I think I'm going to add a 2nd E-M1 Mk II Body Rather than the 300mmf/4 for Safari

The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II is back in stock at B&H with more coming, and I am headed to Kigali Rwanda for the third time in three years this April.

My plan was to brink my Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II body and 12-40 f2.8, 12-100 f4, 40-150 f2.8, and MC-14 along with a new purchase of the 300 f/4.

Having thought about it, I think instant access to the amazing savanna landscapes, coupled with not changing lenses in that East African fine-as-talcum-powder dust may be more useful than the 300 f/4.  So I may just take the 300mm money and use it to buy a second Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II body.  Certainly there will be points at which the 300mm would be useful if not perfect, but in balance, I think the two body system in these circumstances are the bigger win.  Changing lenses is a major pain whether underway in a safari vehicle, or going as fast as you can during a photo stop.  And then there's the dust.

With the second body, I can have E-M1 Mark II body One on the 40-150 f/2.8 Pro with the MC-14; and, E-M1 Mark II second Body with the 12-100 f/4. Giving me "instant" lens change, no exposure to dust, and 35mm equivalent 24-200 and 112-420 (17.5X Optical Zooming with overlap).

I had not planned on bringing the 7-14 for a number of reasons. This will be my 23rd safari since 2001; most recently in January I went to Robben Island in South Africa, which is sea lions, penguins, and Nelson Mandela's primary prison.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

Last year I loaned out my first generation E-M1 to someone who went to see gorillas at the volcano, and I was stuck with an iPhone behind Leica binoculars for this Fish Eagle.

Congrats on three gorilla treks, I've only done one! I would use your EM1.1 for the 12-100 with your long lens on the EM1.2, that's similar to what I've done for my safaris.

My approach is EM1.2 with the 50-200 with or without the EC14 (or the 300f4) and the EM1.1 with the 12-40, 12-32, or 35-100 for gorillas.

We've just returned from Africa trip 6 and are planning number 7.

E-M1 II and 100-400? That should be a very nice combo.

I agree with you. I cannot carry just one body on any serious trip, for fear of a problem that makes it inoperative (or gone) for the remainder of the trip. I would rather have two (usually identical) bodies and fewer lenses to keep from allowing dust, same, water, etc out of bodies. Now that I am married again, and my wife also shoots with my gear, we needed spares for our Antarctica trip a year ago. Even though the Em-1 Mk.ii was not yet available, I bought a third EM-1 as a shared spare. We had no problems, but there is not a camera store there, so we were well covered. I took a couple fewer lenses, but that was fine. We had along:

Em-1 body, grip, and Oly 75-300 ii that stayed on almost all of the time,

Em-1 body, grip, and Panny 100-300 ii that stayed on almost all of the time,

Em-1 body, that we used for Panny 14-140 ii, Oly 14-150 ii, Oly 9-18, and 12-40 as needed, as well as a dozen batteries and two double chargers.  Even though the EM-1 is a battery hog, I was able to keep up by charging 4 at a time each night.

I now have my first EM-1 Mk ii, with its grip and a couple of extra batteries.  This one gets much better battery mileage, so I may just get a couple more batteries and call it good for future such trips.

BTW, the Mk ii seems less prone to the VF sunburn problem that its predecessor.  We have been shooting whales on Maui for a month now, and have bot seen the yellow-green squiggles on the new body, while my newest (spare) Mk i has developed new lines this trip.  Grrrr!

Ken, are you saying the  Mark 2 has sunburn on the evf?  That's the first report I've heard.

Bob657 wrote:

Congrats on three gorilla treks, I've only done one! I would use your EM1.1 for the 12-100 with your long lens on the EM1.2 that's what I've done for my safaris.--
Bob G
Visit my website at:
http://bobgreenberg9918.zenfolio.com

Yeah, except my EM1.1 is in my previous owned column now. And I'd like the extra EM.2 not only for my safari, but I'm going to Santa Fe for a week of shooting landscapes later this Summer and I'd like the extra body there too.

I'll buy the 300 f/4 eventually.

I have done zero gorilla treks, I loaned my system out to a good friend who went last April to the volcanoes whilst I went on a more traditional two day all day safari ride to see the savannas and mountains. In Rwanda the gorilla treks are a crap shoot, you might see them you might not, she saw one female all day. You can go on a guaranteed gorilla sighting excursion, but the price is exponentially more I believe she was telling me.

My company I work for has operations throughout sub-Sahara Africa, so I've been flying in steady for years.

Can you pick me out amongst my good friends?

It looks like your org is doing good work!

We went trekking on two days, both times we saw families of gorillas. The government fee is $750 pp per daywhich does add up, but that pays for the rangers that protect the animals and lead the treks.

Incidentally, we were really impressed with Kigali and the rest of Rwanda, they seem to be really progressing well.

Crazy to not pull the trigger on the 300mm already having the 1.4TC. You'll be disappointed you didn't. Use the E-M1.1 as your backup.

Bob, no, I am saying that I nave NOT seen any evidence of evf burn on the mk ii body.  I have been fairly careful with it, since it is my only one on this trip (along with two Mk 1 bodies.

My wife and I have developed pretty careful procedures for carrying them in the field, that are now pretty solid habits.  I carry the body on a black rapid-like sling over one shoulder, with the body hanging by one lug on my right side.  Since I do not like the body swinging around, especially aboard a boat, I hold it by the lens with my right hand, and keep my right thumb over the eyepiece.  That is an easy habit to learn.  We are leaving Maui in a few days to return to rainy Oregon, so I am thinking of making a major sun test on the ii body on our last day, as a test.  We'll see....

Thanks, I was unclear with your last post about this.

No problem, Bob.  I'm glad that you gave me the opportunity to clarify and add some details.

That's another good strategy.  I really dislike changing lenses outdoors.

I have tried other carrier methods, like the Thinktank belts and camera pouches, and a couple of body clip arrangements.  The clips offer easy access, but no protection from bumps and scrapes.  The camera pouched are really good protection and ease of access, but take up too much room while traveling by air.  I do know one friend who uses them for air travel.  He goes through security with belt, suspenders, and 3-4 of the bags, and says he has not had problems that way, but I remain skeptical.

Well, you've done a lot of trips so I'd expect you know what you need. But, for me, after shooting with the EM1mkii and PL100-400 for a several months now including one wild live trip, I can't imagine going on a wild life trip with the longest reach lens being 210mm.  Well, maybe the Galapagos but that's because you can practically step on the animals there are so fearless.

Martin.au wrote:

E-M1 II and 100-400? That should be a very nice combo.

While the 100-400 gives amazing flexibility, I'm not willing to pay the well documented detail penalty with the 100-400 when compared with Oly PRO 40-150 and 300 Pro (the latter which I'll get eventually), especially in the lightest part of images.