Kit for Namibia trip

johann_brehmer · Apr 7, 2024

Hi,

I'll visit Namibia in three months. Can you help me plan my kit?

I'll rent a jeep and drive around the country for 2.5 weeks. I'm planning for

some landscape photography, for instance in the Namib dunes,
some astro landscape photography, and
some wildlife photography, for instance around the waterholes in Etosha.

I own and am planning to bring:

one A7iv
20mm f/1.8 G
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III
tripod, filters, and all other accessories I can think of

I own and am considering to leave at home:

Sigma Art 85mm f/1.4

I am considering to rent or buy:

a second A7iv body
one of the following:
- 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM
- Tamron 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III
mayyybe a Laowa 15mm f/2.0 Zero-D?

What do you think of the kit?

Am I missing anything, would you do anything differently?
How useful would a second body be for the kind of trip I'm planning to do?
Which of the tele zooms would you go for?
Is an additional UWA worth it or will I be fine with 20mm?
Do you agree that the 85mm is a bit pointless between the standard and tele zoom?

Thanks a lot for your help!

Phil Shaw · Apr 7, 2024

The parking spots at the waterholes in Etosha are rather distant from waters' edge, so a 200-600 would be better choice than the 100-400 in my opinion.

SafariBob · Apr 7, 2024

It’s nice to have one fast lens for evenings/nights.

as pointed out by other reply, animals are far away in etosha, get a 200-600

johann_brehmer · Apr 9, 2024

Thank you both for the response!

Renting a 200-600mm G makes a lot of sense. I'm sold.

But then I have a gap between 75mm and 200mm, or between 85mm and 200mm if I bring my Sigma.

Is that fine for Namibia, since animals will usually be far away? Or would you strongly recommend adding one of the many 70-200mm options?

Alternatively, I could get a Tamron 35-150mm and stick to a three-lens setup with the 20mm G and the 200-600 G. What do you think?

RE Alpha · Apr 16, 2024

johann_brehmer said:
Thank you both for the response!

Renting a 200-600mm G makes a lot of sense. I'm sold.

But then I have a gap between 75mm and 200mm, or between 85mm and 200mm if I bring my Sigma.

Is that fine for Namibia, since animals will usually be far away? Or would you strongly recommend adding one of the many 70-200mm options?

Alternatively, I could get a Tamron 35-150mm and stick to a three-lens setup with the 20mm G and the 200-600 G. What do you think?

I would certainly agree with the 200-600G. Alternatively, you could rent the 300GM and use teleconverters, however, it can be quite dusty in Namibia and in those cases you wouldn't change lenses (or add/remove teleconverters).

Next to that I would bring my 24-70GM II and 70-200GM II. You can do a lot with you 20/1.8 in the dunes (I have the 12-24G, so would bring this one), in deadvlei or in the canyon.

As you are travelling by car, it may be easy to bring two bodies (I would rent the A7RV though) and have four lenses. Especially since you are not likely to bring your 200-600G when going for the dunes and deadvlei, as wide angle is much more useable of there.

Me on the cliff in the Fish River canyon in Namibia.

phgordon · Apr 16, 2024

I agree that a longer tele is needed and is useful even for dune shots. I used a 100-400 with 1.4 tx at Etosha. I always take a second body although only for insurance. Can keep in the vehicle with a normal zoom mounted. And yes, you do NOT want to be changing lenses in the field.

isvana · Apr 17, 2024

The 35-150 makes sense to me… but I would probably go Tamron 28-200 for “1 camera” situations (if relevant)… have a great trip!

rashid7 · Apr 17, 2024

isvana said:
The 35-150 makes sense to me… but I would probably go Tamron 28-200 for “1 camera” situations (if relevant)… have a great trip!

Have to decide if u r willing to carry a lens twice the weight & cost to get extra light but less range

=different horses!

Maxmolly7 · Apr 17, 2024

On Safari, I find a 2 body, 2 zoom setup very useful, IF you are prepared to pay for and to transport it!

24-105/200 and tele zoom paired to a body each, is really great!

Becauce of the versatility of zooms, I wouldn't go back to use a tele prime with converters, ever. I prefer fast framing options, YMMV.

I don't see an issue with the 75 to 200mm gap.

Given a chance right now, I would go with 28-200 mm full-frame body for General stuff and RX10IV 1" 24-600mm FF equivalent for wildlife.

Easy to carry around anywhere, but I don't shoot for money...

----

May THE LIGHT be with you!

johann_brehmer · Apr 18, 2024

Thank you all, this is really useful.

I'm converging to a two body, four lens setup with 20mm, Tamron 28-75mm, Tamron 75-180mm (these all share a filter thread), and 200-600mm.

For most of the trip, I'll have two out of the {20, 28-75, and 75-180} on the camera, depending on the landscape.

In Etosha, I expect to mostly use the 200-600, but will keep the 75-180 on the second body in reach.

Does that sound sensible? Please do let me know if you have more tips here.

Now I just need to talk myself out of buying (instead of renting) the 200-600

SafariBob · Apr 18, 2024

johann_brehmer said:
Thank you all, this is really useful.

I'm converging to a two body, four lens setup with 20mm, Tamron 28-75mm, Tamron 75-180mm (these all share a filter thread), and 200-600mm.

For most of the trip, I'll have two out of the {20, 28-75, and 75-180} on the camera, depending on the landscape.

In Etosha, I expect to mostly use the 200-600, but will keep the 75-180 on the second body in reach.

Does that sound sensible? Please do let me know if you have more tips here.

Now I just need to talk myself out of buying (instead of renting) the 200-600

Sounds good! You will be better equipped than I was, you might miss zoom on the wide angle for framing etc, and a somewhat faster lens - 1.4-1.8 for evenings, but I think the 28-75 will do with ibis and todays high iso performance.

RE Alpha · Apr 19, 2024

johann_brehmer said:
Thank you all, this is really useful.

I'm converging to a two body, four lens setup with 20mm, Tamron 28-75mm, Tamron 75-180mm (these all share a filter thread), and 200-600mm.

For most of the trip, I'll have two out of the {20, 28-75, and 75-180} on the camera, depending on the landscape.

In Etosha, I expect to mostly use the 200-600, but will keep the 75-180 on the second body in reach.

Does that sound sensible? Please do let me know if you have more tips here.

Now I just need to talk myself out of buying (instead of renting) the 200-600

Indeed, if those were the lenses I'd own, I'd would take these ones for sure. And whether buying or renting the 200-600, given its sales price it would maybe more sense to buying this lens. Unless this is really a one-time use of it.

Maxmolly7 · Apr 19, 2024

Have great light and enjoy your trip!

PWPhotography · Apr 19, 2024

I visited Namibia and Bostwana in short 2 weeks in August last year. Here is my album for your reference.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/55485085@N04/albums/72177720311243988/

set 1: FE 200-600 G on A7r V

set 2: FE 70-200 GM II on A1

set 3: FE 20-70 G on A7 IV

Also carried 1.4x TC and FE 14/1.8 GM (that is great for evening sky). I found 600mm reach is much needed there. Now I replaced 200-600 G with 300 GM that works very well with 2.0x TC at 600mm/F5.6. I will carry basically the same sets (except /w 300 GM however) in my next Africa safari trip.

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/55485085@N04/albums

rashid7 · Apr 19, 2024

PWPhotography said:
I visited Namibia and Bostwana in short 2 weeks in August last year. Here is my album for your reference.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/55485085@N04/albums/72177720311243988/

set 1: FE 200-600 G on A7r V

set 2: FE 70-200 GM II on A1

set 3: FE 20-70 G on A7 IV

Also carried 1.4x TC and FE 14/1.8 GM (that is great for evening sky). I found 600mm reach is much needed there. Now I replaced 200-600 G with 300 GM that works very well with 2.0x TC at 600mm/F5.6. I will carry basically the same sets (except /w 300 GM however) in my next Africa safari trip.

your photos amaze me!

TheOwl360 · Apr 19, 2024

Bring Sony RX10 IV and you’re good, except for your astro work

PWPhotography · Apr 20, 2024

rashid7 said:
PWPhotography said:

I visited Namibia and Bostwana in short 2 weeks in August last year. Here is my album for your reference.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/55485085@N04/albums/72177720311243988/

set 1: FE 200-600 G on A7r V

set 2: FE 70-200 GM II on A1

set 3: FE 20-70 G on A7 IV

Also carried 1.4x TC and FE 14/1.8 GM (that is great for evening sky). I found 600mm reach is much needed there. Now I replaced 200-600 G with 300 GM that works very well with 2.0x TC at 600mm/F5.6. I will carry basically the same sets (except /w 300 GM however) in my next Africa safari trip.

Click to expand...

your photos amaze me!

Thanks for kind words. In the trip, I found A7r V was noticebly better in animal eye-AF than A1 as many times animals hid behind bushes. I now disabled shutter-AF and start using back AF-ON (when the time I don't want to re-engage AF when animals don't move) and also better using S AF area and even switch to AF-S under such circumstance. For dune landscape, I found 20-70 G FL was very useful, and I also used 70-200 GM II lots that was a bit heavy when climbing Dune 45 for example.

Maxmolly7 · Apr 20, 2024

PWPhotography said:
I visited Namibia and Bostwana in short 2 weeks in August last year. Here is my album for your reference.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/55485085@N04/albums/72177720311243988/

set 1: FE 200-600 G on A7r V

set 2: FE 70-200 GM II on A1

set 3: FE 20-70 G on A7 IV

Also carried 1.4x TC and FE 14/1.8 GM (that is great for evening sky). I found 600mm reach is much needed there. Now I replaced 200-600 G with 300 GM that works very well with 2.0x TC at 600mm/F5.6. I will carry basically the same sets (except /w 300 GM however) in my next Africa safari trip.

Amazing images, thanks for sharing!

PWPhotography · Apr 20, 2024

Maxmolly7 said:
PWPhotography said:

I visited Namibia and Bostwana in short 2 weeks in August last year. Here is my album for your reference.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/55485085@N04/albums/72177720311243988/

set 1: FE 200-600 G on A7r V

set 2: FE 70-200 GM II on A1

set 3: FE 20-70 G on A7 IV

Also carried 1.4x TC and FE 14/1.8 GM (that is great for evening sky). I found 600mm reach is much needed there. Now I replaced 200-600 G with 300 GM that works very well with 2.0x TC at 600mm/F5.6. I will carry basically the same sets (except /w 300 GM however) in my next Africa safari trip.

Click to expand...

Amazing images, thanks for sharing!

Thanks for nice words, appreciated

johann_brehmer · Apr 21, 2024

Great pictures, thanks a lot for sharing. This really helped me to get a feeling for what kind of shots you'd need what focal length there.

From clicking through these, it seemed to me that you used the 70-200mm most often at either 70mm or 200mm – is that true? And if so, do you think you would have been fine without it, or would you have missed the f/2.8 at 200mm?

Kit for Namibia trip

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