African Safari - Lens Question

kitvan

I know there are a ton of posts on wildlife lenses already, and I have read them, but I wanted to get some specific advice on my situation.

I'm going to Tanzania (with 3 day stop in Amsterdam) in a week, here's my current setup:

- Nikon D90 , 2 batteries, 50 gb of cards (gonna shoot RAW)
- 18-200 VR
- 70-300 VR (recently acquired for this trip)

I know this isn't the best setup, ideally I'd have a zoom higher than 300mm, and less overlap between the two lenses. The benefit of the 18-200 is that it's a great "everything" lens that can go from capturing a wide shot of the dinner table to a cross-camp zoom for any possible wildlife opportunities. :wink

I recently purchased the 70-300 VR to extend my reach for the daytime wildlife drives, etc. To be honest, I'm not thrilled with the sharpness of the lens at 300mm, but it's the best I can afford right now.

Anyone have any general advice before I leave? Money and time are both on short supply at the moment, but I'm still interested to hear any thoughts you might have about how I can approach the trip with this setup...or to change lenses, etc.

Thanks ahead of time!! You'll definitely be seeing some shots when I get back in town. :thumb

ziggy53

What is the purpose of the trip? (My recommendations would be different based on different purposes.)
What do you expect to see? At what distance?
How important is the photography aspect of the trip?
What are your image quality expectations? (Memories of the trip or something to sell?)
Any weight considerations? (Some destinations might be via a small airplane with rather severe weight restrictions. Any hiking might also add weight limitations.)

The more you tell about the trip the more we can help.

Harryb

You may want to consider renting out the 200-400 lens for your trip. a one week rental from borrowlenses.com is $309.00 if that's too rich you can go for the Sigma 50-500 for $105/week.

I'm doing two weeks in Kenya at the beginning of next month. From my readings of various safari sites 60% of images on safari are obtained at 17mm -300mm. Another 25% are obtained at between 300mm and 400mm. The final 15 % are obtained over 400mm.

Have a great trip.

kitvan

ziggy53 wrote: »

What is the purpose of the trip? (My recommendations would be different based on different purposes.)
What do you expect to see? At what distance?
How important is the photography aspect of the trip?
What are your image quality expectations? (Memories of the trip or something to sell?)
Any weight considerations? (Some destinations might be via a small airplane with rather severe weight restrictions. Any hiking might also add weight limitations.)

The more you tell about the trip the more we can help.

Good point...here's some more info.

This is my first time on Safari, so I'm not exactly sure what to expect in terms of what we will see... but I think we'll probably be observing everything from Meercats to Elephants at distances ranging from 20 feet to 50 yards. Hopefully the bulk of the animals will be close enough to enjoy without too much cropping, etc.

Importance of photography: 7/10
This trip is not a photographic expidition. It is a family excursion with a group of close friends. That said, there are several photogs in the bunch so one of the vehicles will likely be dedicated to positioning for photographs, which I would like to take advantage of. I am taking a good pair of binoculars for times when it is too difficult to shoot, or when I just want to take in the moment.

Expected quality of photos: 7/10
The advice I'm seeking primarily focuses on the wildlife portion of the trip. I am proficient enough at landscape shots, and I'm comfortable with my level of "documentarian" skills...portraits, group shots, camp shots, etc.
I don't expect to be capturing gallery-quality images of the animals, but I would like them to be better than "average". Not professional grade. Just looking for well-balanced, sharp, low-grain (as low as possible) images.

Weight Limitations:
There are some limitations for the trip, but nothing too stringent. Personally, I don't really want to be toting around too many/heavy lenses. There is not significant hiking, most transportation is provided on land. Ideally I'd like to have a couple lenses that cover a diverse range of situations. When it comes to zooms, I would have gone with a 400mm purchase, they were just too expensive.
(On Harry B's suggestion, I will consider renting a lens that falls closer to the 400mm mark)

Anyways, thanks for your input!

ziggy53

The Nikkor AF-S 200-400mm, f4G ED VR II that Harry recommended is "the" zoom lens I would have for a true African Safari. For the more commercial safaris you won't be getting that close to the big animals, so a capable long lens in the 400-600mm range is an imperative. Couple that zoom along with your 70-300, but only use it as a 70-200mm, f5.6-f8 if possible. (I should add that the 200-400mm is a beast at almost 7 1/2 pounds, so account for that.)

The 18-200mm is fine for snaps and social stuff, especially coupled with a flash and appropriate flash modifier.

I would also recommend borrowing or renting a Nikkor 50mm, f1.8D. The Nikon D80 struggles a bit in low light, so a fast prime can help in those conditions. (Eventually you will want to own either this or the newer "G" or the f1.4, "G" or "D".)

---

Edit: I reread your comment to Harry and you might want to leave the 70-300mm at home and just rent the Nikkor 80-400mm, f4.5-5.6D ED AF VR. It will get you a little better performance overall, along with a little longer reach when you need it. That's a compromise compared to the 200-400mm beast.

time2smile

All i can add is to confirm the 70-300 VR is soft at 300.

I hear good stuff about the new 150-500 Bigma junior.

As with Ziggy a 1.8 is a need, but i would do the 35mm

be safe and have a great trip

kitvan

Awesome, thanks so much for your guys' advice. I'm looking into the 80-400 VR right now...

Someone else suggested that I check out teleconverters... is there any way you guys would recommend that? Obviously it would cut down on weight, etc.

thanks

ziggy53

kitvan wrote: »

Awesome, thanks so much for your guys' advice. I'm looking into the 80-400 VR right now...

Someone else suggested that I check out teleconverters... is there any way you guys would recommend that? Obviously it would cut down on weight, etc.

thanks

Teleconverters work best on the best prime lenses. They do not tend to work as well with zoom lenses.

Here are the compatible lenses for Nikon converters:

http://www.nikonusa.com/en_INC/IMG/Assets/Common-Assets/Images/Teleconverter-Compatibility/en_US_Comp_chart.html

Note that none of the lenses discussed in this thread, except the 200-400mm zoom, will even work with a Nikon teleconverter.

There are third-party teleconverters with mounting compatibility to more lenses, but the image quality generally suffers too much (IMO) and many lenses lose AF especially at the long end of a zoom.

NeilL

My experience is that in Tanzania the wildlife is in reserves, and you are taken by vehicle to see animals, and you remain in the vehicle. The terrain is scrubby, and many animals naturally hide, though they are somewhat used to people. The vehicle drivers will know where and how to show you what there is to see. If it's been dry the animals will be near water, otherwise they will be more scattered.

The result of all of this is you will not need an extremely long lens. The drivers will put you in a position where you can see animals, and as close as possible. Remember that the scrub will make them invisible unless you get close to them. Birds are the exception here, and for birds you would do the same as you do anywhere.

Animals move fast and unpredictably. In the space of seconds you go from no view to good view to no view. You have little opportunity to prepare your shots, you will have to deal with relatively close moving subjects, and intervening scrub and vehicle and people.

You do the math. Mine is: handholdable, highly maneuverable, stabilised, fast AF zoom. Other stuff can be in your bag just to give you comfort.

Neil

South central Tanzania October

kitvan

Thanks everyone for the advice! I ended up going with my 18-200 VR along with a rented 80-400 VR despite the "slow" autofocus I've read so much about. It seems adequately fast on my D90, and the lens seems sharper than the 70-300 did when I tested it. It's heavier, but I think it will pay off.

GSWayne

I visited Botswana and South Africa, this spring and found that when we were in the open vehicles, the guides could get us close enough to all the big game to fill the frame with my LX-5 which has only 90 mm (equivalent) maximum zoom. If you are more interested in birds or pictures of just the head or eyes of the bigger animals, then your 400 mm lens might be needed.