Leaving next Thursday and still trying to decide which one I should bring along.
We are traveling to Uganda, (Shoebills, Gorillas and chimps first week), next will be road trip to a Rhinos reserve and Kidepo were you find the typical Savanah big game...
Should I be a fool leaving the 400 2.8 at home?, should I better leave the 400-800?.
I've only done game drives in Namibia. I brought the 100-400 and it was sufficient. There were times when I wanted faster glass in early morning and in blue hour shooting, but not necessarily longer glass. The suggestion for the 70-200/2.8 and 100-400 fits the bill. A 1.4x extender may be useful too.
Mucho Betis wrote:
I´ve decided to take the 400-800 only, hope I´m doing right and don´t miss the 400 2.8 once I am there.
If you're anything like me, you'll miss it. Then you'll figure out how to make the shot work with the 400-800 (even if that means accepting a higher ISO and/or shooting a tighter frame to keep the bokeh from getting distracting) and move on.
I have not done any gorilla shooting but twice to Africa on safari. For bids, especially small birds, you need a long lens, longer than 400mm. And the last time to Namibia and South Africa, I took my GM 400mm f//2.8. Occasionally, I put the 1.4X TC. I also took my GM 70-200mm f/2.8 II and both lenses performed well. Again, based on my experience and your situation may be different...
I did Bwindi a couple years ago and was encouraged to only bring a 70-200, which worked out great as you are in the impenetrable forest. Also, you’ll hire porters to carry your gear so, the extra weight of another lens isn’t an issue. Great experience
Timkr wrote:
I did Bwindi a couple years ago and was encouraged to only bring a 70-200, which worked out great as you are in the impenetrable forest. Also, you’ll hire porters to carry your gear so, the extra weight of another lens isn’t an issue. Great experience
p.1 #10 · Sony 400-800 or 400 2.8 for Africa Trip?
You can probably make due with a single zoom. I'd personally go with the 200-600 for the faster aperture.
I went to Botswana last year and there were a lot of birds, so I rented the 600 f/4 and even used the 1.4TC occasionally. I never really needed longer than 400mm for everything but birds on safari.
If it was me, I'd try to take the 70-200 f/2.8 and 400 2.8, but I know that's a lot of weight and we all have different priorities. I used a 70-200 f/2.8 and 600 f/4 combo in Africa and it worked great for me. If I was at another location targeting more larger game, or in rainforest type location, I'd do a 70-200/400 f/2.8 combo.
