Nice one, Alan. I would have loved to see the jackals in the frame too, that would make the story much more compelling - just my opinion, very nice shot otherwise. Rare to see a lion cub on a tree.
My own experience has been quite different. I always take both the 1.4x and the 2x on all my trips but rarely use the 2X. I did use the 1.4X a lot on my very first trip to Kenya in 2007 when the longest lens I had was the Canon 300 2.8. It was paired with the 40D body at the time and some of those photos are still so memorable for me. I think my total use of the TC since then has been for less than 0.1% of my images.
Now with the a1 bodies, I find it much easier to just crop into the frame. I think there is a comparison somewhere about TC vs crop and it seems like there is not that much of an advantage with the TC. But of course we are all different in our approach.
One other thing, these days I find myself liking more of an 'animal in habitat' kind of shot than just the animal portrait although there are occasions when the portrait is indeed very compelling - your 'faces' gallery for sure must be. It is great when we can do both and that is the great thing about photography.
Here is one for example: Young leopard cub treed by hyenas after being chased by jackals. Not a great portrait shot at all, but the story is there.
It is also a fact that most of us who have been to Africa several time know well, that each visit is different in terms of what you see. That is why I guess we all keep going back.
Primus wrote:
Nice one, Alan. I would have loved to see the jackals in the frame too, that would make the story much more compelling - just my opinion, very nice shot otherwise. Rare to see a lion cub on a tree.
Jackals were long gone when we got there. the cub had stayed in the tree for quite a while waiting and calling out to mom. Never found out if the cub and momma were reunited.
Here's a shot of a yearling in a tree at Lake Manyara where they claim to be the home of tree climbing lions. Pretty high crop on this one shot with my old 7D2 and the EF 100-400 in 2019 Lion Cub face by Alan Kefauver, on Flickr
Alan Kefauver wrote:
Jackals were long gone when we got there. the cub had stayed in the tree for quite a while waiting and calling out to mom. Never found out if the cub and momma were reunited.
Yup, that's a rare one alright. Even with your cropping, the resolution looks great on the web at least.
I think in the end it all depends upon what you want to do with your images. If just for the web or SM, then any size is fine. I dare say even for prints, your pictures can be blown up with PS these days to a pretty darn good resolution.
One example that I always recall is a family group I took way back in 2002 with my then pride and joy, the Canon D60 DSLR which only had a 6MP sensor. I had to crop into the image and still managed to print a 13X19 on my printer. Looked beautiful up on the wall. This was before PS had the ability to enlarge the way it can do now. Final image size was probably no more than 4MP.
With modern cameras you can happily crop and get a 20MP file from which even a 20X30 image can be printed that looks great on a wall. I have several of that size in my office.
Will the 1.4x TC get any use? I don't want to swap lenses/TCs to much in the field, so I would either have the TC on or off when heading out.
TIA
One other thing I realized just now.
You could pair the a6400 with the 200-600 and get an equivalent range of 280-840mm with the combo. Then you can use the a9 with the Tamron lens. Putting a TC on the big zoom will also bring down your aperture making it harder in low light to get good shots. So this could be one way to avoid using a TC and still getting a very long zoom range. Of course the a9 has much better AF and such so if you felt you needed that capability, you could swap lenses between the cameras in the field. Probably not much worse than putting a TC on or off.
Primus wrote:
One other thing I realized just now.
You could pair the a6400 with the 200-600 and get an equivalent range of 280-840mm with the combo. Then you can use the a9 with the Tamron lens. Putting a TC on the big zoom will also bring down your aperture making it harder in low light to get good shots. So this could be one way to avoid using a TC and still getting a very long zoom range. Of course the a9 has much better AF and such so if you felt you needed that capability, you could swap lenses between the cameras in the field. Probably not much worse than putting a TC on or off.
That's definitely an option. I'm not yet sure if I'll be able to go in Feb. I'm not well traveled, and I'm a bit apprehensive of making my first ever solo trip a trip to Kenya
I am going to Kenya in a few weeks, spending 12 days visiting Amboseli and Masai Mara. First time in Africa.
Taking 3 body setup:
(1) A1 with 400mm f2.8;
(2) A1 with 70-200mm GM II; and
(3) A9II with 24-70 GM.
I also have a 1.4x teleconverter.
Also rented the 400mm and the 70-200mm GM II, and the 2nd A1.
bfreliche wrote:
I am going to Kenya in a few weeks, spending 12 days visiting Amboseli and Masai Mara. First time in Africa.
Taking 3 body setup:
(1) A1 with 400mm f2.8;
(2) A1 with 70-200mm GM II; and
(3) A9II with 24-70 GM.
I also have a 1.4x teleconverter.
Also rented the 400mm and the 70-200mm GM II, and the 2nd A1.
Having just been there on my first trip that's nearly the perfect setup but I would take a 16-35 instead of the 24-70. I don't think you will use the 24-70 much if at all, and the 16-35 will be good for a few wider landscape and tree silhouette shots.
action99 wrote:
Filmed with a Canon R5c, DJI RS3 Pro, RF 70-200 2.8, RF 100-500, RF 400 2.8, EF 24-70 2.8. All shoot 8K RAW 50fps other than the Cheetahs running that are at 4k 100fps.
Great work with the gimbal to get all those tracking shots. The last clip of the Lion reminds me of my first Lion sighting in Africa. A male walked next to us just like that for about 1/4 mile.
Did you have to do a lot of stabilization in post?
berimbolo wrote:
That's definitely an option. I'm not yet sure if I'll be able to go in Feb. I'm not well traveled, and I'm a bit apprehensive of making my first ever solo trip a trip to Kenya
I don't think you need to worry too much. If you are booked up with a reputable outfit there should be no problems. It is very safe out there. Yes, if you have a lot of medical issues you may need to plan well ahead but otherwise it should be alright. But again, we all have our own comfort level with these things.
artsupreme wrote:
Great work with the gimbal to get all those tracking shots. The last clip of the Lion reminds me of my first Lion sighting in Africa. A male walked next to us just like that for about 1/4 mile.
Did you have to do a lot of stabilization in post?
This was absolutely amazing, I liked the soundtrack a lot as well. The Gimbal sure did a phenomenal job. Lots of planning must
have gone into this. For most of us, video is a strange animal, I am just beginning to discover its value though. Best part (on a Sony a1) is that you get a 30fps video to pick any frame out of it and a 128 GB card can hold up to an hour of it, which is a cool 108,000 images on one card as opposed to just one minute of still shots - 1800 if you shoot at 30 fps. Granted these will not be RAW images but with good exposure, they can yield great results.
Did you have to do a lot of stabilization in post?
Zero stabilization in post and no electronic stabilization in camera as is all shoot in RAW.
Is mostly gimbal + lens IS with some parts on a beanbag and a few shots from a fluid head mounted on the jeep.
All the tracking / moving shots are done handheld from the moving jeep with a DJI RS3 Pro + RF 70-200 2.8 with IS on.
I don't think you need to worry too much. If you are booked up with a reputable outfit there should be no problems. It is very safe out there. Yes, if you have a lot of medical issues you may need to plan well ahead but otherwise it should be alright. But again, we all have our own comfort level with these things.
I was going to book with Spirit of Kenya. I saw them in this thread at least once and figured they were good.
bfreliche wrote:
I am going to Kenya in a few weeks, spending 12 days visiting Amboseli and Masai Mara. First time in Africa.
Taking 3 body setup:
(1) A1 with 400mm f2.8;
(2) A1 with 70-200mm GM II; and
(3) A9II with 24-70 GM.
I also have a 1.4x teleconverter.
Also rented the 400mm and the 70-200mm GM II, and the 2nd A1.
I would really bring the 100-400 if I were shooting Sony. The 70-200 will be good for ellies and giraffes and some close subjects, but there is a huge gap between 200 and 400 and you will be swapping TCs around and missing opportunities and/or cropping a lot. I did 11 safaris in Kenya and a 100-400 + 500/4 was my favorite combo for most of them, with a 70-200 and 24-70 or 24-105 as secondary lenses. If you are staying in private reserves there may be opportunites to shoot from outside the vehicles and use an ultra-wide lens, but that would usually be a lower priority. Make sure you have plenty of memory cards and bulk storage.
EB-1 wrote:
I would really bring the 100-400 if I were shooting Sony. The 70-200 will be good for ellies and giraffes and some close subjects, but there is a huge gap between 200 and 400 and you will be swapping TCs around and missing opportunities and/or cropping a lot. I did 11 safaris in Kenya and a 100-400 + 500/4 was my favorite combo for most of them, with a 70-200 and 24-70 or 24-105 as secondary lenses. If you are staying in private reserves there may be opportunites to shoot from outside the vehicles and use an ultra-wide lens, but that would usually be a lower priority. Make sure you have plenty of memory cards and bulk storage.
EBH has valid points. However, a lot depends upon your style of shooting. Since this is your first visit to Kenya, it is hard to know what you would end up liking, or not. If you do any birding at all, you always want the longest reach so the 400 2.8 with the TC on it will be very useful.
I have almost the same set up for my trips - changed from all a9 to all a1 about a year ago.
a1 with 400 2.8
a1 with 70-200 2.8 MkII (great improvement over MkI for sure)
a1 with 24-70 GM
I also usually carry the TCs, both 1.4X and 2X but have rarely needed them.
The a1 is higher resolution than the a9 and will allow cropping quite nicely. The issue of a 'gap' between 200mm and 400mm is real, but I did not find it that bothersome. For a very long time I could only use the 100-400 as Sony did not have anything else in the long range. I had always been a Canon guy prior to that. But I sold my 100-400 when I got the new Mk II 70-200.
I also sold my 600 f4 when I got the 400 2.8, I find this one much easier for my use as it is so much lighter to hold and since I am mainly into animals and not birds, I found the 600 to be too much reach, at least for my style of photography.
I also have the 200-600, which is a phenomenal lens, but after one trip I did not take it again.
BTW, don't forget to take videos with your smartphone. You will be surprised how good they come out. Still photos from the 'humble' phone are also very useful.
At the end of the day, everybody's needs and choices are different. Since you have already rented the lenses, go with these, you will have a good experience. Africa is an amazing place, nowhere else on the planet can you see so much wildlife in so short a time. I am envious of your first visit, it is never quite the same on repeat trips.
EB-1 wrote:
Unfortunately, the best time was at least 15 years ago.
EBH
For me the best times were the early 1970s. You could even be alone in the Mara back then. Mostly Bush tent camping back then. You could drive anywhere off road. Adventures and amazing experiences. In many places we carried our own long guns for protection back then. Privat walking and horseback Trips along the still fully wild Tana River and Tsavo.no roads no cars wild animals. Real big, real red, real wild, elephants, huge herds.even lots of Rhino. I am blessed to have been able to experience it as a young man. Magic.
EB-1 wrote:
Unfortunately, the best time was at least 15 years ago.
1bwana1 wrote:
These days the parks are mostly reverse zoos.
The nature of pressure from increasing tourism. At least the right species is confined in their rolling cages. And the income from tourists is helping protect the parks. Otherwise there would be even more pressure on the wildlife from poachers and others with their long guns.
We have done two trips to Kenya and Tanzania about 20 years apart, the first in the late '90s. The increase in the standard of living of the Tanzanians in particular was dramatic. The wildlife in the parks seemed, if anything more abundant although that may have been due to their acclimation to the many tourist vehicles. Statistics of one here, I'm not an expert. It was sad to see the increase in shopping malls along the roads. If you want to see wildlife under pressure and locals living in poverty, visit Madagascar.
Any tips for solo photographer travelers? Especially for those on a budget? I'd like to avoid the Disneyland mob scene (e.g., dozens of cars circling a lion, as someone linked to above), and would rather spend as much time as possible taking photos (versus relaxing in camp).
But I'm willing to make some compromises to save money. (For example, going solo, I guess I'll probably have to live with whatever the other guests in the vehicle want. One of the camps quoted $500/day for my own vehicle, and that is too much.)
Is something like Sabi Sands a bad idea? They have the lowest price options that I have seen so far. Any other budget options with a photography focus?
By the way, I have read through every post here, taking notes. THANK YOU for sharing your advice.
And the income from tourists is helping protect the parks. Otherwise there would be even more pressure on the wildlife from poachers and others with their long guns.