African Safari with FZ200, Set 2

I'm awfully glad you all (mostly) liked the first set of photos, you never know. I had a lot of trepidation about taking the FZ200 as my main camera, but I am satisfied overall with the results, although they have required more PP than I am used to with larger format cameras. Some of it is my fault by not adjusting the settings on the fly. I've only gone through maybe a third of my photos, but I think these and those from the prior thread will give you all a good idea  of the trip. C&C welcome as always. I may have some final thoughts on the camera later.

Jackal scavenging

Hyena with zebra kill

I would like to print this one as large as possible

Ngorogoro Crater from the south rim

Mandatory B&W elephant shot

Love the emptiness of this photo

High res zebra

Wow, it is a jungle out there! These are fabulous shots. I am convinced that the FZ200, or whatever the iteration is next winter, is going to be my camera of choice for our safari in 2014. I particularly like your zebra shots. You got to see quite a variety of animals on your trip. I know it can be a matter of luck on safaris.

One question: I've read that some guides say going out early in the morning or early evening allows for more viewing opportunities.  Did you go out at these low light times?  If so, did the FZ produce good images at higher ISOs, or did you use another camera?

Thanks,

Daniel

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http://danielsonkin.smugmug.com/

Wow.. great job Hans.. Wish to know how to use my FZ 200 the way you used it.

Awesome shot. One word to sum it all.

Early and late is best for sure. Didn't use another camera, or ever shoot over ISO 400. Again, the f2.8 aperture makes all the difference.

WOW .... Just Beautiful !!!!!

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Life is short...Do it now!

Inspiring series especially the landscape and Zebra shots.  Thanks for presenting these.

Love the emptiness of this photo

That one is my favourite so far!

Looks good at small to medium sizes but when viewed at larger size, artifacts ( smearing, over-sharpening, painterly effect) are visible even at base ISO.  I'll give it benefit of the doubt because am using tablet to view pictures right now. Any moving critter shots like big cats chasing a prey?

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-=[ Joms ]=-

Holy Cow! (or the word that "cow" replaces).  Wonderful set of shots, Hans. Thanks so much for sharing those.  Great framing and processing as well.  "You done real good". 

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"Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it." - Winston Churchill

No doubt about the artifacts at larger sizes, it is an inevitable trade-off against convenience with a smaller sensor camera. I'll have more to say about this after I get through the rest of the photos I took, and after I run them through DeNoise.

I don't have stills of a chase, but do have some video. I will post it when I get to it.

Hans,  your images are beautifully framed images.  You can eliminate most if not all, at these high light levels, of the smudging by shooting with NR and sharpness set to -2 and/or process RAW instead but these images are still wonderful.  Well done!

Ron

I had them both at -1 for most of the time, probably should have messed around with other settings, but I really didn't have the ability to review them on a monitor as we traveled, so I just took a shot. I didn't spend much time at all with the camera before the trip, and I should have. I've only spent a few seconds on each shot in PP, I think I can improve them as I spend a little more time on the ones I like best.

Great shots, I wish I was there with you. For me this would be a once in a lifetime deal. Thanks for sharing there, they're wonderful.

Rich
ice nine photography
Take only photographs, leave only footprints.

Grass and hay/brush seems to smudge with the NR in camera.  Fine detail in hair on animals can smudge too.  Even set to -2 occasionally in shadows it will still smudge a tad but this setting is still very good most of the time.  The sharpness just ups the blotchy like noise.  Best to sharpen after when pping.  To eliminate the smudges entirely just shoot RAW.  -2 for both is still quite good though sooc.  I am quite happy with it now that I have the correct settings.

Ron

RAW would be better but I just don't have the time to deal with it. I can live with what I have, and make all these photos even better with a little time.

Most of them look great already!  Its just a few that would have been better like the male lion image.  The NR went hog wild on that one.   Grass, hay, hair seem to trip up the NR in the camera and that shot is all of that.  That one maybe needed to be RAW to get the best out of it.

Check out the new Silkypix 5.0 pro for Panasonic cameras...it does a fine job just using defaults on RAW images.  Plus its cheap.  Maybe add a little sharpness or lower NR and you're done.  But you would only need that for a few images not all when using -2 settings.  I plan to shoot jpg and RAW from now on.  If the jpg is good I will throw out the RAW file.

Enough of this though...its been beaten to death in other posts...keep posting the great pictures.  I would love to take a trip like that.  Awesome!

Ron

LOL, the lion picture was taken with the Impressive Art effect in the Art Filters. I like the exaggerated halo effect, and I already had a million generic lion pictures. Same with the tree landscape. I was just looking for something different, and I think those effects worked well.

Great photos, Hans. I much prefer seeing the animals upright and munching grass, but I realize there are always carnivores near the herbivores. Maybe the vegetation screams as it's plucked from its roots, but thankfully we don't hear it. I think the hi res zebra is an awesome shot. Surreal almost. Thanks for sharing. I'm enjoying the safari without having to take all the vaccinations

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"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." (A.A. Milne)

OMG! I thought Set 1 was outstanding! These are all wonderful!

The vast landscape with huge sky with puffy clouds - gorgeous! The two Zebras with Thompson's Gazelles and Giraffe is like out of NatGeo.

What a vacay!

Rick

That zebra was taken with the Impressive Art filter as well. Again, just trying to bring out a different look, and I think it worked pretty well. Zebras are everywhere so its easy to mess around and try something different without feeling like you missed something.