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Author Topic: Telephoto Lens for African Safari Questions  (Read 12625 times)

HarperPhotos

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Telephoto Lens for African Safari Questions
« Reply #20 on: August 05, 2010, 06:46:03 pm »

Hello,

If you don’t want to spend to much money on a long lens then I would sagest  the Sigma 100-300mm F4.0 lens and the Sigma 1.4 converter.

I have both these items and the handling, finish and optics are superb.

Check out the links below:

http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/328-sigm...-report--review

http://www.photozone.de/nikon--nikkor-aps-...-300mm-f4-nikon

Cheers

Simon
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Simon Harper
Harper Photographics Ltd
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Auckland, New Zealand

mahleu

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Re: Telephoto Lens for African Safari Questions
« Reply #21 on: August 13, 2010, 04:06:06 pm »

There are a few local rental places too if you don't want to fly with a ton of equipment.
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Dick Roadnight

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Re: Telephoto Lens for African Safari Questions
« Reply #22 on: August 13, 2010, 04:18:05 pm »

There are a few local rental places too if you don't want to fly with a ton of equipment.
If you are intending to rent in Africa, it would be a good idea to rent the same kit at home and, e.g. see how well the AF works in what circumstances, and when to use MF.

When I bought my Novoflex 640mm squeeze-focus lens (in 1975), the first thing I photographed with it was a dragon fly in flight over a puddle in Scotland!
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jean1974

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Re: Telephoto Lens for African Safari Questions
« Reply #23 on: August 14, 2010, 04:17:32 pm »

I'd suggest renting the longer IS lenses.  I bought a few and just didn't like them.  I thought maybe it was a bad lens and did the warranty thing but had the same issues once it came back from warranty repair.  I won't go into a ton of detail, but I had problems with the sharpness of the auto-focus and shallow depth of field.  I did see the benefit of IS when I was zooming in and in lower light conditions, but with good light and/or a tripod/ability to take a steady shot, I recommend to everyone to use a non-IS lens.  Plus it's cheaper.

Chrisinhouston

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Re: Telephoto Lens for African Safari Questions
« Reply #24 on: August 21, 2010, 05:39:00 pm »

I have made 2 trips to South Africa and used the Canon 100-400 on each. I use a Bushmaster shoulder stock as my support. Most of my photography was done on game drives from Land Rovers with canopy tops. On my second trip I also took a Sigma 800mm and was able to sit in the front passenger seat and rig my Gitzo tripod to straddle the passenger door so 2 legs were in the cab and one out on the running board. The windscreen folded down so I had a huge range of coverage.

Not sure about whether renting is better or not, it is what is right for you. I use my 100-400 quite alot for other nature or sport photography, it is a very nice sharp lens. It can be prone to dust eventually getting inside because of the push pull zoom effect.

Have fun!
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Riaan van Wyk

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Re: Telephoto Lens for African Safari Questions
« Reply #25 on: August 25, 2010, 02:04:22 pm »

I have made 2 trips to South Africa and used the Canon 100-400 on each. I use a Bushmaster shoulder stock as my support. Most of my photography was done on game drives from Land Rovers with canopy tops. On my second trip I also took a Sigma 800mm and was able to sit in the front passenger seat and rig my Gitzo tripod to straddle the passenger door so 2 legs were in the cab and one out on the running board. The windscreen folded down so I had a huge range of coverage.



Have fun!

I take it you were the only guest in the vehicle at the time Chris? The usual going on "safari" people/ guests are not inclined to be so lenient towards a photographer.

I tend to aggree with the 100-400 or so focal length- it's a good compromise.
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