Africa and Costa Rica Lens Statistics

[Anjin San]

We've had several (well, more than several actually) threads about which lenses to take on a trip to Africa or Costa Rica and as I've now been to both I thought I would offer up my focal length statistics for posterity in case anyone was interested. Actually…this started out as a question to myself whether what I took to both places (100-400, 600PF, and TCs) was the correct option or whether taking the 180-600 instead of the 100-400 since it is generally rated better and adding in the 24-120 for anything too close for 180. I was surprised by the statistical results and haven't actually made up my mind what to do next August for Botswana yet…there is a 55 pound weight limit there so packing light is more necessary and I'm not sure if the 3 lens carry won't cause issues.

Anyways…here's what I found on Steve workshops to both Serengeti and Costa Rica and I'm guessing that focal length wise Botswana won't be considerably different…if somebody's been both places and that guess is wrong feel free to chime in and say so. Note, percentages for the various lenses are percent of that lens use, not of the total images.

Africa
Total images 31,118 of which 19,358 or 62% were with the 600PF and 10,620 or 35% were with the 100-400.
The 600PF images consisted of 107 (0.6%) with the 2x TC, 14,628 (76%) with the 1.4, and 4,623 (24%) with the bare lens. This tells me that if weight becomes and issue then the 2.0TC can be left behind although IQ wise it's plenty fine with this lens for my purposes.
The 100-400 images consisted of 10,620 (98%)with the bare lens33 (0.3%) with the 2xTC and 135 (2%) with the 1.4TC. Of note the 10,620 total 1,704 were less than 180mm and 1,230 were less than 150mm although to be honest very few of that 1704 would have been seriously impacted if I shot them with the 180-600…a quick estimate is that maybe a couple of hundred would have been. This tells me that from a focal length used taking the 180-600 and 24-120 for close range shots (in addition to my iPhone 15 Pro Max) would suffice if weight in Botswana allows.
24-120 102 images
iPhone 336 images.

Costa Rica
18,639 total images…13,022 (63%) with the 600PF, 4,269 (23%) with the 100-400 and the remaining 929 (5%) with a 105 macro that Dennis Valverde loaned me.
600PF images 11,736 (90%) with the bare lens and the remaining 1,286 with the 1.4 TC.
100-400 all 4,269 images without the TC, 568 (13%) less than 180 and again most of that 568 would have been possible at 180. There were 240 at 150mm or less.
24-70 19 images.
iPhone 130 images.

Taking the short zoom gives me a focal length coverage of 100-400, 600, and 840. Taking the long zoom gives me 24-120, 180-600 and 840 as in that case the 600PF would likely be pretty much married to the TC full time.

Weight wise the shorter zoom total weight is 10.8 pounds and the long zoom total is 13.8 pounds so an additional 3 pounds for what better focal length coverage albeit at the cost of needing to swap lenses if the 24-120 was needed. The 24-200 would save 3 ounces and provide coverage 24-600 and 840 but it's not as good a lens as the 24-120 and DX mode or cropping will cover the missing 120-180 gap making the 3 ounce gain not worth the cost in sharpness and aperture. Likewise…I could take the 24-70 instead of the 24-120 but that only saves 5 ounces so probably not really a viable option. And alternatively I could just use iPhone for everything that can't fit into a 180mm length since there weren't all that many images. The 2xTC will probably stay home unless there's extra unused weight since it didn't get used much (140 out of the total 49,500 images)

At this point…I have no idea which of the two telephoto zooms I will take next August…I'll have to figure out the weight of everything including clothes, laptop, chargers and whatnot before figuring out whether I can afford the extra 3 pounds for the 180-600 but I would put that option slightly ahead of the 100-400 at this point.

 

[ButlerKid]

I've been to Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana (twice), South Africa and Costa Rica (twice).

The 600mm TC, 100-400, 1.4 tele and 2 bodies have covered all my needs. Africa tends to offer more BIF photo ops, and the 100-400 with or w/o the 1.4 tele is great for that, in addition to covering any close up photo ops. I've never needed anything wider than 100mm in Africa for landscapes since I can always do a pano of multiple images from left to right.

The phone is quite adequate for shooting lodging, meal time and social photos.

The only time I consider taking the 400 f4.5 is when I have to hand hold a lot - which is not usually the case in Africa and Costa Rica. Then the 400 f4.5 + 1.4 tele is my go to lens.

 

[DocKayT]

We've had several (well, more than several actually) threads about which lenses to take on a trip to Africa or Costa Rica and as I've now been to both I thought I would offer up my focal length statistics for posterity in case anyone was interested. Actually…this started out as a question to myself whether what I took to both places (100-400, 600PF, and TCs) was the correct option or whether taking the 180-600 instead of the 100-400 since it is generally rated better and adding in the 24-120 for anything too close for 180. I was surprised by the statistical results and haven't actually made up my mind what to do next August for Botswana yet…there is a 55 pound weight limit there so packing light is more necessary and I'm not sure if the 3 lens carry won't cause issues.

Anyways…here's what I found on Steve workshops to both Serengeti and Costa Rica and I'm guessing that focal length wise Botswana won't be considerably different…if somebody's been both places and that guess is wrong feel free to chime in and say so. Note, percentages for the various lenses are percent of that lens use, not of the total images.

Africa
Total images 31,118 of which 19,358 or 62% were with the 600PF and 10,620 or 35% were with the 100-400.
The 600PF images consisted of 107 (0.6%) with the 2x TC, 14,628 (76%) with the 1.4, and 4,623 (24%) with the bare lens. This tells me that if weight becomes and issue then the 2.0TC can be left behind although IQ wise it's plenty fine with this lens for my purposes.
The 100-400 images consisted of 10,620 (98%)with the bare lens33 (0.3%) with the 2xTC and 135 (2%) with the 1.4TC. Of note the 10,620 total 1,704 were less than 180mm and 1,230 were less than 150mm although to be honest very few of that 1704 would have been seriously impacted if I shot them with the 180-600…a quick estimate is that maybe a couple of hundred would have been. This tells me that from a focal length used taking the 180-600 and 24-120 for close range shots (in addition to my iPhone 15 Pro Max) would suffice if weight in Botswana allows.
24-120 102 images
iPhone 336 images.

Costa Rica
18,639 total images…13,022 (63%) with the 600PF, 4,269 (23%) with the 100-400 and the remaining 929 (5%) with a 105 macro that Dennis Valverde loaned me.
600PF images 11,736 (90%) with the bare lens and the remaining 1,286 with the 1.4 TC.
100-400 all 4,269 images without the TC, 568 (13%) less than 180 and again most of that 568 would have been possible at 180. There were 240 at 150mm or less.
24-70 19 images.
iPhone 130 images.

Taking the short zoom gives me a focal length coverage of 100-400, 600, and 840. Taking the long zoom gives me 24-120, 180-600 and 840 as in that case the 600PF would likely be pretty much married to the TC full time.

Weight wise the shorter zoom total weight is 10.8 pounds and the long zoom total is 13.8 pounds so an additional 3 pounds for what better focal length coverage albeit at the cost of needing to swap lenses if the 24-120 was needed. The 24-200 would save 3 ounces and provide coverage 24-600 and 840 but it's not as good a lens as the 24-120 and DX mode or cropping will cover the missing 120-180 gap making the 3 ounce gain not worth the cost in sharpness and aperture. Likewise…I could take the 24-70 instead of the 24-120 but that only saves 5 ounces so probably not really a viable option. And alternatively I could just use iPhone for everything that can't fit into a 180mm length since there weren't all that many images. The 2xTC will probably stay home unless there's extra unused weight since it didn't get used much (140 out of the total 49,500 images)

At this point…I have no idea which of the two telephoto zooms I will take next August…I'll have to figure out the weight of everything including clothes, laptop, chargers and whatnot before figuring out whether I can afford the extra 3 pounds for the 180-600 but I would put that option slightly ahead of the 100-400 at this point

If you happen to be more in private game reserves you should care more about the shorter telephoto end as you get very close to wildlife ... I think you would be best served with a 70-200.

 

[ElenaH]

I do also look at my satistics in LR and not only for entire number of photos but which photos are with four and five stars, which I consider the best and which lens I used for those.

The problem with statistics is that we can consider the equipment what we have at the moment. And not what we would like to have or what we had in the past. And not at all what the others have. So, it is not right to apply our statistics to other people or make some recommendation based on our own statistics.
If I had the other equipment then my statistics could have looked differently.
It also depends on our destinations and areas of interest. For birders it can look diffentely than for landscape photographers and in private game reserves it is different than in national parks.
We can talk about our experience and make some advice based on it. But not on our statistics IMO.

Do you know Bird Photographer of The Year and WIldlife Photographer of the Year contests? Those contests publish books each year. I have a few of them and I was curious what equipment the participants are using and which pictures win (equipment used). You will not believe it but it is almost impossible to make some conclusions. You can see the trend. And the trend is - wide angle lens and drone shots. Obviously those who judge the photos are looking for something new. You can even see pictures made by iPhone in those books. So, a conclusion I made for myself was - use what you have and get most of it, know your gear and try to be perfect in using it, learn technics and skills, be creative. Did I achieve it? Of course, NOT ! But it is a good goal, I think.

 

[Anjin San]

I do also look at my satistics in LR and not only for entire number of photos but which photos are with four and five stars, which I consider the best and which lens I used for those.

The problem with statistics is that we can consider the equipment what we have at the moment. And not what we would like to have or what we had in the past. And not at all what the others have. So, it is not right to apply our statistics to other people or make some recommendation based on our own statistics.
If I had the other equipment then my statistics could have looked differently.
It also depends on our destinations and areas of interest. For birders it can look diffentely than for landscape photographers and in private game reserves it is different than in national parks.
We can talk about our experience and make some advice based on it. But not on our statistics IMO.

Do you know Bird Photographer of The Year and WIldlife Photographer of the Year contests? Those contests publish books each year. I have a few of them and I was curious what equipment the participants are using and which pictures win (equipment used). You will not believe it but it is almost impossible to make some conclusions. You can see the trend. And the trend is - wide angle lens and drone shots. Obviously those who judge the photos are looking for something new. You can even see pictures made by iPhone in those books. So, a conclusion I made for myself was - use what you have and get most of it, know your gear and try to be perfect in using it, learn technics and skills, be creative. Did I achieve it? Of course, NOT ! But it is a good goal, I think.

Yeah…some of it is looking at the equipment you have now. I had the now sold 70-200 and 400/4.5 for both Africa and CR but did not have the 180-600 yet. Illegitimate the 70-200 and 400 home as not being the optimum lenses for the trip…and for Africa that was the wisest choice as it turns out. Same with CR but less TC use on the 600 as we were closer and out of the trucks a lot more and that combined with more jungle than grassland made reach slightly less important. My thought in doing t(r stats I did was to see if the 180-600 might be a better option for Botswana than the 100-400…IQ wise it’s slightly better but the closer focusing and down to 100mm is an advantage the other way. The lower weight limit in Botswana plays into it as well possibly. Now that I’ve got the two zooms and 600PF…at least around FL it depends on whether I want a 1 lens/body combo or 2 today…if the former I’m likely to take the 180-600 unless walking far and the 600 and shorter zoom for dual carry days.

And as noted…a 70-200 might be more used in private preserves…but mine got sold due to non use. I got it with the Z7II when it was released and it probably was used for 500 images max in favor of the now sold Tamron G2 F mount zoom.

After I did the stats I thought they might be useful to others…because we all know a similar question will come up again.

 

[ElenaH]

After I did the stats I thought they might be useful to others…because we all know a similar question will come up again.

that's true. It will help but on the first place our statistics are important for us. For you, for me... So, that we know what we used and what we liked.
Other people can have other priorities ;-) Some are more birders and some take more pictures of landscapes, some like cats and some - elephants or giraffes... I know a person who loves giraffes. I am not kidding. I am not sure if she would be happy with 180-600
And video ... oh .. it's another world

 

[Anjin San]

that's true. It will help but on the first place our statistics are important for us. For you, for me... So, that we know what we used and what we liked.
Other people can have other priorities ;-) Some are more birders and some take more pictures of landscapes, some like cats and some - elephants or giraffes... I know a person who loves giraffes. I am not kidding. I am not sure if she would be happy with 180-600
And video ... oh .. it's another world

Oh yeah…priorities re different for sure…but like a lot of people my first Africa trip in April I wasn’t sure…with the 100-400, 400/4.5 and 600PF the choice seemed clear to me…so after doing the stats i wrote the post I wish I had seen ahead of time to validate my choice. Africa for me was one of those “I want to see wildlife” trips…and while I’m sad we got no leopard the serval and caracal sorta made up for it and I’m going to rag on Steve next August to find me a leopard.

 

[ElenaH]

I’m going to rag on Steve next August to find me a leopard

Normally the guides are looking and finding leopard or the leopards finds you.
Steve will help you to take an excellent picture of it.
For leopards <ou can visit Khwai concession in Botswana or South Luangwa Nation Park in Zambia. Servals - in Kenya or Tanzania as far as I know, also in Chobe National Park in Botswana, caracals - in Kgalagadi Transfrontier park and in CKGR (Central Kaöahari Game Reserve)
Where have you been to search for leopards, servals and caracals?

 

[Anjin San]

Normally the guides are looking and finding leopard or the leopards finds you.
Steve will help you to take an excellent picture of it.
For leopards <ou can visit Khwai concession in Botswana or South Luangwa Nation Park in Zambia. Servals - in Kenya or Tanzania as far as I know, also in Chobe National Park in Botswana, caracals - in Kgalagadi Transfrontier park and in CKGR (Central Kaöahari Game Reserve)
Where have you been to search for leopards, servals and caracals?

We were in Serengeti with Steve in April and got the serval and caracal…but the only leopard we saw Rose got maybe 3 seconds of video before it ducked back into the kopje…and the pride of lions just below it probably kept it from coming out…nobody else even saw it I don’t think. He and Rose got the one in this thread after the workshop participants left….and while I thought Africa would be a one time thing I’m going in August to Botswana with them…hopefully we will have better luck…but if we don’t then that’s the breaks I guess. I was only mildly disappointed as it’s all wild critters and ypu get what ypu get to a large extent. The serval was just leaving camp at dawn the 2nd or 3rd day IIRC and the pair of carcass were the last evening pretty close to sunset.