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Recs sought for safari set-up (1 Viewer)

MSA

I may be relaxed but I'm not drunk....
I'm off on a short safari later in the year, mainly concentrating on the mammals. I have a Canon EOS40D which I'm pleased with, on the whole, but it seems slightly "flaky" since it got wet and stopped working altogether a year ago, and was repaired with electrics replaced; most of the time it's fine but I just don't feel as confident with it as I did. Main lens is the EF 400mm f5.6; also have the EFS 18-55mm that came free with a previous camera, and a s/hand Sigma APO DG 70-300mm f4-5.6 with macro setting, which I use for moths. The Sigma is fine for what I use it for, but the autofocus is erratic, often jumping in and out of focus if I tap the shutter release.

I could probably justify about £600 or so for a lens or a camera. I suspect a lens would be the way to go. What would others suggest? I noticed a glossy ad for a Tamron 16-300mm f3.5-6.3 macro lens, but no-one here seems to mention Tamron much.
 
From my limited safari experience I would say that a zoom lens is the best option for mammals as they vary in size from small to gigantic and of course some are much closer than others too. I think anything between 50 to 500mm in length would cover that range quite nicely (Sigma?). On a crop body 100 to 400 is a bit too much at the short end, sometimes lacking on the long end. I got by very nicely with my 70-200 plus TC's for mammals, a 500mm for birds.
For birds the 400 f5.6 is reasonably good in terms of reach.
Your 70-300 is the best option in your current set up.

Things to consider though, you should have good light which is advantageous but beyond a fairly short distance the heat means that there is distortion in your images so no matter how long a lens you have you won't be able to capture distant subjects sharply in those conditions.

Safaris tend to be very expensive as I'm sure you have already found out and they are not something most of us do very often if at all. How important are the images you take to you ? Bird photographers ( I hold my hands up..) are often guilty of being too focussed on achieving full frame subjects with as much detail as possible. You can get similar images of the mammals you are likely to see from your nearest zoo so maybe you would be better capturing the bigger picture..wild Africa ( and I'm presuming that's where you are going) Those are the images that you can only take on safari and to do so you might be better just investing in a top quality compact camera with a decent zoom which is affordable within your budget.It also means you have a back up to your 40D just in case it packs in ( which would be disastrous without a back up plan)
£600 doesn't buy a lot of lens and/or camera so the other option is to rent something for the duration of the holiday. The biggest problem there is a) it's money spent with only photos to show for it and b) if you are unused to using it you will possibly not get the best results either.
Good luck in your choice, hope someone comes up with the perfect plan.
cheers Dave
 
For £600, I'm not sure you're going to be able to gain anything at the longer end. As-long but faster (eg 400mm f/4), or longer than 400mm gets expensive, fast. New, about the only 'affordable' thing is the new Tamron 150-600 but that's closer to £1k. Misfuds have a used Sigma 150-500mm F5/6.3 at 550 but I'm not sure that adds enough over your current 400 to justify the spend.

You could write off the spend as a non-capital investment and put it towards renting a 'pro white' for the trip. (eg LensForHire would do a 400m f2.8 + extender for 14 days at £520)*

If you can afford to creep up slightly, I reckon you might be able to get a 70-200 f2.8 non-IS in the £600-800 range (if you can find one). Optically it's a good performer, it'd fill much of the gap between the 18-55 and the 400, and it might keep you shooting near dawn/dusk when the f/4 won't. You could sell it again when you get home and recover most of the money (buy private, sell private and you might even break even). I haven't been on an african safari, but I was glad to have my 70-200 f2.8 along side a rented 500mm when I was in a bear hide in Finland.

* The down side is, once you've tried one of the big whites, you'll never quite love your lenses the same way again. Been there, done that!
 
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I sold my 100-400 Canon lens and bought a 400 prime just before a trip to India 2 years ago. I missed the zoom when a pair of Gaur were too close and I would have got better photos of antelope with it too but I've not regretted getting the 400 since.

As your 40D is on the blink my advice for your £600 would be to buy a used 7D, mount the 400 on that and take the 40D with the 70-300 that way you've got all angles covered. Manual focussing on large, slow moving animals is easy. You could also use the 7D with back-focus set up and use the 70-300 on that if you wished.

One thing you don't want to be doing on safari is changing lenses. Not only do you risk the possibility of dropping it but dust can be a major factor.

As for the zoo idea, a safari is about seeing animals in the wild not brain dead in a cage. Posting shots of captive animals and birds is also not permitted on this site!

Here's a 7D for sale for £400 if it hasn't gone, an absolute bargain; http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=288270
 
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As for the zoo idea, a safari is about seeing animals in the wild not brain dead in a cage. Posting shots of captive animals and birds is also not permitted on this site!

You completely missed the point about images and zoos !

Very true about dust on safari, not a good place to change lenses.

African safaris tend to have far more availability and sightings of a variety of different sized mammals compared to Indian ones so a zoom is definitely and advantage
 
You completely missed the point about images and zoos !

Very true about dust on safari, not a good place to change lenses.

African safaris tend to have far more availability and sightings of a variety of different sized mammals compared to Indian ones so a zoom is definitely and advantage

I know. :t:

I've been to South Africa 3 times (and Kenya). Not all mammals come close though the rangers will practically drive over them to get you closer to the big cats even if you're happy to keep a distance.
 
Thanks for the ideas- the used 7d and keeping lenses on each is a great idea, and not one I'd have come up with myself, I'll have a final mull over but will probably go with that.
 
Glad to have been of help. I'd recommend getting one as soon as possible if you do decide that's the way to go - it's a steep learning curve from a 40D to a 7D and you'll need plenty of time to master it before you use it in anger!
 
I'm off on a short safari later in the year, mainly concentrating on the mammals. [...]
I could probably justify about £600 or so for a lens or a camera.

Easy decision: Either Go for a Tamron SP AF 70-300 F/4-5.6 Di VC USD or be lucky and get a cheap used copy of the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM.
 
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Here's a 7D for sale for £400 if it hasn't gone, an absolute bargain; http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=288270

I sent Marcus a pm but never heard back from him, so I looked around and recently found a good one for £430 inc postage - taking it down to Scilly for a week from this coming Friday, so hopefully will be au fait with it by mid-Nov.

For me, the biggest "pain" is the fact that the 7d and 40d use different batteries!

Thanks again to all for advice.
 
Thanks for the update. I was only wondering yesterday if you'd made a decision. Yep, I wish manufacturers would standardise their batteries but it's more dosh for them in after sales.

Have a great time on the Scillies and while it's quiet you can practice on the Sanderling on Porthcressa beach. :t:
 
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