Safari Decision... leave the Oly 40-150 Pro behind?

I've actually got 2 E-M1iis which I used in Botswana, and the 10ii is converted to Full Spectrum (usually for infra red shooting).

I'm sure you should take 2 bodies, but maybe keep the 10ii whenever possible in a clear plastic bag or in your camera bag.

drmarkf wrote:

I've actually got 2 E-M1iis which I used in Botswana, and the 10ii is converted to Full Spectrum (usually for infra red shooting).

I'm sure you should take 2 bodies, but maybe keep the 10ii whenever possible in a clear plastic bag or in your camera bag.

Will do! Thank you.

drmarkf wrote:

I've just had a quick look at my lens use from 9 days varied game drives in Botswana in September: I did quite a lot of bird photography this time compared to my earlier trips, I'm sure because I now have the 300 +/- the 1.4.

I don't have an accurate breakdown for shots with and without the 1.4 on the two lenses, but overall it worked out 50% 40-150, 40% 300 and 10% 12-100.

With the 40-150 I mainly used it around 60-90mm plus quite a lot at 150mm.

I had the 40-150 on one body and the 300 on the other at the beginning of morning drives and at the end of afternoon ones, and certainly valued the 2.8 aperture of the zoom at those times, I sometimes (but not always) put the 1.4tc on one or other of the lenses when the light was better, depending on the terrain we were in and how much bird life was around.

Only once on the whole trip did I feel I'd entirely missed some really good shots because I'd got the wrong lenses on (although sometimes I did feel I could have got marginally better ones with a different lens on).

This was when a huge male elephant came suddenly really close to us on a photo boat one early evening on the bank of the Chobe - he was suddenly towering over us, sniffing our scent.

Only one person in the boat had got a suitable lens on (24 - 105 on full frame) and she got a few wonderful images at 24mm. I'd got the 40-150 on, and frankly was so transfixed by the experience that I didn't even think to swap to the 12-100!

Obviously this experience isn't Tanzania, nor with the 100-400, but it might be some use to you. I would certainly have missed the 40-150 for a lot of shots, even if I might have got that menacing elephant image!

This is really great advice, thanks!

absoluutbeginner wrote:

drmarkf wrote:

I've actually got 2 E-M1iis which I used in Botswana, and the 10ii is converted to Full Spectrum (usually for infra red shooting).

I'm sure you should take 2 bodies, but maybe keep the 10ii whenever possible in a clear plastic bag or in your camera bag.

Hi .... I am not at all aware of converting to full spectrum (infra red shooting) .

You said you do that with an E-M10 II ?

Can you give some examples when you use this and the results ?

And how much would it cost to do that ?

Thanks

Perhaps this isn’t the best thread to discuss this (although some wildlife photographers have used IR and other spectrum cameras with success), so here’s a link to the best known U.S. company that does conversions. The have a huge amount of information on the process and options: https://www.lifepixel.com/introduction

I had mine converted in the U.K. - I imagine there are companies that would do this for you in the Netherlands, but if you’d like details of a couple of good ones in the U.K. drop me a PM.

Chizuka wrote:

Hello. I will be going on a safari in Tanzania. I was planning to take the PL 100-400 mounted on the Lumix G9, the Olympus 40-150 Pro mounted on the Olympus EM10 mk2 and the Olympus 12-40 Pro in my bag, or mounted on the EM10, with the 40-150 in the bag.

For space and weight reasons, I am wondering if I could afford to leave the Oly 40-150 Pro behind?

What are your thoughts?

I took both - the 100-400 on E-M1.2, and the 40-150/2.8 on E-M1.  With the MC14 in my bag, I had (partial) backup if the 100-400 failed.  The longer lens took 75% of my game drive keepers.   I also had the P12-35/2.8 in the bag, but only changed it in a couple of times over 9 days.  It got a lot of use in camp and in the cities.

I would take the same lens kit again.