Mike NC

I'm going to South Africa in a few weeks for safari, Victoria Falls, wine country, etc. I went a few years ago and had a great time and great photos. I have Nikon D850 and D7200. I plan on using Nikon 200-500 on D7200 and Nikon 24-70on D850.

No questions on the 850 lens - want max pixels and cropping.

If I'm using the long lens, I'm more interested in the center of the image that the edges. I figure that FX lens on DX camera will have "too much" picture for the DX camera. So what i see in the viewfinder will be what I get on the sensor and the edges of the lens will be "wasted". Therefore the actual image will be about 25 mp but will be about the same density as if the FX lens was on the 850 with the edges removed if cropped. How about that for a question? Am i understanding this correctly?

Or should I just rent a D850 body for $375?

Thanks for any answers to this nerdy question. If this is stupid, just say so. No hard feelings.

Mike

Hip Coyote

You went before to the same location? So you should know better than anyone what the shooting environment is like. I've been to those spots as well...and think I'd just go with what you have.

Mike NC

In Kenya on other trip.
tks

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I went to Iceland with an 18-200 and a 50.
I know my equipment and don't need to take things other people would take.
I'm not them.

ricardo00

No question is stupid. If I understand you correctly, you have correctly stated how this will work. I often used FX lenses on my DX cameras (the D7200 and D500). I never bought the D850 because I wanted the higher FPS of the D500. When I bought my first mirrorless camera (only recently), I did get a full frame sensor. However, before that, I used many full frame lenses including the 300mm f/2.8, a 500mm f/4, a 500mm f/5.6 and even the 200-500mm like you on these DX cameras, "throwing away" parts of the picture that were not captured on the partial sensor but gaining the extra fps and point of view. For a distant subject, it works perfectly. So no, I don't feel that you need to rent a second D850 if your goal is to use the D7200 and 200-500mm for distant subjects. I hope this answers your question, if not, feel free to ask more questions.

zug55 Loc: Naivasha, Kenya, and Austin, Texas

This sounds about right. My only concern would be that this setup will not cover the middle lange from 70 to 300 mm (full-frame equivalent). If you flip the two lenses you can close the gap but lose both at the wide and long ends. Except that changing lenses in the field is not recommended on a safari. But l guess you know the drill.

MJPerini

I am not certain if I understand your exact t question about lenses, but excess coverage is not "Wasted"
And, since nearly all lenses are better in the center than edges, you are using the "Sweet spot of the lens" on the smaller sensor (D7200). You also get the insurance of being able to use the full D850 sensor with that lens if you choose, or if something should happen to the D7200 .
The actual image from the D7200 will be whatever the sensor resolution is of the crop sensor is.
It is a common strategy to use a crop sensor to give a telephoto 'more reach' so that is fine, however if what you are saying is that the resolution of the D7200 is about the same as an APS-c Crop on a D850, you get no advantage from bringing the D7200 except Having 2 bodies with lenses at the ready, and the "Insurance" value of having a second body. If you had an APS-c camera with more pixels, then you get the advantage of higher pixel density for small subjects far away.
I think what you have works, if you WANT to rent a second D850 that's fine too. But you could also just occasionally put the telephoto on the D850 and use the full frame (200mm portraits etc)
I hope this helps....

ricardo00

Having two camera bodies on an expensive photographic safari IMO is critical. Both because you never know what might happen to one plus then you can have a longer lens on one and a shorter lens on the other. Sometimes the picture you want to take is of an animal in the distance and sometimes they can be right next to the vehicle. You don't want to have to swap lenses when this happens.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I second this suggestion. Since the sensor densities are similar, you can easily crop the 200-500 images to the 750mm field of view. Your middle gap is then only from 105-200mm full frame equivalent. That's a 2:1 gap instead of a greater than 4:1 gap.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

You will get opinions all over the map. Here's mine 8-)

Yes, you are correct - I just hope you are physically fit to carry all this bulk and weight ! - and assume you will be submitting some of your shots to NatGeo !

Yes, you could rent another 850 - MORE weight !

My idea is to travel light with a Sony RX10m4.....at least as a back up ...
.

zug55 Loc: Naivasha, Kenya, and Austin, Texas

Yes, exactly.

But by doing that you can't go wider than 36mm full-frame equivalent, which in some cases is not wide enough, at least for me.

A lot of it depends on what you want to capture on a safari. Some people want to have close-ups of animals. In this case, having a long lens on a DX camera body makes sense. I live in Kenya most of the year, and I like to take images of animals in the context of gorgeous African landscapes. I often shoot at 24mm for sweeping landscape shots.

I shoot with two Sony full-frame bodies, the A7III with the Sony 24-105mm and the A7RIII with the Sony 100-400mm, sometimes with a 1.4x TC. The 42 MP of the A7RIII allows me to crop substantially, thus extending the reach a bit. This suits my photographic style, but this does not need to apply to anybody else.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I shoot both DX (multiple D500s) and FX (2 D850s). Having a choice is usually beneficial. Sometimes it just creates a conundrum.

The OP implies having $375 available to rent a second D850. That could be beneficial, but it still leaves a 3:1 gap in the middle of his focal length range. So the unasked question is whether that money might also be available for a third lens (or if there are already other lenses in the closet).

Ordinarily, I would be right alongside both you and the OP around not changing lenses, but the 200-500 zoom breathes in huge amounts of air (and dust) every time it is zoomed out. It's a great lens, but this is a shortcoming. And it sort of blunts at least some of the concern around changing lenses.

I'm confident that there is a solution here that the OP will be happy with.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I am amazed at all the jitters generated about changing lenses in the field!! I went to Kenya four years ago, so I know a little about dust. But I have lived in the western US for many long years and guess what, there is dust there too! Yes, it IS true! If there is concern about dust while changing lenses in a dusty environment, bring a pillowcase. Change the lenses inside the pillowcase by feel. It's EASY! The ONLY thing I worry about when changing lenses in the field, ANY field, is that I might miss a shot between one lens coming off and the next lens going on!
This is all really ridiculous!

zug55 Loc: Naivasha, Kenya, and Austin, Texas

I live in Naivasha, Kenya. We have a house keeper who dusts everything in our house three times a week. If you live in the US, you have no idea of how much dust there is in the air in many parts of Africa. There is nothing ridiculous about this.

photoman43

On my two trips to Africa, I had two Nikon bodies. One had a 70-200mm f4 on it and the other had a prime tele lens. My 24-85mm was used only in camps. Only you can decide on what lenses are best for you. But two camera bodies are a must IMO.