Safari in Africa

[travels]

<p>I am going on a Safari to Africa and have the choice of 300mm lens and H4D Camera versus canon 5D Mark111 camera and 500mm lens. I am wondering if Hasselblad 300mm lens with a teleconverter on the H4D is worth to be my only system. Or should I just stick to Canon. I will really appreciate advice. Thanks.</p>

[User_6502147]

<p>I'd take the 5DIII w/500 + 1.4 extender for more reach (much like AK....you need it). I mean 6FPS, better ISO's, high shutter speed etc., it's a very versatile rig.....and with a good lens you shouldn't have any problems, and I'm assuming you got the technique down, enlarging the image easily to 16x20+. Enjoy the trip.</p>

<p>Les</p>

[peterbcarter]

<p>Before you bank on a large telephoto with an extender, check the minimum f-stop required to focus. It may be borderline.</p>

<p>If your cannon has some sort of lens stabilization, your hasi may not come back with as many usable shots.</p>

<p>It's a long way to go without a backup. You probably should bring both.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>I'd personally take the Canon 5Diii - but not just a 500mm lens- you need something in the 70-200/300mm range, plus something wider for panoramas. Also something for low light. Lots of animals are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crepuscular">crepuscular</a>!</p>

<p>Not all game will be distant, not by a long shot, so to speak. ;)</p>

[donbright]

<p>Canon,<br>

But, I use Nikons, and I know what having too much lens is like, so if I were going, I would take my 105mm, 180mm, and 400mm with the TC-14B 1.4X. There are cases when the long lens is too much, but typically the right lens most of the time. Packing two more lenses for a trip like this is worth the weight. Pun intended.</p>

[peterbcarter]

<p>If you are talking primes, I agree. Zooms are built pretty good these days, but primes are definitely better. Even with the smaller sensor size, the better lens will still be a crisper shoot.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>In my opinion, safari (wild animal) photography is one of those applications where you never know just what focal length you are going to need and when. Nor will you have lots of time to mess around changing lenses. A slight difference in image quality will not make up for the shots you miss.</p>

<p>My personal Canon setup for this would be an EF 100-400mm on one body (perhaps an APS-C one) and a 24-105mm on a 35mm sensor body.</p>

<p>It was some time ago that I was there, but I found relatively little use for even 400mm and most of my shots were between 70mm and 200mm OR with a 50mm f/1.2 lens</p>

<p>By the way, this lioness has had many offspring since I got her on film (see <a href="https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&client=firefox-a&hs=xQb&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&biw=1586&bih=1298&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Lake+Manyara+lion+in+tree&oq=Lake+Manyara+lion+in+tree&gs_l=img.12...11520.12431.0.13956.3.3.0.0.0.0.110.221.1j2.3.0....0...1c.1.32.img..3.0.0.zJ_m1gaj4ss">link</a> )</p><div></div>

[travels]

<p>Thank you for all your advice. I am going to stick to 35mm.</p>