Trip to Namibia..

the_monkey

OK , ill be in Namibia for about 3 weeks ...

i have a 5dM2 ... how many spare batteries should I bring ,
how many mem. cards etc....

Im presuming the campsite wont have electricity .. ,

anyone else on a safari for 3 weeks or so .. how manyy batteries
did you bring , and mem cards - ill be shooting in RAW..

Covey

The campsite will have charging facilities.

Memory cards, depends on what your shooting, bring plenty! Going there next year so appreciate feedback.

DK32

I've not been on a safari but this is what I normally do when I travel.

I'd recommend 4 x 8gb cards. Keep rotating them. Maybe a couple of 16 or 32gb cards as well if you intend on shooting 1080p HD video.

If you are shooting full res RAW then the files will probably be 20mb or more in size for each shot. I'd also recommend taking a small laptop with you & if possible a 500gb or higher capacity external western digital USB drive, these are good as they get their power from the laptop's usb port. Get into a habit of backing up the cards every couple of nights.

With regards batteries.
Do you have a grip for the 5dm2?
If you do then I'd go for, 4 main batteries and if you have some decent rechargeable AA batteries for the cage as a backup you should be fine. Recommend the Sanyo eneloops as they are great for holding their charge.

I have a grip with 2 batteries and the cage that holds 6AA batteries. I can get over a week out of the two batteries one a single charge,that's taking photo's every day,some days 500+ photo's and that's even in this cold weather. If it's warm battery performance should be very good for you.

Look forward to seeing your pics when you get back

the_monkey

OK thanks guys, I'm surprised the site will have charging facilities..

leinsterman

Hi

Where are you going in Namibia?

I've been to quite a few camp site in the country ... they are surprisingly good .... even up North in Himba country ... many have pools, bars, electric generators (which are switched off a night in the more remote places) ...

A couple of recommendations -

1. Do bring a few spare batteries ... especially if you shooting with an IS lens.
2. Ideally a battery grip is a good, though not essential, accessory
3. Pop into Conns and get a Hahnel Powerstation Twin V pro for two reasons -

• They can plug into a 12v car battery thingy ... you'll be in lots of vehicles with cigarette lighters.
• They charge two batteries at once ...

[aside: and yes I know I am recommending the devil in Conns but I bought one before Christmas after an exhaustive search and only Conns had a version compatible with the Canon 5d MKII in stock... also the ones with the moveable contacts they sell elsewhere are pants ... the contacts are too flimsy ... this one has a fitting is designed specifcally for the MkII battery).


Must see places -

• Himba tribal land up north and if you can arrange it get to a meeting in a Kraal
• Try to stay at Ngepi camp on the Caprivi strip ... great fun and amazing ablutions facilities (yes you heard right ... by far the best toilet facilities in the world!... worth the trip ... plus their swimming pool is a cage in the river surrounded by Hippos and Crocs)
• Cheeathpark ... apologies for plugging one of my own photos but the link to their site is in the comments
• Most essential places for me -
  • Dune 45 & Sousevlei
  • Etosha National Park
  • Smelly seal sancturies on the skeleton coast
  • Brandberg mountains
  • Fish River Canyon (second largest in the world after Grand)
• Swakopmund is great for activities such as sandboarding off massive dunes or Quad biking and parachuting ... but its a bit tacky also ...

PM me if you need more information.

leinsterman

... forgot to add ... you really need lots of lens reach and speed for safari's ... which does not come cheap...nor does it come in small light footprints ...

... additionally Namibia is incredibly dusty ... so I brought two bodies (thanks to a loan unit from Canon) ... to avoid changing lenses as much as possible.

So a few recommendations -

If you can afford it, the Canon 200mm F2.8L is excellent quality, lightweight for what it offers and takes 1.4x or 2x TC ... great for Safaris if you don't want to fork out 3 grand for a big prime ... shooting at 21MPIX on the 200mm F2.8 prime is good but the animals in Etosha are often quite far away so cropping is not always possible.... I used a 100-400 F4-5.6L IS with a 1.4x TC on a 1DMKIII 1.3x FOVCF ... giving me a whopping effective 730mm ... there were still times when I wanted more reach ...

You can get lucky ... in Masi Mara a few weeks ago I got up close and personal with a pride of Lions and a Buffalo ... quite a grim prospect ... but Etosha is different, you are often more than 20m from the action ...

If you can't get two bodies pop in to Great Outdoors and buy yourself some dry sacks ... they are cheap (10Eur ish) water (and dust) tight durable bags you can use to keep you gear when not in use or put the camera inside to change lenses when you are in very very dusty places ... and you can keep your dirty laundry there when not in use

the_monkey

Thanks a lot ...

I will be using one body .. (i wish i could afford a 2nd...) ... I have the 70.200 f2.8 L IS ... I am getting the 100-400 f4-5.6L IS soon with the 1.4X ..

ok ill look into getting a battery grip + plenty of flash cards...

bit worried about the dust .... ah well i can always give the sensor a clean
after the holiday !!

leinsterman

Don't worry too much about dust ... a lot of the time you inside a safari vehicle ...

Also like I said Exped Dry Sacks are perfect and cheap ... they serve a few purposes such as -

keeping your gear extra free from dust when stored inside a bag ...
the big ones can be used as a protector in open spaces when you do need to change lenses
the smaller ones are excellent for use as bean bags (you buy the beans out there) ... essential for safaris on vehicles
If you go on any boats they act as a splash protector
you can use them to store laundry etc.

I'd also recommend bringing a monopod

Chorcai

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPKSrZPf7_k

He packs a few bits but no large lens ie 70-200/300 etc