Round the World with a Super Telephoto

Thanks for the advice. I'll be on a walking safari with up to 5 other paying, non photgrapher customers, so a full sized tripod while hiking is not an option. Not to mention up to 8 hours a day of walking...no way the tripod comes out on the hikes with me. The tripod I have has a detatchable leg that becomes a monopod, with or without the head. I was figuring more along the lines of using the monopod as a bit of a walking stick. When I see a shot I just quickly attach the camera to the monopod with the fastplate and boom, I'm ready to shoot.

I do have another question for you that I mentioned in another reply in this thread. The A77 provides a whopping 24MP. How do you think shooting with the 300G and just cropping if I need some extra reach. I mean 24MP is a LOT to play with and the 300G seems to provide enough resolution. We're not talking about blowing up a Rhino's head from 100 yards or anything.

I have the 400 and love it. Just an aside, I have a 900 w/24mpx, so am used to working w/ large files. Cropping is not the same as getting the picture framed correctly in the 1st place, exposure and af points are often not optimal.

Haha that's a very good quote, and another thing to think about. I can see myself throwing the 70-300G in my bag throughout the trip in case I want to use it when I'm out exploring. I simply cannot see that happening with the 70-400G. It would be used on safari and then packed up and not touched for the next 3 months of the trip. It does seem like a bit of a waste.

Thank you for the info.

What would you think about the 70-300G with one of the light 1.4x Kenko TCs Jasper mentioned in another reply. Obviously going to get some IQ loss with the TC, not to mention the reduced effective aperture, but I'll be shooting in good light most of the time so that shouldn't be a major issue.

Another good way is to get a minolta 200 g w/ teleconverters, very light with and very good image quality.

Here's a thought.

Would it be possible to perhaps send the 70-400G back to someone in Buffalo via postal?

That way you'll have it for your safari, and not be burdened by it for the rest of the trip....
Just make sure you insure it and you'll have piece of mind.

Sounds like an awesome trip.

I'm actually in the same boat about buying the 70-400G for a long trip abroad in the future, and I also shoot D1 football for my university. Georgia State University.

Thanks for the tip on the tripod as well.
Good luck!

I'm not a fan of tc on zooms, but never having tried that combination, I can't speak from experience.

Matt Soares said:

So I'm looking for a new super telephoto zoom to use on a walking safari in South Africa. I won't be restricted to vehicles on the road, so I should be able to get closer to the animals than if I was cooped up in an SUV.

You're probably saying...no brainer, get the Sony 70-400 G right? Well here's the thing. The safari is part of an around the world 5 month trip. So I need to balance weight with performance.

As a question for anyone who owns them, which would you take on a 5 month trip that includes a 1 week safari? The 70-400G or the 70-300G. Significant weight (and price) difference.

Also as reference, I'll be shooting through one of the new A77 bodies or my A55 backup. With the huge 24mp sensor on the A77 cropping should certainly be possible if I go with the 300mm and save some weight and money. But I may never get to do this again, so I'd rather not compromise.

Also I'll be taking a carbon fibre tripod that converts to a monopod. I like handholding, but that would seem to be a chore with the 400G.

Any thoughts or recommendations?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I have both lenses, the 70-300 and the 70-400. If possible, the 70-400G is a much better lens in many aspects including speed and quality.

It is also interested to know a full frame body is a better choice in terms of image quality.

--
Mark K

Forgot to mention the flash in my post. I pulled it out only once in three weeks and that was for a nighttime ceremony we were holding among friends in the volunteer work. There would have been no use for it on the safari of course - and I can't imagine ever being comfortable pulling it out as a tourist in any third world location.

So unless you have some specific context in mind for it, you might want to consider leaving it home. (There will certainly be SOME point where you'll wish you'd had it, but probably vastly outweighed by the times where it was just one more piece of equipment to keep track of/carry.)

I've been to Kenya and Tanzania last year and most of the time I used the 70-300G

on my A700. In the next link you can find some of my pictures wich also include some
crops.

http://www.pictureshow.nl/blog/kenya-tanzania/

One thing to mention is the dust, although I had no problems with the A700, the 70-300 got some dust inside so I had to let it cleaned. Total cost about 260 €.

Greetings Leon.
--
http://www.leonvanroosmalen.nl/

Obviously bigger and brighter lenses will give you more photographic flexibility but weigh you down.

I would suggest using the new 16-50mm F2.8 and the 70-300mm SSM, and either locking your AutoISO to 800-3200 in order to force higher shutterspeeds or shoot Shutter priority. Otherwise you might run into trouble with slower lenses (F4.5/5.6).

I think those two lenses offer you a nice combo for the price. the 70-400mm is a nice option but I'm not sure its worth the weight. Well really depends on how you travel.

Personally I've done the round the world thing a few times (cause its generally cheaper than flying return to some destinations I've picked), and I normally go for 2-4months. I travel with a 35L carryon, of which half is cloths and the otherhalf is a phototub + tripod.

I always travel with a good walkarround:
originally a Sigma 24-70mm F2.8
now my Sony 16-80mm Zeiss
future ... Sony 16-50mm F2.8 , maybe

I always travel with a small fast portrait:
originally Sony 50mm F1.8
now Sony 50mm F1.4

I always travel with a small fast wide Prime:
Sony 20mm F2.8 (soo sharp)

I always travel with a tele:
originally Tamron 70-300mm F4-5.6
now Sony 70-300mm SSM *

There have been times when I wished I had a 70-200mm F2.8, but honestly I know I'd never had taken the time to put it on and take it off. At the end of the day the 70-300mm range has never failed me, I've always gotten the shot I needed (occasionally [at the begining] I ended up with blury shots, but I am used to shooting in A, and now when in tele I move to S, and rely on the ISO shifting) .

I travel with a Carbon Fiber Giottos:
cheap and cheerful, however the don't do the model I have anymore:
http://www.giottos.com

I would take and carry two cameras. One with the longest lens you get and the other with some other lens, both zooms. The reason is here you are holding the long lens and something is too close for it. Plus you can mix details and landscapes. You will not want to waste time with lens changing. You will want a backup camera anyway, so you aren't taking more cameras, just carrying more.

I do one on each shoulder. (My neck can't take cameras hanging on my neck any more).

I've been carrying two cameras for some time. One had a travel type zoom and the other a long zoom which I mostly used for flower "closeups". The long zoom camera has a problem and I haven't gotten it fixed yet, and I starated carrying the A55 with a Tamron 28-300 macro and a wide angle on my Panasonic G1. I am really enjoying using the wide angle because I have it readily available.

--
Judy
http://nichollsphoto.com/

If you're not into bird photography, forget the 70-400G for this trip. You don't need that extra 100mm of reach for larger animals. You need to be close to them to avoid atmospheric disturbance - reaching across the plain with 400mm will not get you a pleasing photo - so 300mm is plenty on a 16 or 24MB sensor. Also, the light in Africa is fine for smaller f-stops, especially with modern high-ISO sensors.

!

The 300/2.8 is the best you can get, + you can put the dedicated Sony TCs on it as well, if you need to give some IQ away (not much at 1.4)... That´s what I would do anyway, I still need to learn to shoot for cropping.

Then again, the major con against the 300 is the same as that of the 70-400G: it´s actually even heavier with the 2.31kg! Not to mention Swiss pricing...

Hi Matt,

Very jealous of your upcoming trip! You'll have a great time!

My wife and I travelled the world for around 2.5 years between mid 2006 and the end of 2008 including many of the places you mentioned (see website in sig for photos if you're interested). The first part of this trip I was using a KM 5D with a KM 18~200mm, KM 50mm f/1.8 and a KM 100~400. I later replaced the KM 5D with a Sony a700 which made a big difference.

Over the 2.5 years I would say that my KM 18~200mm was used 90% of the time. Not a brilliant lens, however I found that having a less than perfect optics was better than missing the shot or getting dust on the sensor by swapping out lenses (such as in North Africa and Middle East). Also remember the a77 has awesome video capbability, so you could perhaps consider something like the Sigma 18~250mm (or Sony 18~250mm if the Sigma is too heavy) as a walk around lens. If I was to do it again I'd take the Sony 16~50mm, 70~300 G and Sigma 18~250mm.

Another thing I'd warn you of is that by taking all this camera gear you WILL be making yourself a target for theft. I had a Crumpler laptop/camera backpack that didn't very much look like a regular camera backpack, however we still very nearly had it stolen from us 3 times over the 2.5 years and had several other instances where we took diversionary action as we were being followed. This is not meant to put you off, rather just be aware that you will be considered an easy target by some and over 5 months you're probably more prone to letting your guard down at some stage (think bus/train stations at the end of long trips, etc).

Enjoy yourself and backup those pics as you go!

--
Regards,

Dominic Ryan
(a.k.a Brashquido)

domandnat.com

Thanks for the advice. I use the medium national geographic backpacks as my camera bag. Looks more like an outdoor rucksack than a camera bag, which I like. It doesn't scream "PHOTOGRAPHER".

I am definitely going to have to keep an eye on my stuff. I'll be staying in hostels, so gear I'm not carrying that day will have to be locked up in the hostel save or lockers if they offer them. My gear will all be carryon so I'll always have it with me when I'm traveling from location to location.

That's a very good point about a zoom with a wide range for video. I never really think of video because I'm still used to the poor quality video you used to get on the older point and shoots which always seems like it was added as an afterthought. I'm going to go with the 70-300G and might not take my flash, so I'd likely have the room for the big range zoom. I'll think about it...it's a great point.

Sorry, when I said 300, I meant the 70-300G, not the 2.8 prime. That lens is purely in the realm of my dreams!

I´m very sorry for waking up that dream then! It´s the same for me, I don´t even start the discussion with my better half, unless I win a more than substantial prize in a lottery some day. The best price tag at a reliable internet seller I can find today would be 9590$ VAT and shipping included. I could take a plane to New York to get it from B+H, have a few days off, pay import duties upon returning (8%), and still have it cheaper...

So joking aside and back to the previous question. You have some time to decide, maybe just try to find a shop where you can hold both: it´s not only the weight, the 70-300G is also quite a bit smaller, it might grant you some more space for additional socks. A 1.4 TC weighs and measures almost nothing, costs almost nothing either, don´t discard the possibility if you think you need the reach. Cropping in this case, I might do for once, but then again, you think you will mainly need it for the big mammals, not small birds...

I would prioritize the trip above picture IQ in your case (relatively speaking, how big do you intend to print later?) because you think yourself that you will not need the reach out of the safari; so even if very sporty, after a while the weight will start bothering you (I´m 1.92m carrying over 100kg of myself). However, I´m not you, you need to decide if you will be wanting the 70400G anyway later, and then again take out your wallet for that, eventually selling the 70300G to partially finance it.

I usually travel reasonably light with my A55, 16-80mm, 70-300mm G for wildlife and/or the 135mm f2.8 for street.

Although my best lens the Sigma 70mm f2.8 stays home with the Minolta 50mm f1.7, 28mm f2, 35-70mm f4 and Beercan (last three ones for sale - shameless plug).

--
http://frenske.zenfolio.com

Matt Soares said:

Thank you for the info.

What would you think about the 70-300G with one of the light 1.4x Kenko TCs Jasper mentioned in another reply. Obviously going to get some IQ loss with the TC, not to mention the reduced effective aperture, but I'll be shooting in good light most of the time so that shouldn't be a major issue.

Click to expand...

The tc will slow af down when shooting at f5.6 and you may miss shots on moving subjects because of this.