Eddy Vortex

The Tamron 18-400 is very light (especially compared to the 150-600). My go-to lens these days:)

Arca

String Player,

I am sure you will have a wonderful time in Africa, as long as you don't let photographic details and fussing get in the way of your enjoyment. I concur with previous notes regarding the use of a 1" sensor.

It may be boring for some avid readers of this site to hear once more, but I took a Panasonic FZ1000 to Italy last year. In two weeks I took 1500 pictures which are lovely 'keepers'. The camera has a Leica lens and 25-400 mm zoom. It goes to 800 mm with digital zoom. I used to think that digital zoom was pixelated and somewhat akin to 'garbage'. However, this camera has changed my mind about all that. Could I send one of the 800 mm pictures to 'Arizona Highways' of 'National Geographic'? Sure. Would they use it? Maybe not so much. My point is that you could get 16X power out of that camera without sacrificing very much in picture quality. The latest 'B and H' catalog has it for $797.99 which is $400 less than the same model from 'Leica' their 'V-Lux Typ #114' for 1,195.00.

Just my two cents worth.

Arca

Ed Chu Loc: Las Vegas NV

if circumstances allow, why don't you rent one from borrowlenses.com? I believe the lens is insured ( also check with your homeowners policy to see if the item is covered )

genesampson

This was my experience when flying hops within Kenya with weight limits last year: They took all bags including day packs, put them on a scale and got a total weight. Bags were not weighed individually. Their concern was with the overall weight carried on the plane. They even had a wooden pole that the tail of the plane had be above to ensure it was not overloaded. Seemed a bit primitive, but that is what they did. We were not required to weigh any camera equipment hanging around our necks. For me that was my Nikon D750 with an 80-400 heavy lens. I'm not saying your experience will be same.

Properframe Loc: US Virginia

Spent 13 days in the field in South Africa not long ago. The only need for a lens longer than 400mm is BIF photos. Now we requested the camps best guides and they got us in tight, it costs more to get a vehicle for just 2 shooters but it is well worth the cost. The guides are also competitive and they want to be top dog especially if they know they have some talent with them that can make good use of their efforts. I used my 14, 28-70, 70-200 and 200-400. The 200-400 was plenty of lens. 80% usage. I left the 600mm at home. In retrospect I doubt I could have used it more than a few times. I had a 1.4TC and mounted it only 2 times. I too was worried about the weight issue as I had almost 50lbs of gear. Not a single in country flight weighed anything. If you arrive within 3 days of the domestic flight a lot of the airlines give you an extra 20kgs of allowance. Total is about 90 lbs.
It is Africa and going through security to COME HOME after 4 flights with screening previously the screener decided to confiscate my field bag of tools (hex wrenches, jeweler screwdrivers, etc) So look for the fellows nephews store in JBurg where they must be selling all the purloined tools.

charlessl

The migration can be seen from near or far. Sometimes the wildebeest run, sometimes they just graze. The Tamron 150-600 is fine all-around lens for Tanzania, but for the migration you should also have a wide angle lens.

Linda Puyear

This is my first post after reading this forum for almost a year. Just got back from South Africa and would recommend the best camera and longest zoom you own or can rent. I have a FujiFilm X-T20 with a good 55-200 lens and wished I could have afforded a longer lense. I never even put the kit lense on. The images were super sharp when I did it right but we were in Kruger and private game preserves where we were often pretty close. I am a novice photographer but a professional graphic designer who’s spent hours a day in Photoshop for 35 years and can addspliceflipcolorizeadjustchannelslevelsexposure for an image to be whatever I want assuming it starts out sharp so I could keep the longer lense on and shoot multiple images to splice together for panorama images. On the Serengeti you might be further away and will really want a long lense. We had no dust but a migration sounds dusty. Can you change lenses under a poncho maybe? We had no issues with weight. You will be sorry if you don’t take the biggest, badest camera and lense you can. Don’t know about you, but I won’t be passing by there again. And consider taking your phone for panoramas and people and wide angle shots of jeeps and lodges and airports and basic trip memories stuff.

stringplayer Loc: Atlanta, GA

So, as always, there is never a perfect answer. I am so grateful for the time and thought you fine folks have put into my little dilemma. I own a D810 body and a D500 body. My current thinking - based upon what I have read above - has me leaning towards purchasing a Tamron 18-400mm lens, putting it on the D500 body, and not bother with carrying any other equipment. It's a bit of a compromise, but it will keep things simple, light, and (while not full-frame) quite effective. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Please do not go without a backup .....and the back-up can double for the wide stuff - use a 100-400 for better quality on the D500 and crop and use software pixel enlargement to get to 600mm field of view if necessary.

..

genesampson

I had a similar experience. I had an 80-400 and a 1.4 teleconverter. After my first series of shots I took the TC off and never used it again (crop frame camera).

Properframe Loc: US Virginia

"Please do not go without a backup ...."

I agree without reservation. I would take both bodies, they are both strong and will complement each other. On the last drive of the last day my 70-200 lens became inseparable from my backup D810. Never could manage to release it myself and had to send it off for service. Had that happened on day one I would have been shafted. Stuff happens. And Africa is an above average rough trip in the vehicles. We laughed that some drives it felt like we were filming the opening scenes of Rat Patrol. If you know what that show is about you are on the far side of youth like me.
Make it a point to be in the field for every sunrise and sunset. They are magical in Africa. Eat and sleep when you come home.
And consider renting a lens if you do not have what you want in your tool bag. Lensrentals.com works pretty seamlessly.

stringplayer Loc: Atlanta, GA

Yup. I remember Rat Patrol well and will definitely heed the advice from you and @imagemeister regarding a backup. Thanks.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Rent what? A bridge camera?

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Perhaps the OP needs to check with the tour company. Even if only one of the flights limits in cabin camera size, it could be the one flight that matters most.

stringplayer Loc: Atlanta, GA

Thank you for the excellent suggestion, dsmeltz.

I checked. Maximum carry on for flights within Africa on this Great Migration tour is only 11 lbs. We can take an additional 33 lbs. in checked baggage, but that's it.

My current plan (seems to be changing almost daily) is to take a Tamron 100-400mm lens on my D810, which will give me 600mm reach in crop mode, and carry a Panasonic Lumix ZS100 in my pocket as a back-up and also to pull out when I want a focal length less than 100mm.

More thoughts always appreciated.