Pam & Cled Lewis' Safari - What Equipment To Take?
31st May 2024
In: News, Members' Articles
Safari Photographic Equipment.
We went on Safari in 2023 to South Africa, “what lenses should we take” was uppermost in our minds.
Searching Youtube we found conflicting ideas whether full frame, micro 4/3rds and various telephoto lenses were recommended.
Some advocated a minimum of 400mm f 2.8 prime lens (particularly for birds) to various zoom lenses.
In the event Pam already had the 100-400mm f 4 - f 6.3 Panasonic Leica lens which is quite incredible, partnered with the Panasonic Leica 12-60 mm lens. These lenses proved to be ideal because on occasions the animals were within six feet of the Land Cruiser and a 400 mm prime lens or longer would have been useless.
Cled’s Leica M11 would have been useless unless the lion got into the vehicle in which case you probably would not have seen the resulting photos.
We decided to buy an identical Panasonic GX8 in order to share batteries and lenses but we needed to buy another long lens. We bought a 50-200mm Panasonic Leica lens so that we would be equipped for the occasion. Partnering this lens with the 8 - 18 mm Panasonic Leica lens.
All bought second hand in mint condition saved us a lot of expense
We were more than happy with these combinations of lenses and they proved ideal. We did try to swap the long lenses on one occasion but that did not work and we reverted to the original setup very quickly probably due to familiarity.
No doubt professional photographers who earn a living by wildlife photography need and can justify full frame kit but the weight and cost penalty is not justified for amateurs.
Pam and Cled Lewis.
We went on Safari in 2023 to South Africa, “what lenses should we take” was uppermost in our minds.
Searching Youtube we found conflicting ideas whether full frame, micro 4/3rds and various telephoto lenses were recommended.
Some advocated a minimum of 400mm f 2.8 prime lens (particularly for birds) to various zoom lenses.
In the event Pam already had the 100-400mm f 4 - f 6.3 Panasonic Leica lens which is quite incredible, partnered with the Panasonic Leica 12-60 mm lens. These lenses proved to be ideal because on occasions the animals were within six feet of the Land Cruiser and a 400 mm prime lens or longer would have been useless.
Cled’s Leica M11 would have been useless unless the lion got into the vehicle in which case you probably would not have seen the resulting photos.
We decided to buy an identical Panasonic GX8 in order to share batteries and lenses but we needed to buy another long lens. We bought a 50-200mm Panasonic Leica lens so that we would be equipped for the occasion. Partnering this lens with the 8 - 18 mm Panasonic Leica lens.
All bought second hand in mint condition saved us a lot of expense
We were more than happy with these combinations of lenses and they proved ideal. We did try to swap the long lenses on one occasion but that did not work and we reverted to the original setup very quickly probably due to familiarity.
No doubt professional photographers who earn a living by wildlife photography need and can justify full frame kit but the weight and cost penalty is not justified for amateurs.
Pam and Cled Lewis.
Comments
By Don Morley: Very enjoyable and useful article plus super pictures Pam and Cled. Thank you also for spelling out none of us need to spend a fortune on new or old equipment, it is the eyes of those using whatever which matters most rather than just the name on whichever camera.