Best second nikon body and lens for wildlife photography

[CMS]

Dear Fotoenthusiasts

I will soon go on a safari. I have already a Nikon Z8 with a Z 180-600mm lens which I will certainly take with me.
I am not yet sure what kind of second body and second lens I should bring along.
In my gearset I have already a 24-120mm, but this is a f4 lens. I have heard that a lot of times people make very good images at dusk or dawn, hence I am curious if it is very important also to bring along a faster lens, like the 70-200 f2.8.

As second body I thought to buy either a second z8 or a z9. What makes more sense?

If you would have any other great tips I would love to hear them.

Thanks and kind regards

Claudio

 

[ButlerKid]

Are you going on a dedicated PHOTO safari or just a general safari? On a photo safari, there is usually only 1 person per row.....on a general safari there is usually several people sitting in a row. It makes a lot of difference what gear you can easily use......

Also, there are a LOT of threads on this forum that discuss travel to Africa, including what gear to take, clothing, airline restrictions, packing, etc. You should use the search function on this forum to find and read other threads discussing travel to Africa.

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

You have to also consider what other use the second body would have. For me a Z6iii made sense because of all the other travel and family needs. Don't just think about one trip.

 

[EricKlees]

There is a difference between a 2nd body and a backup body. A 2nd body is one you use most days asking with your main body. A backup body is one you use in case your main is damaged so you have a body to use while the other is getting repairs done.

So for me a 2nd body needs to be the same so there's no having to remember the different layout from one to the other AF you shot through the day.

So for me, the best "2nd* body is a duplicate of my main body.

As for the lens, my m main lens is a Z800mm prime, a lens on the 2nd body would ideally be a zoom for flexibility v such as a 100-400mm or 180-600mm

 

[CMS]

Are you going on a dedicated PHOTO safari or just a general safari? On a photo safari, there is usually only 1 person per row.....on a general safari there is usually several people sitting in a row. It makes a lot of difference what gear you can easily use......

Also, there are a LOT of threads on this forum that discuss travel to Africa, including what gear to take, clothing, airline restrictions, packing, etc. You should use the search function on this forum to find and read other threads discussing travel to Africa.

Hi Eric
We will go to Botswana. There will be few people in one car. But I don't know how many. Will check it. Thanks for all other tips!

 

[CMS]

There is a difference between a 2nd body and a backup body. A 2nd body is one you use most days asking with your main body. A backup body is one you use in case your main is damaged so you have a body to use while the other is getting repairs done.

So for me a 2nd body needs to be the same so there's no having to remember the different layout from one to the other AF you shot through the day.

So for me, the best "2nd* body is a duplicate of my main body.

As for the lens, my m main lens is a Z800mm prime, a lens on the 2nd body would ideally be a zoom for flexibility v such as a 100-400mm or 180-600mm

for me it would be a second body as my thinking is to attach one lens to the one camera and the other one to the second body. like that I don't have to change the lenses all the time (regarding all the dust there is...)
I have already the 180-600mm. Would you recommend taking the 24-120mm already. I am just not sure if a 70 to 200mm f2.8 would make more sense?

 

[ButlerKid]

Hi Eric
We will go to Botswana. There will be few people in one car. But I don't know how many. Will check it. Thanks for all other tips!

If going in a car with other people, you probably won't be sitting next to a window some of the time....and switching between two cameras each with a different lens might require more room than you will have. You really need to find out what type of vehicle you will be in and how many people will be in it.

BTW - my name is Karen....

 

[Larry S.]

More information about your safari would be helpful to get the best advice. The word safari suggests Africa so we’ll assume that’s where you’re headed. What kind of safari? Are you going to be in a vehicle that will be your shooting platform? Like this?

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

Or…. Will you be required to do moderate hiking or walking that requires packing consideration. The second body recommendation of a Z6iii is a good one. The fewer times you change lenses in a dusty environment the better. Don’t let “equipment management” issues diminish enjoyment of your trip. Important…. If you get a “different” second body than your main camera, practice with it before you leave. Sorting out new gear in the field should be avoided…

 

[hef19898]

for me it would be a second body as my thinking is to attach one lens to the one camera and the other one to the second body. like that I don't have to change the lenses all the time (regarding all the dust there is...)
I have already the 180-600mm. Would you recommend taking the 24-120mm already. I am just not sure if a 70 to 200mm f2.8 would make more sense?

With ypur current lebses, you already cover 24--600 mm with a negligible gap between 120 and 180. The 70-200 is a stellar lense from what I know, I don't have it, but not cheap. And it would duplicate a lot of focal length between the 24-120 and 180-600. If you shoot a lot of landscapes, I'd say it is better than the 186, if you don't I am not sure you miss a lot.

By the way, you can do decent astro photography with the 24-120 nowadays. Not so much with the 70-200.

 

[CMS]

More information about your safari would be helpful to get the best advice. The word safari suggests Africa so we’ll assume that’s where you’re headed. What kind of safari? Are you going to be in a vehicle that will be your shooting platform? Like this?
View attachment 95895
Or…. Will you be required to do moderate hiking or walking that requires packing consideration. The second body recommendation of a Z6iii is a good one. The fewer times you change lenses in a dusty environment the better. Don’t let “equipment management” issues diminish enjoyment of your trip. Important…. If you get a “different” second body than your main camera, practice with it before you leave. Sorting out new gear in the field should be avoided…

 

[CMS]

it should look rather like this. we will be in botswana. don't think we will do a lot of hiking

 

[CMS]

If going in a car with other people, you probably won't be sitting next to a window some of the time....and switching between two cameras each with a different lens might require more room than you will have. You really need to find out what type of vehicle you will be in and how many people will be in it.

BTW - my name is Karen....

Sorry Karen
Good point about the possible space I will have or not have... I will check that with my tour-planer, thanks!

 

[John Navitsky]

consider the z6iii also

consider the logistics of having two battery systems

consider if you need better low light capabilities

consider if you can live with lower resolutions

consider if you use a lot of button customizations

if above is yes, consider how problematic exact button parity is for you

 

[EricKlees]

for me it would be a second body as my thinking is to attach one lens to the one camera and the other one to the second body. like that I don't have to change the lenses all the time (regarding all the dust there is...)
I have already the 180-600mm. Would you recommend taking the 24-120mm already. I am just not sure if a 70 to 200mm f2.8 would make more sense?

You mentioned this of for wildlife. I don't think 24-120 is generally going to be very useful. I don't think you'll be shooting much from 24mm to 70mm unless you're looking at doing some landscape shooting, so for me the 70-200 would make much more sense

 

[Patrick M]

FYI the Safari vehicle we had last June, in several South African parks, were the adapted Toyotas….ome passenger next to the driver, then three rows of three on a raised bed behind them. Views were great but not much room. I had only my Z8 with the z180-600. I could easily have gotten away with the z70-200 to be honest, as we were quite close to everything but elephants.

 

[ricardo00]

for me it would be a second body as my thinking is to attach one lens to the one camera and the other one to the second body. like that I don't have to change the lenses all the time (regarding all the dust there is...)
I have already the 180-600mm. Would you recommend taking the 24-120mm already. I am just not sure if a 70 to 200mm f2.8 would make more sense?

For me, I would go with another Z8 and the 70-200mm f/2.8. If weight or cost is an issue, the 70-180mm f/2.8 is cheaper, much lighter, has a smaller minimum focus distance and is almost as good. For animals that are too close for that lens, I use a Phone camera.

 

[CMS]

More information about your safari would be helpful to get the best advice. The word safari suggests Africa so we’ll assume that’s where you’re headed. What kind of safari? Are you going to be in a vehicle that will be your shooting platform? Like this?
View attachment 95895
Or…. Will you be required to do moderate hiking or walking that requires packing consideration. The second body recommendation of a Z6iii is a good one. The fewer times you change lenses in a dusty environment the better. Don’t let “equipment management” issues diminish enjoyment of your trip. Important…. If you get a “different” second body than your main camera, practice with it before you leave. Sorting out new gear in the field should be avoided…

With ypur current lebses, you already cover 24--600 mm with a negligible gap between 120 and 180. The 70-200 is a stellar lense from what I know, I don't have it, but not cheap. And it would duplicate a lot of focal length between the 24-120 and 180-600. If you shoot a lot of landscapes, I'd say it is better than the 186, if you don't I am not sure you miss a lot.

By the way, you can do decent astro photography with the 24-120 nowadays. Not so much with the 70-200.

thanks!

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

For me, I would go with another Z8 and the 70-200mm f/2.8. If weight or cost is an issue, the 70-180mm f/2.8 is cheaper, much lighter, has a smaller minimum focus distance and is almost as good. For animals that are too close for that lens, I use a Phone camera.

We will see on Sept 10th if the iPhone 16 has a periscope zoom to 300mm.

 

[CMS]

FYI the Safari vehicle we had last June, in several South African parks, were the adapted Toyotas….ome passenger next to the driver, then three rows of three on a raised bed behind them. Views were great but not much room. I had only my Z8 with the z180-600. I could easily have gotten away with the z70-200 to be honest, as we were quite close to everything but elephants.

thanks for your advice! so as I already have a nikon z8 and z180-600mm I think you would probably recommend me to buy another z8 and a z 70-200mm? regarding space I can give one combo to my girlfriend and then we can switch if needed...
regarding close ups: I heard now from different people that an iphone isn't bad for that. But I do also have a z 14-30mm lens. what makes more sense? to have better quality but still needing to change lenses or the iphone?

 

[Patrick M]

thanks for your advice! so as I already have a nikon z8 and z180-600mm I think you would probably recommend me to buy another z8 and a z 70-200mm? regarding space I can give one combo to my girlfriend and then we can switch if needed...
regarding close ups: I heard now from different people that an iphone isn't bad for that. But I do also have a z 14-30mm lens. what makes more sense? to have better quality but still needing to change lenses or the iphone?

Yes, I’d always recommend a 2nd camera of the same … it just makes it easier to switch without worrying about finger memory. But it makes sense if they’re for two different purposes. I use a Hasselblad for detail, landscapes, buildings etc. a very different camera but a very different purpose.

In my trips, last June, it was incredibly dusty … no way would I risk changing a lens. IF I had, but I didn’t , I’d have used the z24-120
25% on my z180-600 were at 600mm; 25% under 200mm

 

[BillW]

I did a trip to Botswana this April & May. The first piece was in the Kalahari and included Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Dinaka Reserve and Nxai Pan National Park. The second piece was in the Okavango Delta and included the Moremi Game Reserve, Camp Okavango, Chobe National Park (Savuti) and the Khwai River. Great trips.

I took a Z9 and Z8 for bodies. I had the Z 400 mm TC, Z 100-400 mm and Z 24-120 mm for lenses. I used my iPhone 14 Pro for camp shots. About 2/3s of my photos were taken with the Z 400 mm TC -- a few more with the internal TC engaged (560 mm f4) than with the bare lens (400 mm F2.8). About 1/3 of my photos were taken with the Z 100-400 mm lens, mostly when subjects were closer, bigger, or when I wanted more of the environment in the shot. I took a relatively small number of photos with the Z 24-120 mm, but I was glad to have it along. Both the Z 24-120 mm and Z 100-400 mm lenses have a good minimum focus distance for close ups of small things.

Given you have a Z8, another Z8 makes sense as a second body. You could consider renting one rather than buying one, depending on whether you would use 2 bodies after the trip. Two bodies are useful to avoid changing lenses in the field, where it is often dusty. It also gives you a backup if one body fails or is broken. The Z8 will also let you do a reasonable crop in camera or in post that can be helpful at times.

The Z 180-600 mm gives you a nice range of focal lengths. A number of people on my trip used that lens and were very happy with it. They tended to pair it with the Z 70-180 mm or the Z 24-120 mm. The Z 70-200 mm would also work well. You will get less background separation with the Z 180-600 than I got with my Z 400 mm TC, so you will want to pay attention to backgrounds.

If I were taking the Z 180-600 mm to Botswana, I'd probably pair it with the Z 24-120 and the Z 70-200, if I had space for it and was within any weight limits. (Weight and space would not have been an issue for this combo on the trips I did.) I'd also throw in a Z 2x TC that could be used with the Z 70-200, giving you a 140-400 mm f5.6 lens as a backup if the Z 180-600 were broken or failed.

Given the low light that you will likely encounter, you will want to have good noise reduction software. Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom have good choices. Topaz and DxO can be useful as well in my experience.

I do tend to think about what I would do if a given piece of gear were broken or otherwise failed on a trip. Not that you need or want two of everything, but some functional overlap is good. I've seen gear broken or otherwise fail in some remote places (Galapagos Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula) where you can't easily get it fixed or replaced.

Good luck on your trip. Botswana is a wonderful place to visit.

 

[CMS]

I must say I am really overwhelmed by so much advice and help in this forum. thank you so much!

 

[Viathelens]

I have 2Z8s, a 600PF, a 100-400,and a 25-120. This is my standard gear on any wildlife trip. Having the same cameras makes it easy to pick up and use either one.

 

[Hooligans Imagery]

While you figure out if you can actually have all this gear with you in your safari vehicle and your other use of new gear, also factor in your processing skill.
One reason I don't mind the 24-120 at f4 is it's now easy to add some small lens blur that looks pretty damn good.
In terms of the 2.8 aperature,will you really be able to get out early? Usually only 'Photo" safaris do that. Otherwise there is plenty of light in Africa.
The 70-200 is a great lens by all reports, but also know it is not light so you would have two heavy set ups.
What about flights in and out and weight restrictions?

 

[ricardo00]

While you figure out if you can actually have all this gear with you in your safari vehicle and your other use of new gear, also factor in your processing skill.
One reason I don't mind the 24-120 at f4 is it's now easy to add some small lens blur that looks pretty damn good.
In terms of the 2.8 aperature,will you really be able to get out early? Usually only 'Photo" safaris do that. Otherwise there is plenty of light in Africa.
The 70-200 is a great lens by all reports, but also know it is not light so you would have two heavy set ups.
What about flights in and out and weight restrictions?

The Nikon 70-180mm f/2.8 is almost half the weight of the 70-200mm f/2.8 (795g versus 1360 g) and not that much heavier than the 24-120 f/4). Often when we were on safari in Africa, we would be out as the sun went down, so a faster lens was useful though I rarely shot at focal lengths less than 200mm.