Photography of Politics. South Africa For A Year. What To Pack?

[christopher_albon]

In a year, I will be moving to South Africa (but I will be traveling all around sub-Saharan Africa) for a year to

do international conflict research. I am interested in taking photos of political, social phenomena. That is, I

am taking photos of people and events, not animals and landscapes.

 

Other than my camera (D40), what other equipment (straps, bags, lenses, etc..) do you recommend I buy/pack/use

how to use?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Jerry_]

Something like the Nikon VR 55-200mm AF-S Nikkor lens would be one item to look over before you go. It takes a 52mm filter, will work on your D40 camera, and is not too heavy to carry around all day. If you have the kit lens (i.e., the 18-55mm AF-S Nikkor,) you should be good to go. [Two lenses make for a bit of backup, if one lens should have a problem, you can use the other.]

 

 

 

"How to use?" You would have to practice shooting before you start your trip.

[craig_gillette]

Insurance is good to have. Travel and conflict could easily result in accidental or intentional damage or loss of equipment. Insurance may pay to replace something but that may not be a timely "fix" if you needed that piece of gear. You should consider a fair amount of redundancy for things like batteries, chargers, perhaps even camera bodies, as well as lenses. They may be readily available in big cities but less so in rural or out of the way areas. That might mean leaving some of your kit at home for space convenience and to secure it instead of taking it all. You may want to consider a good flash. The Nikon SB600 isn't the most powerful but it's pretty useful and not too large. The SB800 is larger, more powerful, has some added features and is, of course, more expensive.

 

Straps and bags begin to get subjective because it depends on the amount of stuff you actually are carrying, what's comfortable for you, etc. Tamrac, Optech and others make a variety of straps. I've used several of the different makers neoprene straps. I'm not sure I'm completely happy with them under all conditions. Some people like the Black Rapids "R" straps. the UPstrap is getting a lot of good comments. I don't have one but the people I've seen recommending it sure like it.

 

http://upstrap-pro.com/

[machts gut]

I would not bother myself with too many lenses. I'd take a 2.8/18-55 (or something in that range, I'm not familiar with Nikon) and maybe a flash. If you are interessted in political and social issues you may want to include the surroundings rather than taking classical portraits, so IMO you don't need a tele zoom. And the 2.8 stop is necessary for indoors and low light shots. A second battery and additional CF-card is a must.

[benjaminoliverhicks]

You might want to consider getting a cheap manual film slr, just in case you run out of battery and don't have the means to

charge them.

[christopheroquist]

Here are a couple of things I can think of you may or may not decide you need, which on my trip to China this month I really wished I had, or was really happy I had:

 

A photographer's vest. While I was stuffing my 70-200mm in one cargo-shorts pocket and my 50mm prime into the other, all while trying not to drop my 10-20mm wide-angle, I kind of wished I had one. I have a backpack for all this gear, but I found myself switching so often between the tele and wide lenses to take pictures of people, then scenery, that it was a pain to keep taking off the backpack and getting stuff out.

 

The other two are useful if you're going to be roughing it at all. I don't know what your travel situation is like, these may or may not be necessary. We spent most of our time hiking, traveling, and staying in little hostels where there was really no where to do laundry.

 

MSR Packtowls. These microfiber towels fold up literally into the size of a thin paperback book and are good to dry yourself completely. They dry in minutes:

 

http://www.msrgear.com/camptowels/ultralite.asp

 

This other one might seem funny but I'm serious... If you're going to be roughing it at all, check out Exoficio underwear (no joke!). They weigh next to nothing, are really light and breathable, and dry in no time, so you can take a pair or two for your whole trip and just wash them frequently. Kind of a weird suggestion, maybe, but instead of taking 12 pairs of underwear, I took two, and haven't been more comfortable ever:

 

http://www.exofficio.com/product_details.aspx?item_cd=1245-0787&key=90bde27c-6d2a-4f4d-89c0-bcacc6f33d32

 

Backpack? I have a Tamrac Model 5547 Adventure 7 bag and love it. I second the suggestion of the second battery, and I would actually take a few extra CF cards (maybe take a number of smaller cards as opposed to one or two huge ones - in case one or two are lost, stolen, fall into a river, are crushed under the thunderous stampede of wildebeests, etc... you won't lose all your shots)

 

Chris