (cloudy is ok).

The Nikon D80, DSLR type, is a "better" camera but you will need two lenses for it to equal a super-zoom. Which type takes better photos is dependent more on the shutter pusher than the camera.

regards - tom

atravelynn

Any P&S with 10x optical zoom or higher and Image Stabilization will work great. The Canon S2 is an example of that. There are also S3s now and I think S4s, maybe S5. Lots of people have posted how pleased they were with the Canons.

Other brands include the Panasonic Luminx that gets good reviews. Sony has the DSC line. I have an H2 and H9 DSC and am very happy. Here is a link to some photos from South Africa with both those Sony cameras.
Photo link:http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...d&x=0&y=xaqwzq

cary999

Oh, one more thing. Half of the advantage of digital photos is that you can improve them using your PC/MAC. If you don't want to invest the money, time, and energy to learn Photoshop then get a simple editing program. I recommend Irfanview, http://www.irfanview.com/. It is free and easy to use. With it you can crop, resize, color correct, contrast correct, sharpen, and more, your digital jpg images. Makes a big difference in your photos, bigger than which camera you use.

regards - tom

HariS

Doing the Kili trek - you may want a "wide angle lens"??? It may come in handy for the landscape pics etc etc.,

atravelynn

For the wide angle, I think you can just use the landscape button that would be on any of those P&S cameras. I'm sure it does not yield the quality of a special wide angle lens attached to a digital body, but it would be pretty good.

cmp6e

Thank you for your responses and for sharing your pictures. I'm now looking into getting a megazoom camera like the ones suggested here. I can see that my little 3.8x zoom is not going to cut it.

You've definitely given me more confidence about getting quality pictures without the size and expense of an SLR. Though I'd love to take one, I just don't know if it's practical this time around. I do admire the dedicated people who transport all that equipment!

If I come back with pictures like yours, I will be happy!