I never handled a K1 save a sample model inside a photo shop. Thus I wont comment about using the K1 for an african safari.
But I have been to north Tanzania in september 2016: Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Grumeti river and Olduvaï gorge, Manyara lake and Tarangire.
I was traveling with my son and daughter.
We had a stretched Toyota 4x4 with a private driver/guide for the three of us, and spent most of the time standing inside the car under the popping roof. We had a few walks with Masaï warriors in the Olduvaï gorge and with rangers at Grumeti river.
September was the end of dry season, hence the grass was low, which made it easier to see the wildlife, and there was plenty of light.
Wildlife was as well close to the car (lions having a nap in the shade alongside our car or even below the next car, elephants or gnus crossing the road alongside our car, hippo bathing in a nearby pond) as very far away.
My son and I had a K3. My daughter had borrowed my K30 (same camera as K50). My son and I mainly used the HD DA55-300 (the 2015 version with screwdriven AF), completed by one wider zooms (DA 18-135 for me, DA 17-70 for my son). I also had in my bag a high end compact (Fuji X10) as my second camera, which allowed me to shoot snapshots of close wildlife when the 55-300 was too narrow and I had no time to switch lenses. The only prime I used was DA35 f2.4 for low light landscapes, but it proved almost useless (much too wide) for wildlife nightshots.
On K30, my daughter used a cheap all plastic lens, FA 100-300 f4.7-5.8, that I had since the film era and which did the job. She used a high end compact (Panasonic LF1) when she needed to go wider.
My son shot raw only and PP in DXO, I shot mostly JPEG (with Pentax bright or landscape default JPEG settings), saving the raw (DNG) when I thought I might not be happy with the JPEG (high contrast or backlit scenes for instance), and PP in Lightroom, my daughter shot only JPEG and PP in Picasa (she is a software developer and doesnt want to spend much time in PP).
With our Pentax gear, we mostly shot in T-Av mode , around 1/800-1/1000 at f6.3-f8 (depth of field is shallow on focal length longer than 100mm, and you dont want only the eye to be in focus).
We didnt carry any tripod nor beanbag, shooting handheld with the DA55-300 and FA100-300, which are not heavy and rather compact.
Our experience was that we needed the driver not only to stop the car, but also the engine, otherwise there was too much shake and vibrations to steady our framing and get sharp shots.
If you can afford it, I would recommand to upgrade from K50 to KP or K3, mainly for much improved AF: - K30/K50 AF is reliable only with the center AF point: the other AF are too few and too wide, they will never AF on your target if there is a closer twig in their area. And the AF-C tracking performance is poor.
- K3 and KP share the same AF engine, with, I guess, a more efficient software in the newer KP. All the 25 AF points in K3/KP work well. Our preferred setting is back button AF only, with the camera set to AF-C. The AF-C can track moving targets in the Z axis (=depth, target coming towards the camera or going away), using any of the 25 cross AF points, thus allowing better framing and more accurate focus, provided the photographer manages to keep the AF point on the target (tracking). The K3 AF-C is poor and unreliable at tracking the target across the frame (X and Y axis), the photographer can outperform it easily.
- I would give a look to the DA 55-300 f4-5.8 PLM, according to most reviewers, it is said that its AF-C tracking performance on KP is close to the Canikon competition in the same price range. This lens is rather cheap, designed to shoot hand held, very compact (it is a collapsible design), and WR.
- There was a lot of dust and I got dust on sensor almost everytime I switched lenses outside. The K3 and KP use an ultrasonic efficient dust removal engine, which cleans the sensor without removing the lens in a few seconds, and has a nice dust detection feature to check, whereas the K30/K50 use the SR mechanism, which is rather uneffective.
- The 24 MP in K3/KP allow more cropping for distant wildlife than the 16MP K30/K50;
- FF would be useful for low light or subject separation, but of course APS-C offers a longer reach with the same lenses, and is really cheaper: buying the 55-300 PLM and a KP with kit lens will cost less than a K1 body alone and be much more.
- If you really want to go the K1 route, I would suggest to buy it with the compact 28-105 f3.5-5.6 which is highly praised by its users and would make a very nice FF two zooms kits with your Sigma 150-500. I guess the K1 AF is on par or better than KP AF, and the 15 MP in crop mode on K1 will allow you to get this AF performance with any Pentax APS-C recent lens, like the 55-300 PLM.
- Unless you are on a tight budget, I suggest you keep the K50, which would not sell for much, and could be quite useful as a second body with a wide angle lens you already have or transtandard zoom (DA 16-85 or 18-135 or 20-40 limited for instance).
- You do need something wider than 100mm, it doesnt need to be high grade, as you wont be shooting architecture, but you will appreciate to cover the 18-100 field of view in APS-C (28-150 FF). It may be a transtandard zoom on your K50 as a second body, or a high end compact like Sony RX100.
Some samples from my flickr gallery; feel free to browse for more: Lioness and cubs promenade by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr Savannah landscape with impalas by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr Buffalo with cattle egret and calf, pelicans and ibis by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr Red and yellow barbets - Manyara picnic area by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr Pelicans landscape - Manyara lake by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr Savannah sunset by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr Giraff by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr Hiking to sunset belvedere by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr Watching Olduvaï sunset by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr Elephants gathering at the river by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr Elephant coming close by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr Baobabs are really big! by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr Cheetah, Serengeti by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr Leopard, Serengeti by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr Serengeti lioness yawning by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr Ngorongoro lions do come very close by Denis Bousquet, sur Flickr
A link to a sample of my son's photography; many more in free access if you browse his flickr gallery: Wildlife landscape by Nicolas, sur Flickr
A link to a sample from my daughter flickr gallery. As it is not BB-code, if it doesnt work, her user name is Caroline Bousquet and her pseudo Ya Pompon. Feel free to browse. IMGP0982 | Tanzanie | Ya Pompon | Flickr
My last tip is to train a few times before the trip: you wont have time to fiddle with the menus and settings during the safaris, it must be automatic so that you can concentrate on the wildlife and the framing.
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