[Leica] Trip to Kenya

[henningw at archiphoto.com (Henning Wulff)]

Roger,

As Howard has mentioned I also took Panasonic m4/3 equipment, and the 
majority of the pictures of animals were taken with the 100-300. I took a 
GH2 and a G3 body. Other lenses included the 14-140, 7-14, 12/2, 20/1.7, 
45/2.8macro and a 75/2 AA Summicron on an adapter for a 150/2 equivalent, 
which I used for maybe 25 shots. The others got used more.

The vehicles we were in were not allowed to go off the tracks, which were 
numerous but not always in the best places for photos. Long lenses were 
essential, but sometimes the animals, especially the large ones and the 
predators would walk within a foot of the vehicles. Zooms were very helpful.

I took 320Gb of SD cards which were all Transcend Class 10 in capacities of 
32 and 16Gb and no computer. I did use someones laptop part way through to 
back up the cards shot to that point onto a small 2.5 in drive.

I've usually taken either a laptop or a Nexto backup device, and the lack of 
proper backup made me a bit nervous, but then with film I never had backup. 
I did take an iPad, for which I got a SIM and data plan in Kenya for $20 for 
3Gb, which was sufficient. We had good cell reception everywhere. I took a 
couple of pictures of large animals (elephants, giraffes) with the iPad and 
sent them directly from the place they were taken to my grandchildren.

I also took a Hyperjuice battery backup for the iPad, for long flights or 
whatever.

All this equipment fit comfortably into a Domke 803. There was a small bag 
with chargers, cords etc in the suitcase. As we were also going to be some 
days in England at the end, I had to take some warmer and different clothes 
as well. My total kit, including clothes weighed about 15kg.

As I don't have or generally use long tells like you, I had to carefully 
consider my options. Last year for an event I had bought a 300/2.8 IS for my 
Canon 5D and 7D, but found that with teleconverters the quality really 
wasn't that good. I also have a 100-400 and compared that to the Panasonic 
GH2 with 100-300. The 7D is a good body and with the 100-400 produces a 
similar number of pixels for an object at the long end, but the optical 
performance of the 100-400 just isn't good enough to get the most out of the 
sensor. The GH-2 and 100-300 at the long end produced a bit more detail. 
That, and the fact that the m4/3 outfit was much smaller made the decision 
easy.

I changed lenses regularly every day, including out on the drives where 
there was dust, but I had no dust problems. The Canon 7D also has a bit 
higher propensity for collecting dust.

On reflection, there isn't much I would change. I would leave the 75 
Summicron at home and instead of the iPad I would take a MacBook Air 
possibly. Still not sure. If Panasonic had a stabilized lens that went up to 
400mm, I would take that. I would leave the shorts at home, because there 
was no use for them.

If I was more serious about wildlife photography, I might consider taking 
something like the 500/4 Canon with 1.4 converter and the 200-400 with the 
built in converter, plus 70-200 and other stuff. But dealing with all that 
stuff is suspiciously like work, and this trip was intended as a holiday, 
not work.

Henning




On 2011-10-27, at 3:45 AM, H&ECummer wrote:

> Roger,
> Jayanand has already answered in detail about his equipment which he used 
> to great effect.
> In answer to your general questions:
> 1. Bring as long a telephoto as you can afford, carry. I used the GH2 and 
> the 100 - 300, as did Henning - equivalent to 600mm in FF.
> 2.I was also worried about charging batteries, especially in those camps 
> with generators and limited hours of electricity, but in practice it 
> wasn't a problem
> I carried an extra extension cord to plug in multiple chargers but I never 
> used it.
> 3. When we flew we carried the camera equipment and the rest of our 
> luggage came along in the jeeps so baggage constraints were not a problem 
> for us.
> 4. I took my Macbook and downloaded images every day - sometimes twice a 
> day - we shot 10,000 pictures between my wife and myself. I had one SD card
> fail and just put it away for later surgery - take lots of cards.
> 5. Don't forget your various shots, yellow fever, etc and make sure you 
> have your malaria pills as well as DEET based mosquito repellent (which I 
> never used - but you never know)
> 6. It will be dusty. Have a blower and cleaning cloths - wipes etc. Don't 
> change lenses in the field if you can possibly avoid it. I went out with 
> the 100 - 300 on one GH2 and the 14 - 140 on my back up GF 1 and never 
> changed lenses. My wife kept the 45 - 200 on her GH2. We never had a dust 
> problem.
> 7. Don't worry too much about the colour of your clothes. We bought muted 
> safari colours in greens and browns and that really wasn't necessary.
> Good luck. We look forward to seeing the results.
> Howard
> 
>>> I have a trip to Kenya scheduled and would like to draw on the vast
>>> expertise of the LUG...I have enjoyed seeing the photos from the group
>>> who recently returned. My compliments to all.
>>> Any tips or suggestions regarding equipment to take, how easy was it
>>> to recharge batteries at the camps, how much equipment were you
>>> allowed to take with you, etc., would be appreciated. Was there
>>> anything you didn't take along that you wished you had with you? My
>>> travel kit, including computer, weighs in right now at 20
>>> kilos...which is about the limit. per person, for small aircraft. And
>>> that doesn't include anything clothing!
>>> 
>>> Any and all comments will be appreciated.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Roger Hart
>>> Detroit
>>> USA
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> 


Henning Wulff
henningw at archiphoto.com