Should I change my telephoto zoom lens for upcoming safari trip?

Oilman wrote:

IMO the 55-250 mm is the best lens for the money that Canon produces, They make much better lenses but they are far more expensive. ex Canon 100-400mm or the 600 mm Prime

Tom is correct. The reviews on the wide-angle to telephoto lenses (superzooms) are uniformly poor due to the optical compromises involved in making them. Even the high dollar ones get poor reviews. The Canon 70-300 mm is an excellent lens, but I am not sure that it is significantly better in optical quality than the 55-250 mm.

Keep the 55-250 mm and spend your money on a tripod to capture those great sunrises at low light and long exposure. If you really want a substantially better lens with longer reach and can afford it, buy the $1700 Canon 100-400 mm or rent it

Stay away from the super-zooms. You can crop a good picture to get in closer. A bad picture is just a waste.

I've been on four safaris, including one to S. Africa / Botswana/Zimbabe, including Kruger. I always have taken a 70-300 lens with me, and that has been fine 95% of the time. I don't do birds, as I have poor vision, but if you are into birds, you will want more than 300 mm. The 100-400 has always been the safari lens of choice, but too big and heavy for me to wrestle for the few times I might have preferred it. FWIW… you will find you need / use a w/a zoom, (my 24-104 L), for the many times the animals walk right by the vans. I used mine on a second body as much as the tele zoom.  There are a number of images on my galleries below showing how close the animals can be and need for w/a.

FWIW.. I read an article in a travel magazine this past winter that had a sidebar commenting that a lot of people were giving up hauling the big gear, and opting for the good quality super zooms, like the SX 50. That would be an especially useful backup camera / lens, as there is absolutely no place for repair or replacement if you have a problem. ALSO, FWIW… I've never seen anyplace to use a tripod, except in the camps, because there is no way to set one up in the vans. A monopod might be an option for that, but I never found the need for one. IMHO, it would just be a hassle.

Here are my safari galleries using the lenses I mentioned…the Kenya / Tanzania 2002 gallery is mostly slides scanned to CD as I wasn't into digital then, but used the same lenses mentioned.

http://www.pbase.com/chammett/kenya__tanzania_2000_and_2002

http://www.pbase.com/chammett/south_africa_botswanwana_zimbabwe_2004

http://www.pbase.com/chammett/victoria_falls_zimbabwe

http://www.pbase.com/chammett/kenya_august_2007

Have fun… carolyn