Wildlife Camera - additional question

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David M-J

David M-J

New member
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Hi everyone,

I posted a thread a while ago regarding a wildlife camera to take to Costa Rica and received some very good suggestions and support. The Nikon D500 and 200-500 lens were running at the top of the list.

Due to a life affirming event we may now be going to Botswana instead. So my question is whether or not this should change my decision on the choice of camera? After this it will be mainly used in the UK.

Any suggestions for lens would be of use too.

Thanks in advance.

David
 
Member's gallery
Your current rig has many pleased owners in southern Africa. However, you need a shorter zoom eg 18-55 G DX or Nikon 16-80mm f/2.8-4G - assuming you plan to stay with the DX camera. Depending on a budget a 18-55 and 70-300 AFP are also good choices for IQ and versatility. If you need wider, perhaps 10-24 DX. And I always have redundancy - ie a telephoto pair if the one's AF dies or it's dropped etc. This small kit is well within the stricter weight restrictions for a smaller plane.

also see https://dslrbodies.com/lenses/lens-articles/choosing-lenses/rationalizing-zoom-lens.html and he's fond of essays on how to safari eg http://bythom.com/photographic-travel/africa/
I also suggest to seek out a good safari guidebook or more that is of sound credentials in natural history. We do not yet have the equivalent of the Neotropical Companion, but there are several eg Dick Estes' Safari Companion on Mammal behaviour, or Wild Ways by Peter Apps. Of course there is a vast literature on our continent, contemporary (eg Tim Butcher's Blood River) as well as other classics. This includes the growing releases of memoirs of the Winds of Change era (ie post WW2), as well as more fictional titles. Arguably Robert Ruark's Something of Value inaugurated this genre. Some of the recent histories eg of FC Selous, von Lettow-Vorbeck, Stanley are excellent
 
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