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 p.53 #19 · African safari talk...recommendations? | |
Cduff406 wrote:
OK, I'm about 6 weeks out from my first African safari. I have a week local camping trip right before, so I'm trying to make sure I have everything now, so I'm not rushing around at the last minute trying to find things. It's a part family trip, part photo safari, and we are doing about three weeks, mostly in Kenya with a few days at Zanzibar at the end. We are splitting our time between the Chuyulu/Amboseli area, a Mara conservancy, and Lewa. It's my first trip, so I don't have any real target animals, I'm interested in about everything. (Well, I do have a few but they shouldn't be hard to find). Our camp in Chyulu has a photo blind at their waterhole so I will likely have some close encounters from the blind, mostly elephants and giraffes, maybe some impala and hyenas if I'm lucky. Lions, if I'm real lucky but those are mostly night visitors I think. All Safarilink air transfers between camps.
Here's what I have laid out to go, I was hoping those of you with more experience would be kind enough to let me know if you see any holes for things I'm missing or things I don't need. I greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
Canon R5 x2 (one I own, renting a second)
Canon RF400/2.8
Canon 100-300/2.8 (also renting)
Canon RF 24-70/2.8
Canon RF 15-35/2.8 (I'm undecided if I want to take both of these wide angles, or just one? I do hope to get some landscape photos while I'm there, not to mention family photos)
Canon RF 1.4x
Canon RF 2.0x
LP-E6NH batteries x9
Canon battery wall charger
dual USB battery chargers x2
CF Express cards x10 (various sizes) (Don't plan to erase and reuse while on the trip)
Card reader and cables x2
4tb SSD drives for backups x4 (one photo primary and one secondary, one video primary and one backup)
Macbook Pro
Rocket Blaster and lens pen, and some lens cloths
a few filters (CPL, ND, maybe another, just in case)
DJI Pocket 3 camera with accessories and SD cards (Putting my 10yr old son in charge of vlogging, hopefully that keeps him involved)
Outlet adapters and converters, with chargers and cables
I think that is most of the relevant stuff.
Things I'm not taking and wondering if I will regret leaving home:
RF 100-500 and RF 70-200/F4
I think the 70-200 is redundant enough not to take. Same with the 100-500, but I have a nagging voice saying I should take it just in case of a failure with one of the other two long lenses. Should I bring it for extra insurance? I could sub it for either the 100-300 or 400 if one of them should break. Wouldn't be ideal, but better than making do with just one telephoto. I think packing space might be better allocated to taking the 100-500 and only one wide angle...
I'd appreciate any input you guys might have. I plan to carry on all of this gear between an Atlas backpack and a Thinktank Airport Roller.
We have our Kenya and Tanzania entry docs, and have our yellow fever shots scheduled. Just the final few details and off we go!
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Cduff,
You are going to have the trip of a lifetime and you are doing it first class. You will see everything on this trip except for maybe wild dogs, but you can see them in Lewa if you are real lucky. You have 3 different beautiful locations that are all unique in their own way and they showcase different wildlife. You'll see the rhinos and grevys in Lewa, elephants in Amboseli, and big cats in the Mara, on top of all the other species in each area. Your gear list looks great to me but I would leave the 24-70 at home. And ideally, I would bring a 14-35 instead of your 15-35 to lighten the load a bit. I would also bring 6 batteries max, you don't need more than that (unless you are 100% video shooter). Also, I've never had to use outlet adapters as all the camps I've been to have them there, so maybe just bring one in case you need it. You will find USB chargers inside most vehicles. Oh, and ditch the canon brick charger, you won't use it.
95% of your time there you'll have the 100-300 on one body and the 400 on the other. You can mix up the use of the TC's to play around, most of which will be adding the 1.4x to the 400 on occasion. The other 5% of the time you might be shooting a landscape or a nice tree with your wide angle. If you want to take the 100-500 for insurance that's fine as you can definitely justify the need for a backup on a trip like this. I would also recommend an RF 35 1.8 for family photos and night photos around camp.
You probably won't use any filters, but obviously you have to bring them because that's what we do right?
I'm sure you already know how, but make sure you are very comfortable with saving your camera settings to the memory card and loading it to your 2nd body. You'll obviously want to get them setup before you go, and then you might find yourself changing settings while there so you want to be able to quickly update the other body so they are identical.
You really couldn't piece together a better safari with the 3 locations you picked IMO. And, you are bringing the perfect gear kit so you are going to be in all the right places with your amazing gear to make for one killer safari. With that said, it will be up to you as to how much you want to "hustle". I know you will be there with family, but my suggestion is to hustle as much as you can so you don't miss anything. Hustling can lead to an exhausting 3 weeks but it will be totally worth it in the end. Good luck!!
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