I'm going to pick up a Canon S5 IS 8.0 Megapixel Camera to take with us. I don't know much about digital cameras.

How much memory would you guys recommend taking with us. I can get 4GB cards from Circuit City for $25 apiece.

Andy

Take a couple of them. They are not persishable

If you are not taking a video camera, you should take more memory, and use the video function on this camera.

The quality is much better than VHS tapes by far.

Don't forget plenty of spare batteries.

Thanks guys.

You want to buy fast cards,not cheap ones.This allows your camera to cycle faster and take advantage of its capabilities.I use transcend brand cards.You also might want 1 or 2 gig cards,that way without backup,you can store segements of your trip without risking all your data to one card.Having speed allows you to catch action shots,speeds up the cycle time of the sensor.

How many?I live with a camera in hand and shoot a lot;900 shots in etosha in 5 hours.But then edit out the junk,maybe 300 keepers,50 printers.You'll have to look,but you should get 250/card depending on camera settings,no videos.

Good choice of camera,good balance for a point and shoot.G 10 comes out in sept.I'm waiting to see if they upgrade the G9 sensor.So you may want to see if a G9 can be had for cheap.B+H,adorama actually might increase the price cause its the "last one",but box stores will be dumping them.A good place to go is Fred Miranda.com;this is to cameras what AR is to hunting forums.The name sake of the site,is as kind as ours(thanks Saeed)no ads etc.Go to Canon gear,they had a thread about G9's recently.

Another option is the SX100IS,the advantage of this camera is it takes easy to find AA batteries.It is also in the Canon family of advanced point and shoots.I own this one as a glovebox/field camera.Using rechargable solar panel rollup,very slick.

If you get a S5,or G9 you'll need two additional batteries;there are aftermarkets around.Get the 12V cig. charger adapter for a vehicle.The charger for the proprietary Canon battery will work on 50 Hz. 220 V. african power.BUT you must have the plug adapter,easy to find at any big box store.DO NOT use a voltage converter,it will kill your batteries.

another tip,on Fred Miranda check out the "nature area".This is where pro's post photos from expeditions aroud the world for comments and critique.Many africa threads in there....

I'm sure Saeed could chime in on this also(?)to bad he's a Nikon man....
(that's a joke...Canon people don't agree with Nikon people...like cat people and dog people...come to think of it how are those kittens? )


dan

Adrook
The G9 is to my mind the finest compact camera on the market. Its image stabaliser is far more advanced than the S5 and for those shots at last light without needing flash you will not find better. That said the video function of the s5 is handy. If you are ever serious about wanting to edit some video together of your trips and hunts then there is a current offering from canon called the HV30. Shoots to tape, so no chance of faliure and is full HD. I shoot with both a Canon XLH1 and the HV 30 and the footage is not far off in terms of colour, vibrance, clarity and stabiliser function is top notch. Backup batteries for both of these camera are reasonably priced at B&H. On the matter of cards, I always say that it never pays to buy outside your current means. Unless you are going to download images to a laptop or card reader there really is no substitute for card size, so work out how much space you need and then see what quality you can buy from there. If you are going with the s5 then the money you save on the video camera will pay for a hell of a lot of storage space.
One last thing on this topic. Redundancy. Two cameras are always better than one, and the HV 30 can take great stills too if you ask it to.
One last thing on the HV 30 is that you cab fit a great little accsery light to the top of the camera which will facilitate getting high quality self interview/daily diary stuff if that is what you are after and will allow you to film the faces of the trackers etc in darler conditions, something that is not possible normally due to their skin tones and the low quality blue light that most built in LED lights produce.
There is a great review on the g9 on the Luminous Landscape. Go take a look and good luck.
If you have an specific questions about any of these cameras let me know and I will be happy to answer them as I have used all of them.
Good luck
Ian

Used a Canon G9 on my safari in June. It is an outstanding camera. See some the pictures at the report.

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6321043/m/782106388

I will also be flying out in September heading for plains game in the East London area and then to Zimbabwe for Buffalo.
I am taking along a Canon 10-d which I have been using since they were new a few years ago. It is only 6 megs but I don't intend to make any prints larger than 16x20 anyway. I will really focus on a power point presentation. I already have lots of lens options along with the cards. It uses compact flash which my arthritic hands can still hold as opposed to the small SD cards. I plan on taking a dozen cards to spread things out just in case any one gets crippled or damaged. I have three batts which will handle about 200 full meg photos each, along with the chargers for converted DC and car batts.
I am also taking a Panasonic mini DV triple chip camera and 12 additional tapes. It also uses an SD card for 3 meg snaps so if anything happens to one or the other I can still take a few snaps.

If there is anything I can suggest it is only that you need to learn the system, practice and take along the manual. I have always carried my manuals even after 35 years of camera work because no one can always remember everything these things can do. I keep mine in plastic bags which sometimes come in handy themselves.
Good luck and I look forward to seeing what you share when you come back.
Frank

One important issue to look for is that your camera takes double A batteries and the Energizer E batteries are super and last way beyond normal alkalines..
My camera is Sony cybershot with a 12X opticial zoom and a ton of other goodies built in it...
Take all pics on the highest setting super quality if one wants to blow a couple up inj size...

Mike

The battery thing is a real plus in my opinon for the Canon S51S. It uses the double A's which you can find most anywhere if needed and like retreever says use the Energizer E or Duracell Ultra Digital for real increased battery life. I don't like depending on rechargeable batteries in the Safari situation. The 12X optical zoom, is great, the stabilizing system is OK, with no problems and great pics on the two major trips I have used the S5IS on to date. I back it up with a little Nikon Coolpik L1, which takes the same batts and cards and produces really good pics if needed. When I get more $$ invested than the two cameras above I get nervous about breaking or losing them!!

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

Batteries can be a real issue. Chargers are fine but make sure that yours will acutally work in whatever part of Africa yo might be in. I use a Canon S2IS and a small Konica that both use the same batteries, AA's AND the same memory cards, get the best you can afford here, it does make a difference. My PH in Namibia had a good supply of AA's and several different chargers but still tells of sad clients with odd battery requirements and memory cards that crapped out. This is where the "30-06 or a 375 is Universal" philosophy comes into play. Don't get too cutting edge or you might regret it. PS bring more memory cards than you think you will ever need, you'll use them all.

If you use the S5 for video, be aware that it uses more of the battery than photographs. I went on a photo safari in July and a friend had the S2. She thought she had plenty of batteries but took many videos and ran out. She was very unhappy.

I have an S2 and an S3. Saeed's advice about taking video with these cameras is absolutely correct. Turn the wind filter on and the sound is excellent as well as the video. The S2 and S3 take excellent video with stereo sound.

The longest lasting batteries I've personally used in the S2 and S3 are the E2 Lithiums by far. The S5 should be comparable. Yes video will eat more memory and battery than simply taking pictures but I would recommend the Lithium cells over standard NiCads and Alkalines by a long shot.

Supposedly there are better rechargeables out there now but I have not used them.

I used a little Canon A340, but I always brought with me a x-drive with 9 different slots for any kind of memory known. during the hunt I always had a second memory flash card of course, but evry day I save the photo on the 40Gb x-drive. At the end of the hunt I saved on it also the photos that Johan the outfitter has done with his Olympus, and an year ago I saved also the photos made with a Sony camera. usefull.
It works also as a MP3 Player, but for that I used a Creative Zen reader.

Whatever you take, try it out and practice with it before you go,. I see hunters reading the instruction booklet on the flight over and when they need it most, they often do not have the time to figure the operation of the unit out. Take extra memory cards and batteries and use the dang thing! I thought I was taking alot of pictures on the last trip but when I returned, it surprised me how little I had actually used it. Yes, I had shots of all the kills,, but not as many of the camp, terrain, sunrises, sunsets, campfire, meals, friends, trackers, etc...I was worried about having enough memory and I didn't use one tenth of what I could have used! Keep it handy and use it!

Make sure you have enough batteries. I took a Canon S5, or the version a few years older, and a Panasonic Lumix DMX (pocket camera, about 2 years old). Halfway through the trip, the Panasonic auto focus malfunctioned. It was probably due to being a pocket camera. However, upon arrival at DFW, the Panasonic started owrking again. Also, for some strange reason the Canon ate though batteries like crazy. I still don't know the exact cause. I bought extra batteries down there, the RSA made "Neverready." I was able to take 4-5 shots per set of fresh batteries. I am still waiting on some pictures from my PH, as I was not able to take all that I wanted. I almost took another camera as backup, wish I had now.

One suggestion on any digital camera would be to keep your memory card with you at all times when the camera is not in your hand. I learned this the hard way last year in Dar Es Salaam; our hotel room was broken into and all electronic gear was stolen. If I had the memory card with me, I'd have the pictures.