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Camera for Kenya Tanzania Classic Safari
I currently have a Nikon Coolpix P-7000 that has the equivalent of a 200mm lens; I'm wondering if this will allow me to get good quality close-up pictures of most of the animals we will see on this trip. Does anyone have recommendations?
fresnonorm
fresnonorm
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We will leave on our 4th safari in January and I will carry the same camera I purchased for the first safari. It has also accompanied me to Russia, Egypt and Israel. The camera is the Canon Power Shot SX30IS. In addition to a built in stabilizer and other positive features, this Canon has a 35X Optical Zoom. In other words, it offers great flexibility for me when either close up or long range wildlife opportunities present themselves. The camera also takes excellent video which we are now routinely embedding in our safari blogs.
My wife has the Power Shot SX50IS. There is also at least one newer version than hers. Still, I stick with my SX30IS as it has proven reliable in all manner of situations. The price is also quite reasonable. I just went on-line and found new SX30IS cameras selling from $149.99 to $235.00. The $149.99 is about half what I paid for mine new which...to me...makes it a heck of a deal.
I know you will find something that works for you but, remember, take extra batteries and memory cards with you. You will not want to copy my poor example of running out of battery power in the middle of a lion stalking a zebra in the Ngorongoro Crater. Good Luck...
Leo M
Oh no, Leo! Only one thing to say about that … b****r …
It's always a race when I get into a hotel room. Charge all the camera batteries, the laptop, etc., etc., or um …..well, you know…..
Cheers,
Jan
Question...Were you sitting behind me in the safari vehicle in Ngorongoro that day when I discovered my battery had died? Your "one thing to say about that" sounded very much like what I said that day! Fortunately, we were both too polite to subject Forum readers to the unabridged version.
All the best for a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year from the U.S. Gulf Coast...
Leo M
The thing about Ngorongoro is that the word always makes me laugh. I know, a natural zoo and all that, but the thing I remember is more along the plumbing line.
Picture this. 1975. Game run vehicles were a little less padded then and I had less natural padding. Quite a bit less, but that's another story. Early morning. Bouncing up the crater sides and down into the "zoo". Bouncing around for a couple of hours game viewing. A 'comfort' stop in the middle of nowhere. I really needed that comfort stop but I was reluctant to face the horrors of primitive plumbing in the middle of nowhere. So I "persuaded" a nice bloke from the mid-west to test run the facilities for me. Back he came with the report that there was a nice flushing toilet. What! In the middle of the Ngorongoro Crater! Well, I got a bit huffy. There was no need to make fun of a lady in distress. So I summoned up all my courage and entered the little building in the middle of nowhere. And what did I behold? Well may you ask. A fully functional, porcelain, flushing toilet and a matching pedestal handbasin with fresh running water. All perfectly clean and fresh. Can't remember if there was soap and an embroidered hand towel. I was in shock by that stage. But much relieved. I returned sheepishly to apologise to the nice bloke from the mid-west. All he said, in the fashion of blokes from anywhere, regardless of his mid-western origins, was …"I told you so." He didn't understand at all why I hadn't believed him.
Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year, too, Leo. And enjoy your New Year trip back to Africa.
Cheers,
Jan