Mammals which gear for safari?

[Dr Mike]

currently own Sony alpha 6000s and a range of wides - tamron 11-20 viltrox 9mm - apsc primes 35 and 50, and a 90mm sony FE macro for U/w photography

we may go on safari in the future and I am wondering what I would need - I am assuming a short and a long zoom - like the 200-600?

Secondly - given the cost of the safari it may be reasonable to buy a full frame body with a sensor that handles low light better than the alpha 6000 does like the A7?


all thoughts welcome


Dr Mike

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Hey Doc, when is the Safari? perhaps you could rent a zoom lens [short term] to give it a try with your current camera body? might help you narrow your choices? As you probably know, your A6000 is an APSC, so whatever the focal length your APSC crop makes the images look 1.5X compared to same lens on a full frame camera body. So if you stayed with an APSC camera, like your A6000 or an A6600/A6700, a lens like the 200-600 would be the full frame equivalent of 300-900mm.

On the other hand, there are many advantages to getting a newer camera body; the A6700 and the A7IV/V and have amazing animal eye autofocus and subject recognition in comparison to your A6000. If you want to keep the form factor of what you carry now, but want full frame, there is the A7CII and A7CR to consider.

But hey, what do I know, I've never been on a Safari! I'd probably go on one with my a6700 and upgrade my Tamron zoom to the 50-400mm lens and call it a day. We have a few folks here who have been on safaris and many bird photographers (who I suspect have similar requirements). Hope you find the guidance you're looking for.

 

[Unframed Dave]

My chosen kit would be 200-600 for small birds, distant game.

70-200mm for larger game close up. If I don't have much luggage space, I'd go for the f4, otherwise the 2.8 for the subject separation.

24 - 700 for any landscape.

2 bodies, in my case both A1s, I might pack the a7cr if there were some street opportunities. I hate changing lenses in dusty conditions and you will miss opportunities.

I can get all of that on most airlines hand baggage allowance, but internal flights can have very low weight allowances, then I'd have to take my big coat, it has very deep pockets.

A tripod is pretty well next to useless. I can use all of the above handheld.

A compact pair of binoculars can be very useful.

Insect repellent ditto.

 

[Johnmoonie]

There is no easy answer to this issue. Firstly check the weight situation for your hand luggage. Next take 2 bodies, changing lenses is not an option due to dust and moving vehicles, let alone missing shot in time taken to change. On my last safari I chose to take 100-400 rather than 200-600 with A6700 for majority of photos. This saved weight and is easier to handle in vehicles and I really didn't miss the extra reach, apart from a few bird shots. I was surprised how many animal shots were taken under 200mm. That said I am lucky enough to be going again shortly and have just bought the A7V with the idea that the autofocus is a major jump from A6700 which in itself was a big step from A6600. Speed and reaction is key on safari, rarely is there time to compose the shot. I would not take a prime telephoto unless on a one on one safari that could go off road. Regarding light, the hour or so after dawn and before dusk the light will be "poor" but golden, rest of the time bright and harsh.

 

[iamdlewis]

Some stuff that would be good to know for use to provide a little more tailored suggestions.
1. What type of safari is this? Is this going to be an open plains of say Kenya or a more forested type of say Kruger?
2. Is the trip primarily safari or is it like part of a wider trip?

Given your lens selection it is clear that wildlife is not something that is currently of great interest to you so my suggestions will reflect that.

Body:
Can you do a safari stuff with an A6000? Yes, I've done it. Given what I know now would I do that again? If funds allowed, no. I would go with a body that at the very least had in-body stabilization. My suggestion for you would be the A6700 (FowlersFreeTime is a great resource for this) over any of the A7 line cameras mostly because you clearly have picked your lenses with intent and getting an A7 line camera will greatly reduce their usefulness. The A7/9/1 lines can have features that are better than what the A6700 has but honestly if you don't have a lot of practice with them they are not really going to be of great help.

Lenses
Sony E 70-350mm f/4.5-6.3 G (625g) - FF equivalent of 105-525 ~1000usd
Tamron 50-400 (1155g) - FF equivalent of 75-600 ~1200usd
Tamron 150-500mm f/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD (1724g) - FF equivalent of 225-750 ~1500usd
Again since you don't seem to have any current interest in wildlife birds are probably not going to be high up on your list of must photograph for the trip so you really won't need more than 500mm. One thing to remember with the long lenses is that if you are in the wide open areas there is going to be a lot of heat haze so if you need the 900mm equivalent to get a shot of a mammal it is going to be a very soft image. Also you are going to want shots with the environment the animal is in as well.

For you I would probably go with:
A6700
Sony E 70-350mm f/4.5-6.3 G
Tamron 17-70mm f/2.8 Di III-A VC RXD

Keep the A6000 put the Tamron 17-70 on that with the A6700 using the 70-350. This combo would be around 3000usd new, give you all the coverage you will need, allow you to fully use the gear you have now. I would also budget more for memory cards, portable external drives for backups and batteries.

As an example of something from my trip. Here is a Sable, if I were to get this today I would have much different setting (this is what happens when this is your first real wildlife shooting) but also probably would have gone with a wider shot (image is uncropped) to allow for more cropping options. This was with the A6000 and the kit 55-210, this is a 315mm equivalent.

• ILCE-6000
• Sony E 55-210mm F4.5-6.3 OSS (SEL55210)
• 210.0 mm
• ƒ/11
• 1/60 sec
• ISO 100

 

[Dr Mike]

this is all brilliant advice thank you


we don't have a specific plan of what sort of safari yet

I had wondered if the superior low light performance of the A7 series would be a major factor and also whether the slightly bigger sensor - should I want to print images out large

the advantages of the apsc world are of course portability and the free upgrade in focal length which are probably both major factors with safari trips