Looking at the Nikon L-100 as a inexpensive 10mp camera for safari. It uses AA batteries and has a 15 X zoom for under 200 bucks. Has anybody used it?

No viewfinder, I can't get on with the screen only.

The Panasonic LUMIX FZ18 can be found pretty cheap.
Or the Cannon S3is or S5.

The group I went to Africa last year took two Panasonic DMC-FZ18 camaras. Great pictures were taken and also some nice movies. There were probably 3000 pictures taken between the two camaras. The PH like it so much he bought on at COSTCO when he came for a visit in January. Great camaras and reasonably priced.

Greg

The Cannons do even better movies with stereo sound as well, I think.
The lens is fixed when you shoot in movie mode on the FZ18, but the Cannon can still zoom when your recording.

And it's easy to fit filters to the Panasonic FZ18, the lens has a 46mm thread.
You'll want a polarizing filter (at least) in Africa.
There are adapters to fit most things to most cameras, but the FZ is easy.
Cokin filters are also possible to fit, but a bit more hassle.
Also it has a nice wide angle, I think its a 28mm equivalent but it seems wider.

Depends how much you want to get into the camera work. Whatever effort you put in, you won't regret when your looking at the great photos.
I have to admit these days I'm as happy carrying a camera as a gun.

if your spending the mony to go on safari spend the money on the best camera and lens you can you will never regert it. I went with fixed lens camera once and will never do that again. Im not into video so i got a olypuse510 and love it is a little cheaper than cannon and nikon but has all the features you will ever need and great picture quality

If your camera is back in the camp, because you have got tiered of lugging it around, as well as all the other gear you need to actually hunt your not going to get many good pics.
I'd seriously consider a Cannon G10 or something very similar. Even the Bridge cameras mean another bag to carry.
Unless you really are going for it, with an SLR, lenses, filters, tripod, flash guns, laptop .... but then your on a Photo Safari.
It's a tough choice really. There still isn't ONE camera that dose it all.
Get on "Flicker" you can search for pics by a certain Camera and see the results people get.

http://www.flickr.com

like ...
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Cannon+G10

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Cannon+S3&page=4

And my fave the AWESOME FZ ....
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Cannon+S3&page=4

I have to admit, I'm just in love with this camera.

Also you may notice, that with the bigger zooms mostly everybody tightens right in, but with the 6x max they tend to get a bit more space in.

Check Amazon and EBAY for used cameras if you've already pushing the budget for the hunt.

I am extremely pleased with the Nikon P90 that I recently purchased and took to South Africa. It is small and light enough that you'll always have it handy, 12.1 megapixels for great resolution, a 24x zoom capability with image stabilization. It's fast enough and quiet enough for most wildlife work. I highly recommend it.

As mentioned above - Canon G10 would be a good choice, but a SLR would be even better.


Canon eos 5D Mark II




Canon eos 5D Mark II