Lens selection for night drives in forest?

[Dennis]

I am off to Borneo for a couple of weeks in July. One week of the trip is centred in the Deramakot forest. A lot of the wildlife drives will be at night with spotlighting as the only source of light! Any one been there? What lens selection would you suggest? I am a Sony shooter, but I wouldn’t think lens selection would be too manufacturer specific?

 

[Vincent_VdB]

I do that kind of photography often in Africa and loved my 70-200mm f/2.8 for that kind of photography but had success with a 100-400mm and even a 500 and 600mm f/4 but that is more challenging.
Be ready to greatly underexpose as your sensor will be tricked. I also bring my own torch and guides know me by now that I use it wisely (Fenix TK35UE).

With the 100-400mm:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52244593741_3c26798824_b.jpg

With a 500mm f/4
https://live.staticflickr.com/922/43553599421_6c795b1c4d_b.jpg

With the 70-200mm f/2.8
https://live.staticflickr.com/857/43656599761_bae9cdfd71_b.jpg

and

https://live.staticflickr.com/840/28768669807_1ac68f5e4c_b.jpg

 

[Dennis]

Many thanks Vincent for your comments and advice. I was thinking of taking a 70-200 2.8 but I wasn't sure if it would give enough reach. The new 300mm f2.8 sounds like a great lens and would obviously give more reach but I don't like the idea of no zoom. Changing lenses in the dark doesn't thrill me either! I will give the Fenix torch a look as well. Many thanks.

 

[ricardo00]

I am off to Borneo for a couple of weeks in July. One week of the trip is centred in the Deramakot forest. A lot of the wildlife drives will be at night with spotlighting as the only source of light! Any one been there? What lens selection would you suggest? I am a Sony shooter, but I wouldn’t think lens selection would be too manufacturer specific?

I went to Borneo and we also did night drives and walks. Since it is very hot and humid, I didn't want to carry much. The lenses I used were a 70-200mm f/2.8 and a 300mm f/4 (which is an incredibly light lens). I also brought a 90mm f/2.8 macro lens. I would recommend bringing a macro lens for the insects, etc. The 300mm f/2.8 Sony lens would be great to have if you can manage it. It is an amazing place. My favorite shot was of a Tarsier, an animal I had hoped to see.
PS. My pics are on flickr if you are interested with the lenses I used:

Malaysia/Indonesia trip

Explore this photo album by ricardo00 on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

 

[Larry S.]

I went to Borneo and we also did night drives and walks. Since it is very hot and humid, I didn't want to carry much. The lenses I used were a 70-200mm f/2.8 and a 300mm f/4 (which is an incredibly light lens). I also brought a 90mm f/2.8 macro lens. I would recommend bringing a macro lens for the insects, etc. The 300mm f/2.8 Sony lens would be great to have if you can manage it. It is an amazing place. My favorite shot was of a Tarsier, an animal I had hoped to see.
PS. My pics are on flickr if you are interested with the lenses I used:

Malaysia/Indonesia trip

Explore this photo album by ricardo00 on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

Enjoyed your album Richardo..

 

[ricardo00]

Enjoyed your album Richardo..

Thanks Larry!

 

[Steve W]

Taking photos at night is where the fast glass really has the advantage. On DSLR’s it was about having a usable viewfinder image, less of a problem on ML. As good as modern cameras are, it helps not to have to push the iso too far.

 

[Dennis]

Many thanks for the comments and advice. I will definitely be taking the 70-200 for the forest night drives! Probably the 90mm macro for insects and the 200-600 for the other areas of the country we will be visiting! As always, getting everything into 7kg hand luggage will be a challenge. Also a big thank you for sharing some great images. Best wishes.

 

[ricardo00]

Many thanks for the comments and advice. I will definitely be taking the 70-200 for the forest night drives! Probably the 90mm macro for insects and the 200-600 for the other areas of the country we will be visiting! As always, getting everything into 7kg hand luggage will be a challenge. Also a big thank you for sharing some great images. Best wishes.

Thanks Dennis! Have a great time!

 

[Calson]

Important for enough light to reach the autofocus sensors of the camera and a f/2.8 or faster glass will be a better choice than a slower lens. You can practice at night around your home to see how fast the lens needs to be to have autofocus in a situation such as you expect to encounter on your trip.

I have only had my bags weighed twice in all my travels. One was for a flight from Guam to Palau and once on a seaplane going from King Salmon to Brooks Falls. I used to worry about the 7 kg limit but the reality is that unless you are straining under the weight of your bags the airline personnel do not care. A fall back is a game hunting jacket with large pockets. My Game jacket and my Domke jacket will hold a camera and 2-3 lenses and a speedlight and I can wear them onto the plane. Once on the plane the jacket is stuffed into any available nook in the overhead bins.

 

[jhallettbc]

Because I don't have a 70-200 f2.8 lens anymore, in your situation if I knew the birds were going to be quite close, I'd be taking my Nikon 105 f1.4 which is unbelievably sharp. On DX I'd have 157 mm. On a recent trip to Kerala, India I needed my 500 PF on my Z9 to get some good shots of owls at night using spotlighting. Here is an example which was quite heavily cropped. Says something about that camera and lens combination.

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

 

[O]

I am off to Borneo for a couple of weeks in July. One week of the trip is centred in the Deramakot forest. A lot of the wildlife drives will be at night with spotlighting as the only source of light! Any one been there? What lens selection would you suggest? I am a Sony shooter, but I wouldn’t think lens selection would be too manufacturer specific?

I use the 70-200 FL or my 300 2.8 VR II both work exceptionally well even with the 1.4 TC III.
Both lenses at F2.8 are absolutely stunning.
Usually I would preferably use a D6 if ISO was a extreme issue.
I would also consider renting anything i really needed if possible.
The rental cost versus trip cost makes it worth while.

Only an opinion