Safari medium tele lens question

I'm starting to plan a trip to South Africa. I will probably go for a

safari during a week and are not shure if my equipment will be good

enough. Purpose with pictures are personal use and smaller exhibitions

via the local photoclub.

I have Nikkor 85/1.8, 200/4.0, Tokina AF 400/5.6 prime lenses and

Manfrotto 055 tripod. If shoting from a car, are primes a realistic

alternativ, or should I get a 80-200/2.8 instead. Bean bag as support.

I'm using F90X and FM2, so VR is no realistic alternative.

On the wide side do I have 24-35-50 primes. I presume that 24/2.8 and

50/1.4 will be good enough and zooming with my feet.

Regards Casi

P.S

I will be using slide film.

D.S

The 400 f/5.6 and the 200 f/4 should work well for you. However the versatility of an 80-200 f/2.8 may justify its expense. I spent several months in Kenya with a 400 and 70-210. I always wished for something longer, especially when restricted to roads. (In the wildlife parks you won't be "zooming with your feet".) A bean bag or a rolled up jacket is OK when shooting from the open top of a safari van. A 24 or 35 is great for those "big sky" vistas. Be sure to bring a polarizer.

There are some subjects that call for a macro lens. The 85mm f/1.8 with a 5T or 6T may work out, but I would go for the Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 as being the best option.

Look for a copy of Joe McDonald's "Photographing on Safari". Though out of print, it is usually available on Amazon.

If this is your first trip, you will find it beyond belief.

First things first. You will have an incredible trip!

I was in South Africa last December, where my wife and I spent 4 incredible days on safari at the Kapama Private Game Reserve. If we had more time (we were there for a friend's wedding held near Cape Town), we would have spent more time inside Kruger (and when we return someday, we will do just that).

According to the game rangers, the best time of year to view wildlife is the end of their winter (September-October) which also happens to be peak whale watching season in False Bay (near Cape Town). At the end of winter, pretty much all the leaves that will fall off have done so, resulting in the best wildlife viewing.

Now in December, we were able to photograph a lot of newborns, but due to the increased foliage, it's bit harder to see the animals, but still there are so many!

My main suggestion would be to shoot with 2 camera bodies loaded with 2 difference film speeds. I had my old EOS Rebel XS loaded with E100VS and my Elan IIe with Fujichrome 400F. Depending on the lighting conditions, I would put an 100-400 IS lens on the appropriate body. You can get away with primes, but the closer you get to a 50 to 500 mm lens (if such a lens existed) the easier it will be. You do risk missing scenes (there were times I used my 35-80 for the close encounters with larger animals: elephants, giraffe's). I would recommend an 80-200 and a 200-400.

A couple of logistical items. Malaria tablets. Depending on the time of year, you may or may not need them. However, I would advise taking them to be on the safe side (in winter there are virtually no mosquitoes). We took Malarone, a relatively new anti-malaria drug. A useful website I found is: http://www.traveldoctor.co.uk/malaria.htm. One woman we met complaimed about psychological effects of Lariam, saying she "thought she was going crazy" (it is documented for neurological side effects).

Also, we flew a red-eye Seattle to Atlanta, and then Atlanta to Johannesburg (a 15 hour flight). We then flew directly to Hoedspruit (there's another airport to Nelspruit). We then rented a car, and spent 2 days at the Blyde River Canyon Lodge to recuperate from our long trip. I would highly recommend doing the same. See http://www.blyderivercanyonlodge.com/ for more info.

This is a small lodge (which I found makes it very personal) located on beautiful grounds. The owner of the lodge, Vicky Mitten, is a very gracious and hospitable hostess. The food they serve is absolutely outstanding (and the lodging/food is very reasonably priced). You'll see Burchell Zebras, blue wildebeest, and possibly some impala and hopefully even a bushbaby (while we were there, Vicky was nursing a baby impala and a baby bushbaby - hopefully the impala has joined a herd of impala and the bushbaby has made a nearby tree its home).

But you asked about photography (hopefully the information above will be helpful). Where exactly are you going?

If you stay in a private game reserve (I'd recommend staying at Buffalo Camp at Kapama, hopefully Riann will be your game ranger). If so, don't hesitate to sit in the front with him. Though I didn't have a tripod, I could have set one up with me there (with IS, I didn't really need it). My wife sat in the bench seat behind Riaan and I (we were so into it, we essentially hijacked the game ranger - but they really like that!).

If you go to Kruger, please stay inside your car! There are about 50 known cases of people "disappearing" per year due to lions and other predators (typically people trying to enter the country illegally) which means these predators are slowly acquiring a taste for human flesh (compared to other animals, we are not very smart, strong, nor fast - i.e., easy pickings).

I would suggest taking the ranger guided walks (the rangers are armed though it is extremely rare that they have to use them since they are experts in the animals' behavior - all rangers have university degrees along with additional training - it is a very competitive vocation). If you take tours inside Kruger, the vehicles are closed, which makes it harder to shoot. At the private game reserves, you are always in open vehicles (typically Defender 110's with a cover). But these are typically rather pricey. Kapama was the least expensive, but still great quality game reserves. I would go back to Kapama again, for probably 3 nights, and spend more time inside Kruger with my own car rental.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask me any more questions that you like.

Kosta

I love reading these responses!

1> many reserves in SA dont require the use of Anti malarials.

2> many Anti malarials highly promoted in the USA and UK (and other countries) simply dont work

Support wise, you will probably find yourself in an open car with no window support for the handy bean bag. you probably need a telescopic mono pod.

Lens wise, fixed focal lengths lenses dont alow framing.

I shoot an FM2 and FE2 with 50mm f 1.8, a 70 - 200mm Tamron and a thats it for the manual focus cameras a teleconverter will help.

Zooms whilst not as good quality do offer flexability.

South African Safari parks (in general) dont offer those wide open savannah vistas, and almost always necesitate staying on the road so you cant move in close to the animals. Thus you need a decent zoom range and need not worry too much about the 24 and below category.

Shoot two film speeds, 50 - 100 in one and a 200 in the other body.

Take spare camera batteries and also all you filter needs... Graduate ND and polariser as a minimum.

For the traveller whose primary concern is not professional images, I would recomend that you invest in an entry level autofocus slr and a super zoom 28 - 300 lens.

feel free to contact me for any more info, I am a professional safari guide based out of Kenya, and have been in and out of SA for the past 8 years.

G

Casi,

if you're interested in shooting birds, you will need something longer than a 400mm; a 1.4 converter might do, but if you can rent a 600mm, you might just consider this. I have used my 600mm often, also for close-ups of mammals.

If you know which game parks you're going to, check their website; it might give some usefull info as what you can expect. On our trip to SA last Nov, one of the rangers/drivers was a photog himself, so I didn't hesitate to bring my 600mm along and it worked just fine.

Don't forget your binocs.

Enjoy.