after 7 safaris, i have finally succumbed to the blandishments of the fair sex, and we are departing on a 2 week photo only (ulp!) safari in May next year. We plan to go to Vic falls, Chobe national park, Etosha, and Botswana for game viewing.
I need advice on photography. I am an intermediate level amateur, have had a few DSLRS, but need to step up my game in the digital era.
I am thinking about a Sony mi8rrorless A7iii with a Tamron 28x70 (i think) 1.8 lens; also a Sony 70x300 tele. wildlife and landscaoe photography.
so my questions are:
is 300mm enough of a telephoto lens? I have never used one for animal tele
is 28mm wide enough for serious landscape photos
finally is 24 full frame megapixels sufficient h or should I spring for a separate Zeiss 24 mm or 16 mm lens?
thank you all

My first advice is to avoid using a lenses made by other markers.

Forget Tamron and others.

If you are using a SONY Camera, use SONY lenses.

I have learnt this through many years of trying practically all makes of lenses made by others on both Canon and Nikon cameras.

Not worth it at all if you are serious.

The Sony A7 comes in two models. The R and S.

The S model has lower megapixels, but an astonishing good camera in low light.

Another I recommend is you take two zoom lenses, that cover the range you wish to have.

If you are going to take the A7R, and zoom lens to 400mm, you will get exceptionally clear photos, even at long distance, even if you crop them.

Saeed,thank you, the voice of reason as always!
i will expunge the Tamron rom my wishlist.
I will go with the Sony lenses
my only other question is: is 300 mm enough for wildlife?

For wildlife, the longer the lense the better.

I would pick one of the zooms that go to 400mm SONY has.

May I suggest you have a look at the Sony RX10 mark 4?

I am using this right now in the Alps, and getting fantastic results.

It has a fixed lense that goes to 600mm.

I will post pictures when I get home next month.

I have Saeed. I have. Again and again. The only reason for my hesitation is that the RX 10 iii has a 1 inch sensor, vs a 35mm full frame sensor for the A7 series.
A compromise would be the sony a6500 with the full frame 70X300 lens, which would give me 450mm focal length with a cropped (APSC) sensor. even this sensor would be bigger than the RX 10 one inch.

i confess, i dont know how important that is. the proof is in the photos, of course, and you cerrtainly have the experience there.

While I don't have any experience with the Sony system, I have found that fast and accurate focusing ability is what seems to make for more keepers than any other aspect of the wildlife camera equation. I don't equate wildlife photography with "birds-in-flight", but if you add that to the equation then the frames per second rate of the camera enters into the equation as well. I think these criteria apply whatever the brand name.

On a full-frame sensor, a zoom going to 300mm is just enough and will cover most of the better picture opportunities. But you will want more. I only recently bought a 200-500mm lens and should have done it a long time ago. There is a downside however, size and weight.

But let me put in a word for the options with Nikon bodies and lenses. Good telephoto glass costs a lot and they are big and heavy, with two exceptions: the Nikon 300mm PF and the Nikon 500mm PF. They aren't zoom lenses but with a 1.4X tele-extender you can give either a double life. I have borrowed a friend's 300mm PF lens and the size weight difference is massive. If you think those lenses might meet your needs, then you just pick one of the Nikon bodies with fast, accurate focusing (D500 or D7500 in APS-C sensor bodies, or D850 or D4, D5 in the full frame sensors). To get equal focus speed and accuracy in a Sony you would need an A9.

If you add up the weights of different systems, and add up the costs, you might be surprised at the results when making comparisons accross brands. "Real" wildlife photographers (and I am not one) use lenses with f/2.8 on a 300mm and a 400mm and f/4 on a 500mm. If you're after results that look similar to theirs, you'll need those lenses. I have gotten good results with lesser lenses (the Nikon 70-200mm f/4 and the Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 combo) but with super zooms like the 28-300mm or the 18-200mm DX you'll get less image quality.

A review:

https://photographylife.com/re...n-300mm-f4e-pf-ed-vr

I was going to throw out a plug for Nikon based on two things: range of lenses and availability of accessories worldwide.

Sony is excellent, but still a little limited on lens choices, and I don't see support for their gear as prevalently as I do for Nikon or Canon. If you lose a charger, can you get a replacement?

As Wink notes, consider size/weight of the gear you want/need. I shoot Canon and Olympus m4/3. The selection that I would take to Africa in Canon weighs almost 30 pounds. The selection I would take in Oly gear weighs 12 pounds. Both systems get me to 800mm, but I need more Canon gear to get there, and it is very bulky and heavy. The Pana/Leica 100-400mm for the m4/3 systems is a pretty amazing lens as is the Oly 40-150f2.8. With a 2X crop factor the Oly gets to 800mm and isn't obnoxious to carry around. If your camera is a PITA to carry, you won't have it when you need it.

Food for thought. Quite a few wildlife photogs have moved to Oly because of the portability factor alone. And their images are still every bit as good as they were otherwise. The downside of smaller sensors is low light handling and depth of field. But I haven't seen these as show stopper issues.

Bare minimum, IMO, if you go DSLR, you will want a 24-70F2.8 and a 70-200F2.8 with 1.4 and 2x extenders. That will get you very good results. To do better, add a 400mm F4. Next level up is add 300 or 400mm F2.8. The 300mmf2.8 weighs about 5-6 pounds, and a 400mmf2.8 weighs close to 9lbs. Then you will need a bean bag for support in a vehicle, and a tripod outside. You don't hand hold big glass. Don't forget a flash.

Lastly, look into renting lenses. For $400-500, you can get glass you otherwise wouldn't likely buy. Something line a 400mm f2.8 that costs nearly what your trip will cost can be rented for $500 for two weeks.

Jeremy

Jeremy makes an excellent suggestion. Look at these options for Nikon exotics:

https://www.lensrentals.com/re...enses/supertelephoto

Gentlemen, thank you for your most kind suggestions.
I have always been impressed by Wink's Burkina photos, which were a lot better than mine! and then he had the grace to pass it off as "nothing that a few thousand dollars of equipment wouldnt do", when we know the skill it requires to use the equipment.
To add to the mix, I am restricted to 40lbs total weight per person for our trip, due to multiple charters. So weight becomes a real factor.
I really like Saeeds suggestion of the Sony rx10iv; it has a 1 inch sensor, but does everything really well except, i think, low light situations. Saeeds pics of the mountain landscapes with this camera were brilliant!

So I plan to gift my wife with this camera!
she can carry it and if i really need 600mm, i am sure she will share!

I love the Nikons, used the SLRs all my life, but the Z7 and mirrorless varieties have very few lenses without adapters. So i think (if that's what you call it, according to my wife!) I will get the Sony a7iii body with a 24x70 F4 lens and rent the Sony 100x400 F4 for super tele. (Great suggestion! I may not use that lens again for years!)
our itinerary involves the namibia red sand dunes (sossus vlei),etosha pan, miombo reserve botswana, chobe, and vic falls, so a variety of scenery, animals, lighting etc will be on the menu.
Hope to post the results when i get back
again, many thanks for your valuable suggestions. AR has the most gracious folks. (yes, I know, with a few exceptions!)

We were up in Verbier, Switzerland for the Christmas and New Year break.

I took some night photos with the Sony A7sII.

My family and friends would not believe it when they saw the photos, as they were of the lights below in the village, and the starry sky above it.

They all accused me of photoshopping the photos.

I asked a friend to come out, and he had his hand up, reflecting a shadow on the roof below us.

Once they saw his hands, they believed it.

The low light quality beats anything I have seen from any camera.

Fantastic trip and great photos. Really like the night photos.

Thank you.

Keep visiting that thread.

I have added more, and still more to come as well as videos.

quote:

Originally posted by emron:
Gentlemen, thank you for your most kind suggestions.
I have always been impressed by Wink's Burkina photos, which were a lot better than mine! and then he had the grace to pass it off as "nothing that a few thousand dollars of equipment wouldnt do", when we know the skill it requires to use the equipment.
To add to the mix, I am restricted to 40lbs total weight per person for our trip, due to multiple charters. So weight becomes a real factor.
I really like Saeeds suggestion of the Sony rx10iv; it has a 1 inch sensor, but does everything really well except, i think, low light situations. Saeeds pics of the mountain landscapes with this camera were brilliant!

So I plan to gift my wife with this camera!
she can carry it and if i really need 600mm, i am sure she will share!

I love the Nikons, used the SLRs all my life, but the Z7 and mirrorless varieties have very few lenses without adapters. So i think (if that's what you call it, according to my wife!) I will get the Sony a7iii body with a 24x70 F4 lens and rent the Sony 100x400 F4 for super tele. (Great suggestion! I may not use that lens again for years!)
our itinerary involves the namibia red sand dunes (sossus vlei),etosha pan, miombo reserve botswana, chobe, and vic falls, so a variety of scenery, animals, lighting etc will be on the menu.
Hope to post the results when i get back
again, many thanks for your valuable suggestions. AR has the most gracious folks. (yes, I know, with a few exceptions!)

You have made a very good choice. Your wife will love it, I think. Namibia is perhaps the ultimate Africa destination for photography. I loved it and took a lot a photos, even though at the time I had just bought my first digital camera and knew very little about how they worked. Remember to get up early and catch the first hour or two after sunrise, that is almost always the best light.

My first digital camera was a Nikon D60 (which has a 10 megapixel sensor) and I had no idea what digital photography was, but I wanted something to take to Namibia. I bought a refurbished camera, since I didn't know if digital photography was for me, and I couldn't find any good slide film. I wasn't about to invest any money in high priced lenses so got a "kit lens", an 18-105mm cheap zoom. This was in 2009.







The above are both from that trip, taken at Deadvlei in Sossusvlei. Since then I have spent thousands of dollars on better cameras and better lenses. I wish the results improved by the same factor as the money spent, but the fact is on a web sized for internet digital file it's not even obvious. With your Sony equipment you can expect much better than these, if you do your part. Nobody believes the colors from Namibia, they think I have "Photoshopped" everything.

Hunting in the Kalahari - Namibia:

Greetings!
the photography is settled (much as it can be)
now there are local riots in Zim over fuel prices and our travel agent(from vic falls,cheryl ) is counselling patience.
I am used to the Africa, but my travel companions are "a little" concerned
trying to calm everyone
all will be well
any advice on dealing with the non-africa-hands?

quote:

Originally posted by emron:
Greetings!
the photography is settled (much as it can be)
now there are local riots in Zim over fuel prices and our travel agent(from vic falls,cheryl ) is counselling patience.
I am used to the Africa, but my travel companions are "a little" concerned
trying to calm everyone
all will be well
any advice on dealing with the non-africa-hands?

Asking a bunch of people who enjoy walking around with a large caliber rifle in areas infested with dangerous animals about ways to calm people down might be asking a bit much. Do you really think the average desperado on AR would know what to say to someone who gets nervous when they can't get three bars on their cell phone? Do you remember the old television series "Sledge Hammer?" His answer to everything was, "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGYKU7mbv74

quote:

THE

namibian desert and nightscape