Tag Info

Go for the long lenses if you can. On Safari, you will be taken out when animals are most active which is at dawn and around dusk. Given the lack of artificial light, it will be dimmer than those times in the city. Meaning you will be shooting wide-open and as wide as possible to get shutter-speeds fast enough to freeze the animals. Otherwise, the 400mm ...

If you are going on a safari, then you will really want to get the longest lens you can get your hands on. It won't be all that often that you are close enough to photograph frame-filling animals at 400mm, and generally speaking the farther you can stay from the wildlife the better (for both you and them.) In this respect, I highly recommend you rent, rather ...

I have a full frame dslr, crop dslr and and olympus micro four thirds mirror less. For a safari I would suggest the cropped sensor dslr and at least a 300mm lens. The crop sensor will get you closer with the same lens on a full frame dslr (1.5x ish). I think the focus speed of dslrs and the viewfinder will help a lot with wildlife. While the mirrorless ...

Between state-of-the-art mirrorless cameras and cropped-sensor DSLRs, image quality is now close enough that you would not notice the difference until your make some largish prints. Since you mention safari which generally requires long focal-lengths, it would be a big advantage if your went with a camera with a smaller sensor. The Olympus OM-D E-M5 ...

It really comes down to your expectations and priorities. In my case I moved from a DSLR to a G3 because I got tired of the size and weight of the former and love the form factor and discretion of the smaller camera. In terms of high ISO performance (which is what you need for the safari) - my DSLR was a 2006 model - great at low ISO but nasty at 400. My ...

I would recommend the Canon Powershot SX40 HS as I already outlined in this post. If they really aren't that into photography and don't want to be, they probably aren't going to buy a kit full of interchangeable lenses such as with MF3 or DSLRs. That is why I recommend something like the Canon G12 or the Canon SX40 HS. Both are great quality. If you are ...

I think the most flexibility is found with the 600 f/4 and 1.4X (2X would be good too if you can). If anything is too close for the 600 then you can use your existing 70-300L. The 600 + 1.4X is comparable in quality/speed to the bare 800 f/5.6L see: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1153613/0

I was in Kenya last month and used the 70-300L and 500m with 1.4x and 2x converters. I think this combination worked quite well. I used the zoom for environmental shots and the prime for close-ups. The new 600 will work well if you like to take bird pictures also. It is light enough to handle on the vehicle with a beanbag. The best lens for Africa will be ...

There is no difference between the setups speed-wise - the longer primes are the same speed as the 400mm combined with TC. And while a bit shorter in length, it's actually even slightly heavier. Around 800mm, the 600mm on a 1.4×TC will result in better image quality than the 400mm on 2×TC, so it might be a better choice. That's also what Nathan Myhrvold ...

Every camera has a limit and so does the Panasonic G3. What's more is that you will encounter that limit on various occasions and quite possibly on safari. A camera with a larger sensor will perform better in low light. That means DSLRs and even SLDs with APS-C sized sensors, followed by full-frame DSLRs. The real question is how much is this worth to you? ...

(later edit of my answer: for a newer photographer, most of the suggestions made in this thread including mine are overkill. For a trip like this, something like a T5i (or choose a body. APS sensor is fine), the 24-105, and the Canon 100-400 would be a great setup and cover pretty much any need you could have that wouldn't require $10,000 lenses to shoot. ...

You've really got some competing needs there. Portraits typically call for a normal to short-tele lens -- starting at 50mm or so (full-frame) or 35mm (crop). Landscapes and star photography tend to lean toward wider lenses, and on the crop-sensor T3i, you'd want to be at least as wide as the 28. As a point of reference, Canon's 10-22mm lens is generally ...

You will only need to use 70-300mm for far subjects and of course it will work better when the light is high especially during midday. Shooting at noon or high light, image stability will not be a problem because you can use a shutter speed of 1/500 to 1/2000 anyway. It will be much more difficult to use in low light. If I can shoot in a near distance, i ...

What this seems to boil down to is which is better: f/4 without IS or f/5.6 with IS? There's also the difference in reach between 200mm and 300mm but they are still within the same ball park (just crop 33% out of the frame if you want). So basically you're asking whether IS can make up for a smaller maximum aperture at reach. A few points you might want ...

Expecting one lens to excel at capturing moving animals from long range, shooting in low light or at night, and serving as a general duty travel lens is not just a tall order: it is totally unrealistic. For such a rare opportunity like an African Safari, I would consider renting the lenses that could fill each of those roles. For the wildlife you need a ...

Quick answer, if you can't use a tripod, I'd go with the IS since it will be critical without a tripod at 300mm focal lengths (granted I'm also a little biased since I own that lens and love it). On the other hand, if you think you'll be shooting on the shorter end or will have a tripod (or at least monopod) for longer shots, the L will certainly give ...