Mountain Gorilla photos: Traveling to Uganda to view the mountain gorillas. Need advice on lenses to take. Using Nikon d500. I'm thinking zoom lens like a Nikon 18-200 which gives a...

kbk

Traveling to Uganda to view the mountain gorillas. Need advice on lenses to take. Using Nikon d500. I'm thinking zoom lens like a Nikon 18-200 which gives a good range of zoom for portrait pics(85-105mm) and reaches out a bit(200mm) for some distance pics. Don't want to carry a lot of lenses because there is some hiking involved. Would like some advice and hear what others think about my choice of lens.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Darn, I thought you were showing "Mountain Gorilla photos".......

(I take my 18-200 everywhere!)

gunflint Loc: Rocky Mountain High, Colorado

My wife and I were there in 2021. There can be a huge difference in the vegetation you will find with the gorilla family you are assigned to on any given day. Some could be more open vegetation and what we encountered was extremely dense vegetation where we could hardly see part of a gorilla 10 feet away. I used a 24-70 and was perfect for what we saw.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

kbk wrote:

Traveling to Uganda to view the mountain gorillas. Need advice on lenses to take. Using Nikon d500. I'm thinking zoom lens like a Nikon 18-200 which gives a good range of zoom for portrait pics(85-105mm) and reaches out a bit(200mm) for some distance pics. Don't want to carry a lot of lenses because there is some hiking involved. Would like some advice and hear what others think about my choice of lens.

I think you've selected the right focal length range for that subject and camera model. Possibly, available light might be an issue, based on another member's comment. You might want to consider a 'fast' back-up lens (f/2.8 or wider) if you have that option in the 50mm to 100mm range that can fit in a convenient pocket.

kbk

Thanks for the responses. Good info to have. I have a 5omm f1.8 I may take along if we get close to them and in thick vegetation.

gunflint Loc: Rocky Mountain High, Colorado

CHG_CANON wrote:

I think you've selected the right focal length range for that subject and camera model. Possibly, available light might be an issue, based on another member's comment. You might want to consider a 'fast' back-up lens (f/2.8 or wider) if you have that option in the 50mm to 100mm range that can fit in a convenient pocket.

Yes, I should have mentioned that it can be quite dark in the jungle...

kolival Loc: CA.bay area

I photographed the gorillas in Uganda and Rwanda. I shoot Canon a full frame body and I used a 70-200mm f2.8 lens. You are in a rain forest so light is a challenge. Many times the family was very close and they also rubbed up against a couple of folks in the group.

ricardo00

kbk wrote:

Traveling to Uganda to view the mountain gorillas. Need advice on lenses to take. Using Nikon d500. I'm thinking zoom lens like a Nikon 18-200 which gives a good range of zoom for portrait pics(85-105mm) and reaches out a bit(200mm) for some distance pics. Don't want to carry a lot of lenses because there is some hiking involved. Would like some advice and hear what others think about my choice of lens.

I did a mountain gorilla trip in Rwanda and did use the 18-200mm for most of my photos! Worked great. It is an amazing experience being with them. Have a fantastic time!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/60519499@N00/albums/72157630798662074/

and for those who want even more pics of my gorilla trip

https://richaroth.smugmug.com/Other/Mountain-GorillasRawanda/i-Qj9Q8t9

kbk

Great pics

JFCoupe Loc: Kent, Washington

ricardo00 wrote:

I did a mountain gorilla trip in Rwanda and did use the 18-200mm for most of my photos! Worked great. It is an amazing experience being with them. Have a fantastic time!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/60519499@N00/albums/72157630798662074/

and for those who want even more pics of my gorilla trip

https://richaroth.smugmug.com/Other/Mountain-GorillasRawanda/i-Qj9Q8t9

Thanks for sharing you photos. You have some good shots, up close and personal.

ricardo00

kbk wrote:

Great pics

Thanks! I personally would not want to have to change lenses or even switch bodies with different lenses during one's time with the gorillas. Things happen very fast, one minute the youngsters can be in a tree and the next minute they drop down and run right by you (happened to me, the youngster grabbed my pants as he ran by).
Two more thoughts, take some video (use your phone?). It was the favorite "shot" I did. And second, you might check out the gorilla families and if you favor one over the other, try to influence which one you go to (do you want one with babies, larger number of members in the family, the biggest silverback, etc). How many treks have you booked? They will give preference to those who are doing more gorilla treks.

https://www.africangorilla.com/travel-blog/full-list-of-uganda-gorilla-families/

ricardo00

JFCoupe wrote:

Thanks for sharing you photos. You have some good shots, up close and personal.

Thanks for looking and commenting! It is an amazing experience and I was fortunate to be able to do it (don't think I could do it these days).

ricardo00

ricardo00 wrote:

Thanks for looking and commenting! It is an amazing experience and I was fortunate to be able to do it (don't think I could do it these days).

The video gives one some feel for what it is like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OnOrp4gcwQ

kbk

2 treks, one trek is 4 hours.

ricardo00

kbk wrote:

2 treks, one trek is 4 hours.

Interesting. Does the 4 hour trek go to more than one family?