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Africa Trips- TIPS???
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Jan 14, 2021 02:14:59   #
Dossile
 
Take a small 3-4 outlet power strip that tolerates 220 volt to charge off of one plug.
Large African cities, like cities in the US, have very dangerous areas, especially for tourists. Be very smart and very aware. I love cities.
Pack light, you can get stuff washed.
The entire coast from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth is spectacular.
Put your camera down sometimes, enjoy the scenery and the company you’re driving with in the Land Rover.
I almost never shoot manual on safari. I missed too many shots. I usually use a fixed ISO of 800 with controls on A with an fstop set at 6 or 8, or a higher ISO with cloudy days. One exception is shooting from sunlight into shadows, but I try and remember to go back to A when we drive away.
In 1981 I got some great shots at Kruger with my only lens, a 50 mm, using Kodachrome. My current preference is a Nikon 200-500 on one camera and a 70-200 on another body. I don’t change lenses often.
One of my all-time favorite African safari pictures is of a squirrel. Look for the birds and small animals.
I use Pacsafe products to secure my valuables. I find a converter is most often the object stolen from my room, never a camera or lens, so I carefully keep everything in organizer bags and secure the bags.
Going to a traditional tribal village with traditional tribal gender behaviors can be upsetting to women.
Take close ups of animal faces every chance you get.

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Jan 15, 2021 00:54:35   #
Jerry Coupe
 
I went to Tanzania in April 2019 and it was an awesome trip. (Russ Burden was our pro and Africa Nature Photography were the guides and drivers-both were super professionals.-see their websites)
A few tips,

Don't skimp on trip insurance. Yes, it adds about 10% to your trip cost but if you get sick and need a medical flight back to the US, it is a real bargain.
I stopped over in Amsterdam for two nights and it helped adjust for the 9-10 hour time change from Seattle.
Bring a bandana to keep sun and bugs off your neck in the afternoons.
Two camera bodies are ideal-one with a wider zoom (12-100) and one with a long telephoto zoom-My Olympus 100-400 (200 - 800 FFE) was ideal.
Have a good inventory of SD or CF, etc cards. I downloaded to my laptop daily and a second copy to an external 3TB drive as well- took about 15,000 images over 12 days.
Check camera settings frequently. I didn't one morning and some potentially great shots of 7 lion cubs all came out a bit soft because my shutter speed was too slow for the shady light they were in.
And just plain have fun!

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Jan 15, 2021 13:24:38   #
Hip Coyote
 
Jerry Coupe wrote:
I went to Tanzania in April 2019 and it was an awesome trip. (Russ Burden was our pro and Africa Nature Photography were the guides and drivers-both were super professionals.-see their websites)
A few tips,

Don't skimp on trip insurance. Yes, it adds about 10% to your trip cost but if you get sick and need a medical flight back to the US, it is a real bargain.
I stopped over in Amsterdam for two nights and it helped adjust for the 9-10 hour time change from Seattle.
Bring a bandana to keep sun and bugs off your neck in the afternoons.
Two camera bodies are ideal-one with a wider zoom (12-100) and one with a long telephoto zoom-My Olympus 100-400 (200 - 800 FFE) was ideal.
Have a good inventory of SD or CF, etc cards. I downloaded to my laptop daily and a second copy to an external 3TB drive as well- took about 15,000 images over 12 days.
Check camera settings frequently. I didn't one morning and some potentially great shots of 7 lion cubs all came out a bit soft because my shutter speed was too slow for the shady light they were in.
And just plain have fun!
I went to Tanzania in April 2019 and it was an awe... (show quote)


Jerry, I took the exact same lens setup and it was perfect. I also took the 7-14 Pro for Namibia dunes. But normally, I would not take that lens. That lens is so heavy, if lion got after me I could drop it on his foot and probably stop the charge...The beauty of the m4/3 system (I have the OMD 5 mii) is that I always pack the ez14-42 lens with the auto opening lens cap. I can carry that small camera/lens set up in my coat pocket when in town...low profile. But in the bush, I added a battery grip and put on the pro lenses you mention above 12-100 and 100-400 (Pany). That allowed me to cover in ff equivalent 24 to 800 mm...all hand held because of the IBIS. Its a great safari set up, IMO.

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