Safari Photography?

[AlexColeman]

I have just been surprised with a trip to South Africa.
It isn't till summer, but I have been given a budget of $5,000 for supplies.
For photography, I am thinking D700, 24-70, 70-200 possibly with a TC. Any different reccomendations? We will be shooting in South Africa. Currently, I only have a D90, 16-85, and 50 1.4. Thanks Alot.

 

[gsgary]

I have just been surprised with a trip to South Africa.
It isn't till summer, but I have been given a budget of $5,000 for supplies.
For photography, I am thinking D700, 24-70, 70-200 possibly with a TC. Any different reccomendations? We will be shooting in South Africa. Currently, I only have a D90, 16-85, and 50 1.4. Thanks Alot.

300F2.8, 400F2.8, 1.7x

 

[Overread]

can you get all that for under $5000?
regardless I say stick with your D90 and do plug for a high end lens like the two that gary listed along with a teleconverter - 1.4 or 1.7 (I don't know enough about the 1.7 to give a view on its use).

also you lucky '@$@%$:! Have fun!

 

[Dhaines94]

I have just been surprised with a trip to South Africa.
It isn't till summer, but I have been given a budget of $5,000 for supplies.
For photography, I am thinking D700, 24-70, 70-200 possibly with a TC. Any different reccomendations? We will be shooting in South Africa. Currently, I only have a D90, 16-85, and 50 1.4. Thanks Alot.

Keep the D90 and get an 18-200VR and call it a day.

Africa pictures by Dhaines94 - Photobucket

 

[Miss Sony]

Dhaines, those pictures are amazing.

Keep the D90 and get an 18-200VR and call it a day.

Africa pictures by Dhaines94 - Photobucket

 

[chrisburke]

ya i have to agree with the aboves.. i mean, its nice to have $5000 to be able to upgrade.. but the d90 is a great camera.. get some high end fast glass and bank the rest of the money!!!

maybe
AF-S Zoom NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8 ($2200 cad)

or the

AF Zoom NIKKOR 80-200mm f/2.8D ED ($1300 CAD)

 

[anubis404]

The 18-200 has poor IQ and is slow. Its better to get a more dedicated telephoto lens. My reccomendation is to keep your D90 and forget the 24-70. Get a backup body (maybe a D80), and a long lens. Get the Nikon 80-200 AF-S and a 1.4 or 1.7 TC. The Nikon 80-200 has prime quality optics, and with your D90 you'll have a FoV of 120-300. Thats a 300mm F2.8 prime quality lens for less than the 300mm Prime. The TC will bump that up past 400, which is really what you need for wildlife photography. If you have the extra cash go for the VR version. It's a lot more, but will allow you to shoot handheld. Then, get a Tokina 11-16 F2.8 for capturing those awesome African landscapes.

If you get the VR version, thats $1600 for the 70-200 VR, about $550 for the Tokina, and $450 (if you get lucky) for the D80. So far you've spent $2600, which leaves you with $2400. Throw in some quality filters and a really good bag and that puts you at $3000. I don't really know how much a quality TC costs, but I'd guess $200-$300. I don't think you need anything more, although if you really want to spend more I'd replace that D80 with a D300. Spend the rest on hand sanitizer, and try not to catch Ebola.

Have fun in Africa. !

 

[Overread]

remember guys 300mm field of view is not the same as 300mm range.
I would still support the idea of a good solid primel lens like a 300mm f2.8 with teleconverters - I have taken a 70-200mm f2.8 lens out to a 140-400mm with a 2* teleconverter and image quality (in bright africa) should be acceptable for websized images, though going large (printing) one might find the shots too soft for larger prints. Also wildlife is always going to be a long distance away so all the reach you can get the better.

However on rethinking, I am getting a bit ahead of myself. If your not a big wildlife/sports fan then a 300mm f2.8 is a massive payment for a lens you [probably won't end up using much except on the holiday - if that is the case then look to renting a longer telephoto lens for when you get there and aim for one of the 70-200mm/80-200mm options (I don't know nikon optics in this area so listen to other for which to go for).

Also take a beanbag with you to use on the safari since tripods won't really work well on the jeeps - but a bean bag on the viewing rails will

 

[anubis404]

remember guys 300mm field of view is not the same as 300mm range.

I've never really understood the differences between a photograph taken with a 200mm FX lens on a DX body and a 300mm DX lens on a DX body. Care to enlighten me?

 

[Overread]

first of a lens on any camera has the same zoom range that it will have on any other -regardless of crop or not, you don't get more range out of a crop sensor.
What is different is that a crop sensor camera will only read the middle areas of a lens and will ignor the outer areas of the image totally.
eg:
Take two 10MP cameras, one crop sensor and the other fullframe and put the same 200mm lens on each.
On the fullframe camera the full image from the lens will be captured and recorded by the 10MP sensor and that data in turn put onto the photo from the camera
On the crop sensor camera the sensor will only record the middle areas of the shot - and it will put this onto the 10MP sensor

thus when you compare the two the crop sensor camera shot will look like you have taken the middle area of the fullframe one and blown it up larger (though with improved image quality - generally speaking). The image looks as if its come from a longer lens, but infact its only come from the same 200mm lens. The differences are less if you compare a 10mp crop to a 20mp fullframe camera = now the fullframe can crop and get an image from the middle areas same as the crop sensor camera of comparable quality.

wiki might explain it better: Crop factor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[RyanLilly]

Summer(northern hemisphere) is a great time visit South Africa, its the dry season and there is hardly ever a cloud in the sky. The great thing is that you can use slower(cheaper) glass or teleconverters and still get awesome shots. Like others have mentioned Buying big glass might not be a good investment if you don't plan on using it much in the future. So I will suggest forget about upgrading your shorter lenses, they wont be that usefull and you don't need the extra speed during the day. A 70-200, is a lens I feel is so versatile that just about everyone shold have one anyway. Couple that with a 1.7x or 2x converter and you really have a good starting point for game drives. Now I shoot canon but I expect the 70-200 2.8 and teleconverters from Nikon to be just as good as canon. Even with any oem teleconverter, the quality is still very high, even for moderate enlargements, and the IQ will still kick the ass of consumer quality lenses. With the converters you can certainly make good quality prints, especially with how much you can stop down, and use base iso, with the availible light.

 

[table1349]

I would certainly want a Merkel 140 2.0 500 Nitro Express Double Rifle along.

Africa is the home of the "Big 5" dangerous game animals. These are the elephant, rhino, Cape buffalo, lion, and leopard. A very large male African elephant will weigh around 13,000 pounds. This is the largest game animal on earth.
The white rhino averages about 5,000 pounds and a very large specimen can weigh 8,000 pounds. The smaller black rhino averages about 2,100 pounds on the hoof, and a very large animal might weigh 2,860 pounds.
The male Cape buffalo will average about 1,000 pounds and a female about 700 pounds. A very large male buff might go 1,600 pounds.
The African lion averages about 330 pounds, but a very large male might weigh 500 pounds. Many experts consider this to be the most dangerous animal in the world.
The African leopard is about the size of the North American cougar, that is to say averaging about 90 pounds (female) to 150 pounds (male), with very large examples weighing 225-250 pounds. Unlike the cougar, however, the leopard has earned the respect of even the most experienced dangerous game hunters, and leopards have killed large numbers of human beings over the years.

 

[tirediron]

can you get all that for under $5000?
regardless I say stick with your D90 and do plug for a high end lens like the two that gary listed along with a teleconverter - 1.4 or 1.7 (I don't know enough about the 1.7 to give a view on its use).

also you lucky '@$@%$:! Have fun!

1.7 is an excellent TC - IQ equal to the 1.4.

 

[gsgary]

I think a 70-200 will be ok if you are shooting elephants anything smaller you will have trouble

 

[AlexColeman]

So a consensus would be 70-200 2.8 with a 1.4 or 1.7 TC? What bag should I get to go along with it? Besides lenses,what else do I need to pack? Any other recommendations for miscellaneous stuff I need to purchase? Thanks!