timbuktutraveler

The person who suggested the SONY RX10 IV got it right in my opinion.
What your doing is overkill with all your equipment. I went to Africa last year for
about a month , rented the RX10 IV with its 24-600 lens and could not be more pleased.
I would not get obsessed with all that equipment. ENJOY the experience. If you don't wish to take the RX10 IV
then just take a few lenses (long and short). Also Alexander White's Book on the RX10 IV would be all you need
to use this camera well.

The most important thing is to enjoy he experience and not get caught up in getting every shot.

Larry

ronichas Loc: Long Island

I agree that you are taking to much stuff. I was in Kenya in 2019. They have a ban on single use plastic bags. While they did not check our bags, I did replace all with nylon or silcon pouches. A tripod was used once for the milky way, otherwise it is useless.
I would also suggest a multi power strip. This was very helpful as it some locations there are limited outlets.
Another suggestion is to bring a towel, something you can cover your equipment when driving. It is so dusty. don't change lenses in the field.
I used a very small rolling bag, wt was about 6lbs for my clothes and a backpack for my gear. Since we were going on the small planes, wt was very limited. There were 6 of us traveling together so we just bought an extra seat and split it so we could take a bit more wt.

Here are 2 of my favorite images. We had 2 trucks so each person had the whole row. My friend took this image of 3 of us as a stunning leopard walked directly under our windows. We all had big lenses, I was so glad my friend in the other truck took this image.
The second image was at the Elephant bedroom camp. My friend was in the next tent and took this image of big boy, Obama, coming to our tent for a visit.

It you are planning on going to the Elephant Nursery in Nairobi, it is amazing. We each adopted a orphan baby elephant so we could go back later in the day and wander around visiting our adopted babies. I now have 7 adopted orphaned baby elephants & 1 baby rhino.

I have been to Africa 3 times, Tanzania, Namibia and Kenya. I LOVE Africa.
Here is a link to my images from Kenya.
Comments welcome & please sign my guestbook.
https://ronichas.zenfolio.com/f729744035

margaretnewell

It depends so much on what you are planning to photograph, but I would highly recommend taking all 6 batteries - if you are camping you may not have access to electricity everyday! I live in Africa so speak from experience.

Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

Went last year and would take both bodies, one will have the 100-400 the other the 24-105. Our tour provided bean bags. You might want a monopod. Batteries, memory cards and external hard drive for backup. The guides as someone else mentioned will make the trip. They know where to be and when. Ours were also photographers and made sure we had the right angle for the photos. One day we had a driver not a guide and it was not good!!!
Jealous of your trip!!!

zug55 Loc: Naivasha, Kenya, and Austin, Texas

I would take perhaps just one body and just two lenses: 24-105 and 100-400. I don't think that you need to go wider than 24 on a trip like this. Perhaps you should take a good point and shoot with a good telephoto zoom as a backup--also good for the occasional snapshot. Tripod stays home--too impractical for this kind of trip. Taking less stuff also means smaller and lighter bag. Go minimum on equipment and maximum on enjoyment. This is going to be a great trip. Enjoy!
PS: Invest in merino wool clothing. You can wear the same t-shirt and socks for a week without the lions noticing.

Bobc163 Loc: Australia NSW

Thank you everyone.
You have all made some great recommendations and have given me quite a bit to think about
Will let you know how I go with the final decision
Trip was cancelled this year due to you know what
Still not sure if the Australian government will let me go yet (there is still a ban on overseas travel)
Also waiting to hear that all borders in Africa will be open and that a vaccine will be released

Bobc163 Loc: Australia NSW

Thank you everyone.
You have all made some great recommendations and have given me quite a bit to think about
Will let you know how I go with the final decision
Trip was cancelled this year due to you know what
Still not sure if the Australian government will let me go yet (there is still a ban on overseas travel)
Also waiting to hear that all borders in Africa will be open and that a vaccine will be released

DebAnn Loc: Toronto

That's way too much. You only need the 100-400 lens and the 24-105. Put one lens on the Mk 3 and one on the Mk 4. You definitely won't want to be changing lenses while out shooting wildlife. Too much dust. Take some kind of dust prevention bag to put over your cameras while in an open vehicle. Assuming you will be confined to a vehicle in wild life parks, you won't need the tripod. Many others who have been to Africa will tell you - keep your equipment to essentials - you need to travel light.

JBRIII

This weight thing is becoming a bigger problem as time goes by. On some internal flights even buying an extra bag is impossible. We have thrown out perfectly good suitcases ( to Goodwill), just to buy lighter ones.
First, as to the tripod, exactly what are you seeing? Animal sightings are from open vehicles over rough terran. No tripod, or getting out or you will be part of the news. Many museums or even gardens do not allow tripods, sometimes even cameras.
Second, good low light capability is important at night and we did go out at night to view animals.
Third, you are allowed, generally, one carry on, plus a personal bag, small things can go with your computer or in a pocket, etc.
Last, consider a camera like the Canon SX60. Maybe the photos aren't the best, but light and all in one lens, good up to 1000 in our experience, low light only fair. Changing lenses as stated, nearly impossible in a moving vehicle that is often like a roller coaster ride, also dusty. Finally, no time for switching, as many/most animals don't wait around.

We have done parts of your trip 3 times and solar eclipse and if things get much worse on weight, there may be no reason to go.

If you haven't got your tickets yet, different airlines have different rules on this, frequent flyer perks of airlines cards can also help.

Enjoy.

photoman43

I would take two bodies, 70-200mm, 100-400mm and one light weight wider lens, maybe 24-85mm f3.5-5.6. And the tcs and a monopod. I would add a power strip with a separate surge protector as you will encounter places with very few outlets for charging your batteries, etc. You may need a transformer too and converter plugs.

In the field the 70-200mm will be on one body and the 100-400mm on the second body. Consider using your cell phone or a small point and shoot for landscape type images. This gives you a third body that you can use w/o changing lenses and eliminates the need for all of those 24---mm lenses.

When I was in Tanzania and Botswana, I used my 24-85mm lens only in camp. All of my wildlife pictures were taken with a 70-200mm or a 300mm (Botswana) or a 500mm (Tanzania) with tcs.

I have a friend who was in Kenya in 2019 and took over 35,000 images in 11 days. Make sure you have enough cards, ex hard drives, etc. If you can afford it, take SSD external hard drives and they are faster for image transfer and they are lighter and smaller. Buy the fastest cards you can afford. You need cards with fast Read and Write speeds.

In the field shoot as low as possible to get eye to eye. Shoot out of the window on the land rover as opposed to standing up and shooting from the roof.

philo Loc: philo, ca

no need for a tripod. You may want to take a pantopod instead

jg.pepper Loc: Southeast Florida

I've been to Africa on photo safaris 4 times. Trust me, you don't want to carry and are very unlikely to use a tripod at any point on the trip. Most of the time you're in the bush you'll be inside a vehicle and there will be no place to even open up a tripod never mind use it unless you're the only one in the vehicle. I brought a monopod on my trip last year but never once used it. Couldn't figure out how to make use of it inside the vehicle. I've been in 8 person and 14 person 4 wheel drive trucks exclusively. There just isn't that much space available that isn't taken up by the seats. As for lenses, you'll want the longest telephoto lens you own plus on other short lens for landscapes and such. Two bodies, each with a different lens attached allows for quick photos of animals that are often on the move and relatively far away from the truck. With the constant moving you will be doing, you want to keep the weight to a minimum. If you're going to be flying on bush aircraft to different landing strips, there is not much room for luggage on those aircraft and weight is an important consideration as well.

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

Quite a load! I'd settle for a Sony RX10 IV and a few extra batteries, and travel light.

bwa

Indlovu Loc: Greenville, NC

I have been over 3 times in the last 18 month 2 guided tours and the last one self guided tour. From now on I will do the self guided tour. All the advice you have been given is very good. Take less camera equipment. No tripods or monopod. I have taken on the three trips and never used.

One other thing and this was my experience, I was only questioned about my weight on carryon at the beginning in LA. I had 12 kilos, but when I informed them it was cameras gear they let me through. The biggest problem I had were the commuter flights with the overhead being to small, but the flight attendants were very nice and creative and figured out a way so I did not check the bags.

Prime lens I have used where a 300 and 600 take great pictures but very restrictive I will stick to 80-400 zoom. Next trip will be 6 months self guided

Bullfrog Bill Loc: CT

I went for 3 weeks last year with: two bodied (D800 and D850). I rented a 14-35 f2.8 to substitute for my 16-35 f4 for night sky shots (only used it twice). On safari in truck I had a 70-200 f 2.8 and 24-70 f 2.8 mounted (you don't want to change lenses in the field) and put a 100-400 on my wife's D 7500. If you are on private game preserves the vehicles can go off road to get closer to the action so 70-200 covers 95 % of your needs. If you will be on public land, the 100-400 will be your go to lens, leave the 70-200 home. If I were to do it again, I would leave the 24-70 f 2.8 home and take a 24-120 f 4 as my general walk around. F 2.8 isn't necessary except for night work so save the weight and get f 4 70-200. You can't use a tripod in the vehicles and most offer beanbags. I used a platypod in lieu of a tripod for night work.