Hi, I have a Nikon D5000 and a couple of lens, I am based in the UK. I am going on a safari holiday and I am thinking about buying a new lens. I have a 300- 70 mm f4.5-5.6 VR Nikon lens. A friend said not to bother buying a new lens but I have been looking at different ones but am unsure what I should get if I were to buy one, any suugestions? I have not been into photography long but really enjoy it so all advice is welcome! Thank you
I go to Africa to shoot wildlife annually and rarely take my 70-300 lens off my camera. But, Teresa (pocketmouse) has a good point -- if you want to take landscapes, a wide angle will help. You also might want some fun photos of your lodge and a wide angle lens can come in handy.
I went on safari back in the days of film and my 70-300 practically never left my camera - sometimes I wish I'd had a longer zoom as the action is not always that close. If I was going again now, I'd take a long zoom on my SLR and back up with a P&S
Juliette's advice is sound -- it can be a hassle changing lenses. Carrying a P&S with a wide angle allows you to do both. For the animals, the longer the lens the better.
The general rule is that you can never have a long enough lens, the 70-300VR would be a great purchase, and I would have no issues recommending it (or the excellent Tamron SP 70-300 USD VC) as long as you take your 18-55 (guessing here) to cover you for landscapes. Nikon did recently launch an 18-300VR (expensive) and Tamron does make a decent 18-270VC if you want an all in one solution.
I went on safari in June last year and took my Canon 100 to 400 lens and it seldom left the camera. I also used it a lot for portraits of people and was very happy with the results. You can check out the variety of shots I was able to take on my page June last year.
Write a Reply
Sign up for a free account or Sign in to post a comment.
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me