Kruger National Park

[amgbda]

Hi Benredikk,

I spent 5 days at Kruger in September 2017. Here are some things to consider

1. Are you staying at a Private Reserve and going out on game drives with a guide and tracker? There are public parts of the park (open to the private concessionaires) but you have to keep to the public main roads if you self drive. This means you can’t control how close you get to the wildlife. The private concessions are closed to the public.

2. The answer to 1. will influence the choice of equipment. We stayed at a private concession run by Singita (Sweni Lodge). This meant that we were able to go “off track” in a purpose built Land Rover.

3. Equipment taken by me was as follows:
1DX MkII body
1 DX body
L Series 100-400 f4 - f 5.6 IS II
L Series 70-200 f2.8 IS II
Leica D-Lux
1.4x Canon extender

4. The 1 DX was a back up but my daughter used it full time (rather than keeping it in the bag). I used the 1 DX Mark II with the 100-400 and she used the 1 DX with the 70-200 and the 1.4 extender.

5. We hand held for all shots. I took a Gitzo monopod and gimbal head along for the ride - waste of time. Didn’t worry about bean bags etc. The compact Leica worked brilliantly. Used it for the wider angle shots - way quicker and less fiddling around than using a wide angle lens/zoom on an SLR - could stuff it in a pocket.

6. I never felt that I needed more reach - even for birds in flight (way the most difficult and fun to shoot). The key though is an experienced guide / tracker as they will know where to position you for the best opportunities. If you see a kill there’s also an order in which the predator animals and birds arrive at the scene which will influence the opportunity to get the shots you want.

Hope this has been helpful - photos to follow.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Benredikk]

Hi!

Thanks for your input! We will be staying at the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve (Shindzela Camp) so I guess it will be quite similar to your stay in Kruger. Looking at the pictures below it seem like it went well with the equipment you brought - great shots!

I actually ended up with a 80D instead of the 7D II. Not yet convinced if that was correct but a great sale on the 80D was to good for me not to try it. Except for the AF and build it seems like the 80D actually isn´t a bad choice compered to the 7D. I have also traded the 2x TC for a 1.4 III which I am planning to use with the 80D and 70-200 II. I´ll be keeping the 5D with the 24-70 for landscape and close ups.

I thougt about bringing on a monopod, bean bag etc but I take your word for it and leave it at home. Less to carry around:-)

Still not sure if this is the right setup or if I should go and buy another FF instead, the 100-400, difficult....

BR
Kenneth