Originally Posted by
Pausanias
I'm interested to know what equipment you will be taking. Personally I've become a bit fed up with lugging those high-end, full-frame Canons and associated lenses around - my camera bag always weighs more than my luggage. For my forthcoming Galapagos/Amazon trip I'm downsizing massively to match my wife's camera - a Nikon5300 with just two lenses (10-20mm/18-200mm) because the wildlife just sits there begging to have their pictures taken. I think the same applies to gorillas - they just sit there, gurning, munching and farting, and all you'll need is a 35mm lens.
This is the area I get in the most trouble with, as my camera equipment is also significantly heavier than my luggage. I suffer fear of missing out....on a photograph, so feel the need to take almost everything with me - LEE filters included. Every time I mention a new lens, I can feel the glares from across the room slowly forcing me into backtracking, as often there is overspill and she needs to help carry something. So now I just throw stupid ideas out there and we compromise by going with my originally intended plan.
I was thinking of renting a 600mm as we're in Tanzania before and heading to Kenya afterwards, and on previous safaris I've found my 100-400mm not capable of bringing enough detail. Seeing that the 600mm weighs more than me, that idea was vetoed, but I managed to get onto the packing list: 16-35mm, 24-70mm (my default these days), 100-400mm and 70-200mm. I'll probably take the 24-70mm and 70-200mm on the gorilla trekking. I've also decided to try the 1.4 Extender for the other safaris. Reviews are very mixed, but only one way to really find out, and it does mean I don't have to spend 6 months non-stop at the gym to hold a 600mm.
FYI we are heading to the Galapagos just before you (mid December, I believe you're in January/Feb), so I can let you know how the photography went.