South Africa / Namibia 3 weeks ...

the_monkey

Hey all,
Next thursday im off to South Africa + Namibia for 22 days,
Main trip will be in Namibia and they have charging facilities.

So I have 5D MKII .

3x 8GB cards
1x 4GB
1x 2GB
- I think this is enough -- 30gb of space, even with RAW..

1 Spare battery - again with charging facilities im sure this is ok.


as regards my lenses, I was thinking of just taking
17-40L, 24-70L, 100-400L. 15mm fisheye

and leaving behind 70-200 f2.8 L, and 50mm f1.4.




I know the 70-200 f2.8 L is a great lens, but for wildlife im thinking the
100-400 will suffice.


Also should I invest in a monopod ??


Cheers for any input, let me know if you think im crazy leaving behind any- part of me aswell doesn't want photograhpy ruling the trip.


Cheers
El Mono.

dazftw

What do you plan on shooting besides wildlife?

PCPhoto

some filters (ND Grad, Circular Polariser etc etc) , spare batteries for everything..... flash/trigger for off shoe flash

if you will have internet access - you should upload images to an online storage - just incase one of the cards gets damaged or lost....30GB isnt a whole lot when you are talking shooting RAW too ?

battery will be drained from reviewing and deleting.

how many actuations is battery supposed to last for 1000 ? 2000 ? (excluding review/delete) .... now - how many batteries will you need ? I would guess, if you have access to charger.... have at least 2 spare (fully charged) ..... if you don't have access to a charger - have at least 8 batteries - the heat will be a drain on them too.... better to have them and not use them - than need them while you are miles from a socket and theres a lion creeping up on a gazelle - right in front of you !!

The battery last a long while in "our" temperatures - Have you tested your batteries to see how many hours of life you can get if you are constantly using the functions - it will be a good indicator of how long it will last while on safari.

I would suggest a tripod/monopod to get nice landscape sunrises/sunsets..... if you want I can loan you a monopod and a tripod..... although I wouldn't really see much need for a monopod - a tripod purely for landscape/long exposures.

Are you bringing a backup camera ? (might be overkill but always worth having a backup).... I had a Hasselblad H1 with me while on holidays in USA recently - going all the way up into the crown of the statue of liberty .... and even while up in the crown (its very small) .... couldnt get pics on the Hasselblad .... but I had a 5D and 1D mk4 with me as backup .... so got some decent pics.

garygee22

Hi,

I am a partner in a safari company in Namibia, and I would just say that if you're going to Etosha and the other national parks, you're not allowed to get out of the vehicle. So a monopod is very handy for sticking out of the window for a bit of stability, to get that shot of the rapidly approaching elephant while the engine is running!

Enjoy.

Visuelle

A link that might be of interest to you, Paul is a contact of mine on flickr and has a great set of shots from Namibia. Enjoy the trip sounds great.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/panorama_paul/sets/72157622333131081/with/3954866217/

the_monkey

Thanks guys, yeah I have some filters aswell, maybe ill get another battery and a 16gb card so .... just to be sure.

Thanks PCphoto for the offer of a loan of the monopod, but im in Barcelona- and i might pick one up on monday.

the_monkey

Visuelle wrote: »

A link that might be of interest to you, Paul is a contact of mine on flickr and has a great set of shots from Namibia. Enjoy the trip sounds great.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/panorama_paul/sets/72157622333131081/with/3954866217/

My God!!! I can't wait to go now ... these are just STUNNING ......

Nforce

I'm only going to DLP for only 5 days and I'm bringing more storage!
D300 with 3x4GB and a 8GB CF
D80 with 16gb sd, 2x8GB sd and a 4GB sd
Nikon 50mm f1.8
Nikon 80-200mm f2.8
Nikon 70-300 VR
Nikon 18-70mm kit lens
Sigma 28-70mm f2.8
SB600
chargers,batteries lens cloths etc

ohh and a HD camcorder with 120gb HDD (enough for ~9hrs at full res)

A little overkill?:o

the_monkey

hehe maybe , but better have more then not enough,

DLP ?

Nforce

Disneyland Paris....kid's have me over a barrel !;):D

dazftw

Bring your

5DMKII
17- 40, 50 and 100 - 400
Filters
Loads of memory cards
Loads of batteries
Tripod

Honestly I don't know why your asking this. You have several thousand euro worth of photography equipment, should you not know yourself?

the_monkey

dazftw wrote: »

Bring your

5DMKII
17- 40, 50 and 100 - 400
Filters
Loads of memory cards
Loads of batteries
Tripod

Honestly I don't know why your asking this. You have several thousand euro worth of photography equipment, should you not know yourself?

Just asking other people's opinions, i know exactly what i want to bring

No need to be sarcy.... jesus what is it with f*cking forums ??

dazftw

the_monkey wrote: »

Just asking other people's opinions, i know exactly what i want to bring

No need to be sarcy.... jesus what is it with f*cking forums ??

I'm not being sarcastic!

You wanted other peoples opinions. I wanted to give you mine.

I was the 1st person to reply to this thread asking what else would you be shooting and you never replied to that. You came off as egotistic listing off your MKII and L lenses.

I apologize

the_monkey

dazftw wrote: »

I'm not being sarcastic!

You wanted other peoples opinions. I wanted to give you mine.

I was the 1st person to reply to this thread asking what else would you be shooting and you never replied to that. You came off as egotistic listing off your MKII and L lenses.

I apologize

Well no , i need to tell people what I have !

dazftw

Fair enough. I gave you my opinion. I don't think you should bring a lot of gear to Africa.

You wouldn't want to have to lug it all around in the heat or risk having it stolen you know.

the_monkey

dazftw wrote: »

Fair enough. I gave you my opinion. I don't think you should bring a lot of gear to Africa.

You wouldn't want to have to lug it all around in the heat or risk having it stolen you know.

yeah was thinking the same, lucky i got some insurance.


wont be too hot, springtime there now.

daycent

I would say just the 24-70 and 100-400. The 24-70 is pretty wide on a full frame so should do unless you're planning on concentrating mainly on landscapes. Plus, I'd imagine you'd be better off minimising lens changes, what with sand and dust and the like.

I would definitely bring more storage to be safe. What you mentioned in the OP would be about 1000 raws I think, which would be cutting it tight for me

Deliverance XXV

On the topic of storage - When I'm abroad I can be a bit of a manic snapper and can end up with a hell of a lot of snaps.
I bought the Samsung NC10 netbook a few years back for a couple hundred quid. It's handy as it has decent storage space and has fit
in every room safe I've used abroad. i just backed up all my images every evening to it and deleted the card's contents. You'll also have the option of uploading
online or backing up to an external hard drive which is also cheap as hell these days.

Oh, and sometimes it can be used as a computer too