Safari Photo Gear

After our around the world trip, we have been to Africa a few times now. That’s a few more times than most people so we know a thing or two. We’ve been on a guided safari in South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. We have also driven on our own self-guided safari in Tanzania where we visited the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater. Our most surprising safari was a guided one-day trip in Sri Lanka’s Yala National Park. We probably saw as many animals in Sri Lanka as we have on all our Africa trips combined. If you haven’t considered Sri Lanka, you should. It’s an amazing country that offers much more than just the safari experience.

A pair of green bee eaters. Note the insect in ones mouth.

My camera gear back in the day was significantly different from what I’m shooting now. Back then, money was tighter, I wasn’t doing photography as a full-time professional and image quality wasn’t my primary concern. Size and weight were much more important. Today, I have significantly more experience and I’m using more of my images to make money so quality is more important to me now. Aside from the first camera I ever had, I’ve always shot with Nikon gear since starting my photography journey. Back in 2019, I made the switch to a mirrorless system and over the last few years, I’ve been slowly changing all my glass over to the new system. I’ve also invested more into video gear and various lighting that I use for my profession. However, most of that isn’t really necessary for a safari in Africa.

Back in the day when I went on safari, I brought the following equipment:

  • Nikon D800
  • Nikon D7200
  • Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR AF-S
  • Nikkor 12-24mm f/4 DX
  • Nikkor 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 DX
  • Sirui T-025X Carbon Fiber Tripod

If I were to go on a safari today, my equipment would be much better, but also heavier. Here’s what my gear would consist of and why:

  • Nikon Z8
    This would be the mainstay of my photos. I love the higher pixel count and faster processing speed. It’s a significant upgrade from the 36 megapixels of the D800. The Z8 is smaller and lighter (only slightly) than the Z9 yet offers much of the same features. For moving subjects, the fast accurate focus and high frame rates almost guarantees at least one good shot. And the video capabilities are pretty spectacular too making it a highly versatile camera.
  • Nikon Z7 II
    Safaris are mostly off-road trips in a dry and dusty environment. It’s not someplace where you’d want to swap lenses on a mirrorless body. Even with the sensor shutter on the Z8, the fine road dust manages to get everywhere. Even when I was shooting a DSLR that had a shutter protecting the sensor, that sensor got dirty quickly. Having a second body means I don’t have to worry about dust reaching the sensor or the time lost changing lenses. I can keep my wide-tele lens on the Z7 II and keep my long telephoto on the Z8. The Z7 II also has the same image size as my Z8 so I don’t have to sacrifice pixels when using it. For closer or more stationary subjects, the focusing and frame rates are usually fast enough.
  • Nikkor Z 24-120 f/4 S
    If you’re on safari in South Africa, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how close you’ll get to wild animals, sometimes disturbingly close. When that happens, your long telephoto lens won’t be of much use. I found that this focal range is great for wildlife close to your vehicle and for establishing shots in videos. It also has enough reach and overlap with my long lens to not have to switch back and forth as often.
  • Nikkor Z 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 S or Nikkor Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3
    I have both these lenses and deciding which one to bring is a difficult choice. Both are zoom telephotos with about 5.5 stops of vibration reduction. The 100-400mm is an “S” lens, which means it has better image quality because of higher quality optics and dual focusing motors for faster focusing speed. It’s also lighter and easier to pack and the 1/3 to 2/3-stop brighter aperture could mean the difference between a keeper or a blurry photo. On the other hand, the 180-600mm has a longer reach with tighter cropping. If you’re a birder or stuck in the back of a crowd of tourists on the Serengeti, you’ll appreciate this lens. The 180-600mm is also an internal zoom, which means that on a dusty safari, it won’t change size and suck in dust as you zoom. However, this lens is about 1.8 lb. (about 800 grams) heavier than the 100-400mm and is also longer. That could be an issue in a crowded safari vehicle. The 180-600mm also doesn’t have some of the useful features of the shorter telephoto, such as an extra function button for focus recall. It’s also not an “S” lens and the focusing isn’t as fast. If you’re going to South Africa where safaris are mostly on private land and a bit more intimate, the 100-400mm is more than adequate for large mammals. If you’re going to the Serengeti or Sri Lanka where your vehicle will be jockeying for position in a crowd, you’ll want the extra reach of the 180-600mm.
Toque Macaque Monkey mom and baby. Indigenous to Sri Lanka.
  • Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S or Nikkor Z 20mm f/1.8 S
    Out at a safari lodge, in the middle of nowhere, the sky at night is incredible. Depending on the time of the year, the Milky Way is also visible in the southern hemisphere. The 20mm would be perfect for those Milky Way shots without having to carry a star tracker. The 14-30mm is probably too slow for night sky photography, but it’s a bit more versatile and Africa offers lots of opportunities for landscape photos and creative use of foreground elements. Whenever I don’t bring a superwide lens, I regret it.
  • Nikkor Z TC2.0
    Adding a 2X teleconverter makes your already slow telephoto zoom lens even slower. You might extend your reach, but at the risk of blurred or extremely noisy images. Sometimes though, you might just need that tighter crop and having that option can be what makes a great photo. It takes a little bit of advanced planning to know when you might need it. Someplace like the Ngorongoro Crater is where it would come in handy. You can often see wildlife in the distance, but there isn’t a road that will get you close enough.
  • Sirui T-025X Carbon Fiber Tripod
    In the past, I have brought a monopod. I used it for one day and the rest of the time, it sat in our room. In the vehicles used for the safari drives, you’re usually packed in the Landcruiser or Land Rover like sardines. Trying to use one in a vehicle isn’t practical. There isn’t much room to move and even less room to swing a camera and long lens with an attached monopod. Nowadays, with good vibration reduction on our lenses, the need for a monopod or tripod is nearly all but eliminated. Most shots can be handheld and good safari guides will switch the engine off so you can use the vehicle to brace your camera without vibrations. There are often nighttime opportunities to take longer exposures, or where animals are involved, slower shutter speeds that even VR won’t help. These usually aren’t in a vehicle and then a tripod can be useful. And then there’s always the obligatory group shot. You could hope one of the guides can take a good photo or frame the shot yourself on a tripod. The Sirui tripod is small and lightweight, making it easy to include in my kit, and it’s surprisingly sturdy for its size.
  • DJI Mavic 2 Pro
    On our African safari, we splurged for helicopter flights over the Okavango Delta. It’s an unforgettable experience that I would recommend. However, it is expensive and you’re never guaranteed a window seat. The drone makes it possible to do your own aerial safari without the expense of a helicopter. Just make sure you are allowed to fly in the airspace where you’ll be.
  • Lowepro ProTactic BP 450 AW II Camera Backpack
    In the past, most of my gear was in a hard case for these kind of trips. While the equipment is well-protected, the case wasn’t always the easiest to carry around. It also drew a lot of unwanted attention to the fact that I had expensive camera gear. The Lowepro is a little more discreet, and easier to maneuver when there isn’t pavement.

In addition to these essential pieces, I often bring a bag of filters and holders, cleaning accessories, and extra batteries. With the mirrorless systems I have, I need a minimum of 4 extra higher mAh batteries, such as the EN-EL15c. And since I usually have two camera bodies with me, I carry them on a BlackRapid double camera harness.

Our Preparation Timeline

Getting ready for a long-term trip, whether it be around the world or just a month abroad, requires quite a lot of advanced planning. Most people don’t realize how much advance planning is required to bring everything together at the right time. Heck, I didn’t know until I started.

As I look back on the last month before our departure, I realize that things didn’t go exactly as planned. Some things took much longer than anticipated and other things just didn’t get done and will have to be dealt with on the road. I think it would have been wonderful to have had some sort of timeline to help with my time management, but until I actually started working on the tasks, I didn’t know how long things would take. And I couldn’t find that sort of information on the Internet since everyone’s situation is different.

Here’s the timeline based on our hindsight that I wish I would have had, outlining what we needed to do and when. It might be helpful in planning your own journey. Continue reading

RTW Camera Gear Finalized

d7200After several months of painstaking research and careful consideration of weight limitations and current equipment, I finally decided on my camera gear. If you’re not familiar with my criteria, you might want to read my other post on travel photo gear. My primary body will be the Nikon D7200. It’s bigger than I originally wanted, but is the best compromise between the functionality I needed, weight and image quality. The D7200 will work with all my existing Nikon equipment so I don’t have to go out and get all new gear specific to a new system. I’m also very familiar with the user interface so I won’t have much of a learning curve. It won’t perform as well in low light as a full-frame sensor camera, such as the Sony Alpha 7 series, but it’s a whole lot better than my previous D300 body. Plus, it has full 1080p video saving me from carrying a separate camcorder.

Continue reading

Quick Tip: Don’t Advertise Valuables

You’re a good vigilant traveler. You’ve packed your bags and secured them with a TSA approved lock to protect its contents. It’s all good, right? Keep believing that if it makes you feel better, but everything I just described could actually make you more of a target for theft. To begin with, locking your bag only provides you with a false sense of security. Unless you’re one of the few remaining travelers who still have hard-sided luggage with uniquely keyed locks on the latches, you’re probably more vulnerable than you think. If you have a bag with a zipper, it doesn’t take much to get into your bag and not even leave any evidence that it happened, all it takes is a ballpoint pen. By placing a lock on your bag, you’re telling thieves and unscrupulous baggage handlers there’s something worth stealing in that bag, even if there isn’t. But you also don’t want to just leave it unlocked and risk a zipper becoming accidentally opened or someone putting something in your bag. So what can be done? Continue reading

Tortuga Travel Backpack V2

The problem with the travel backpacks that are available is that so few are actually designed for travel. Either you get a rolling suitcase with wheels and some flimsy shoulder straps, but sacrifice a hip belt and comfort, or you get a true backpack with a great hip belt and lots of adjustments for comfort, but sacrifice ease of use and having a carry-on size. My old Eagle Creek Continental Journey LC was nearly perfect, but sadly, after 15 years, it was wearing out. Unfortunately, when Eagle Creek was acquired by a large conglomerate, they stopped making it or anything even remotely like it. Finding the perfect travel bag has been a long, time-consuming process, sometimes involving buying and returning bags. I eliminated a lot of good bags, such as the Tom Bihn bags, because they lacked a hip belt. So far, I have looked at ten bags: Continue reading

The Art of Packing for the Long Journey

It has taken me a month and a half to write this post. That’s because packing is one of the most difficult aspects of traveling around the world. It’s takes a lot of research, a lot of trial and error, and a bit of luck to determine what goes with us on our journey and what stays at home. We have both traveled extensively and we have, early on, overpacked many times thinking we would need some item.  The last time I went to Asia, you’d have thought that I was going to climb the Himalayas with all the gear I had…oh, wait, I was.

Nowadays, we try to keep our luggage to just carry-on. A smaller bag is easier to carry and more maneuverable on crowded buses and trains. Besides, the less you have, the less you have to worry about. While this limitation makes it easier for us to move about quickly and saves on checked bag fees for some of our air travel, it’s nearly impossible to do without making some compromises. Continue reading

Minipresso Portable Espresso Machine

Travel forces you to shake things up and alter your routine in life. It’s a good way to challenge your thinking and makes each day something which you look forward to. However, some things are just part of your daily routine and necessary to keep some semblance of a normal life. For me, that something is coffee, which is not just part of my routine; it’s a necessity. Without it, I can’t fully function and my brain and body are still asleep. There are many ways to infuse my body with coffee while I’m on the road or camping or even at home. Instant is always there, but never really satisfies. I can always brew a cup in my drip filter, but that’s just so pedestrian. A French press pot is too bulky and fragile. It’s too bad I can’t bring an espresso machine with me. But wait, I can.

The Minipresso portable espresso machine makes some great espresso from a device about the size of a tall beer can, 7″ long and 2.25″ in diameter. It weighs about 12.8 oz. (362 g.) without the ground coffee and is so easy to use. The cup is included as part of the cover over the outlet end of the machine and just pops off. Unscrew the opposite end and you’ll find the water reservoir for the hot water, along with the measuring scoop for the ground coffee. Continue reading

Sirui T-025X Carbon Fiber Tripod

After trying out the MeFOTO Aluminum Backpacker Tripod, I decided to return it, spend a little more and get the Sirui T-025X Carbon Fiber Tripod. I know that in my review of the MeFOTO I tried to justify not getting a carbon fiber tripod because of the extra expense over an equivalent aluminum tripod, but there was something I didn’t take into account. Carbon fiber is stiffer and doesn’t resonate like aluminum. Weighing in at 1 lb. 14.5 oz. (862 g.), it’s 11 oz. less than the MeFOTO and is helpful in reducing the total weight of my photo backpack. So here’s what I’ve discovered so far about this tripod. I’ll be making some comparisons to the MeFOTO, so bear with me.

THE GOOD

The MeFOTO and the Sirui target a similar audience: travelers looking for a lightweight tripod solution. However, a tripod is more than just its own weight. It must be steady and support the weight placed on it. The Sirui T-025X uses carbon fiber tubing versus aluminum. The carbon fiber tubes are a slightly smaller diameter, but with nearly the same tubing wall thickness. The legs each have 5 sections and fold 180° for compact storage just like the MeFOTO. However, the carbon fiber legs are stiffer than the aluminum ones and they don’t exhibit the resonant vibrations I get with the aluminum legs. The smallest diameter leg sections are where the carbon fiber really shows its stiffness and dampening ability. Even with weight hanging from the center hook, there was hardly any bending or flexing in the legs.

The Sirui’s center column is removable. Even with the center column installed, if I move my camera slightly when mounted on the Sirui, it doesn’t transfer that movement down into the legs. Not something I could say about the MeFOTO. Wind induced vibrations are also reduced, and since the center column is removable, without it, vibrations are almost non-existent. Eliminating unwanted vibrations is one of the major reasons I went with carbon fiber over aluminum. The removable center column also means a minimum height of 10.2″ versus 16.75″ for the MeFOTO whose center column isn’t removable. Good news for those needing to shoot low angles or macro photography. Continue reading