Originally posted by woodworm Hi, nice shots - It would be nice to see some more, maybe you would post all several hundred
or if you have a link to a gallery ...
I'm going to Zambia next year and would be interested in what equipment you took with you and what you found useful (or not!).
The actual number of shots from that trip is a bit over a thousand... Setting up a gallery somewhere might really be a good idea !
My two weeks there doesn´t make me an authority by any means. But I did learn something...
I used all kind of lenses from extreme wideangle to the longest telephoto I have. If you travel that far- an provided you don´t have to carry your equipment all the time - it does make sense to have a set of lenses covering the bigger part of the range. For wildlife shots you will need good-quality glass in the 200mm-400mm range. My mostly used lens was a 300mm/2,8 telephoto, combined with a 1,4 x or 2 x teleconverter when needed. The environment is full of surprises,you really need to stay alert to seize the moment. Things just happen, often resulting in awkward shooting positions, having to shoot from a moving car etc. You need to be able to react quickly. I found my tripod nearly useless for wildlife photo ( but very useful for landscapes). A monopod proved to be absolutely irreplaceable, a bean bag is also a good choise for long lenses.
For the same reason I found it convenient to work with two bodies. This way you minimise the time wasted for changing lenses. You still do have to change them every now and then. The conditions are often extremely dusty, so better be very careful in doing this ! No matter what you do, sooner or later you end up having dust on the sensor, so better practice cleaning it already at home. In the wilderness there is no one else to do it for you.
One more thing crossed my mind. Power. The camps in remote places have diesel generators insted of fixed power lines. Therefore power interruptions are not uncommon, and may last for hours. Always have enought charged batteries and memory cards to keep you going for another day if needed.
I am sure Zambia will be an unforgettable experience ! Nature in Africa is absolutely fantastic, while in the cities the massive social problems can be quite distracting.