My first workshop in eastern Africa with Journey to Africa is in the
books and I wanted to write a follow up article about what gear to bring having
spent almost two weeks in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater Conservation
Area.
For my last workshop I packed up everything but the kitchen sink and
brought almost the entire camera gear cabinet just to see what I would use, and
not use. Surprisingly, I didn’t get a chance to use most of the gear that I
brought with me.
So…. Here are my suggestions for gear to bring with you on a safari…
Two camera bodies… I brought a Nikon D7000 crop sensor camera and Nikon
D600 full frame camera bodies. The D7000 crop sensor had the 150-500mm lens on
the body the whole time and the full frame camera had both the wide angle and
the 70-200mm lens on it depending on what I was photographing.
I attached a battery grip for D7000 for extended battery life and to
give me an extra frame per second. It also eliminates the need to open your
camera up when you are out in the field. Even close to the rainy season it can
get dusty when out on safari.
I brought 6 Nikon EN EL15 batteries, 3 for each camera. Sometimes you
will have power and other times the lodges conserve power and you may not get a
chance to fully charge your batteries. Having extra battery power will ensure
you have at least two days of shooting power.
Bring two battery chargers, a small power bar and international power
converter. A power bar will allow you to charge two batteries and still be able
to work and edit on your laptop. At some lodges, Ndutu for example, there are
central charging areas where everyone plugs in the batteries to charge… so mark
your batteries as I have seen these central charging areas packed with laptops,
and battery chargers before bedtime.
You will easily go through 16gig of memory a day. You are constantly
shooting animals and landscapes. I brought 6 - 16gig Sandisk Extreme PRO memory
cards and 6 - 8gig Sandisk Extreme PRO memory cards. It offered redundancy and
gave me enough memory if I needed it. Expect to take between 800 to 1200 photos
a day while on safari. It may sound like a lot, but when you are shooting moving
animals you can easy take 20 to 30 images in a few minutes.
Laptop and an external hard drive will give you two copies of your
images… save one to your laptop and one to your external drive to ensure you
have a backup.
Bring a tripod. I brought a Monfrotto 290 series tripod with pano head.
(When travelling I put into my duffle bag that was checked)
Apex mini bean bag is a must. It stabilizes your camera on top of the
vehicle when you are looking out the hatch. Some guides will have small homemade
bean bags… a life saver for those that come that are not prepared.
External flash and flash extender. While there are minimal
opportunities to shoot at night, having that flash illuminates animals in shade
and will give you the reach you need to take better exposed photos when animals
are not sitting in optimal light.
Bring camera straps for your camera. I brought black rapid camera straps
for both my bodies.
Make sure you bring wired or remote control for cameras as there is
fantastic opportunities for low light photography.
It is always a good idea to bring rain cover for my camera and lenses
Bring a wide angle lens, a medium length lens and a longer telephoto
lens. I brought the following:Sigma 12-24mm f4.5-5.6 for landscape photos - used extensively
Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 for walking around and landscape photos - rarely used
Sigma 70-200 f2.8 for close animals and portrait photos - used extensively
Sigma 150-500 f5.6-6.3 for the safari drives - used extensively
How to travel with your gear... I have both a roller bag and a large back pack. Both would work fine. The roller bag makes travelling easier and the back pack is easier when out on safari.
I hope that helps you in making your gear suggestions for your trip of
a lifetime to Africa… or any other global destination.
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