Cheryl sent me an email recently. She said she was taking the “once in a lifetime” African safari and wanted my advice on lenses.
This is an easy question to answer since I’ve led many trips to Africa to photography animals and birds. I also know how crazy it can be when packing for a place you’ve never visited.
My equipment list is pretty easy:
- Telephoto zoom lens in the 500mm range. I recommend a zoom over a fixed lens because the animals get pretty close on a safari. I like to zoom back to get the full animal in the frame. Zoom out to 500mm to get just the face of a lion but zoom back to get the full body. I found when I took my fixed 500mm lens that I came home with a lot of photos of part of the animal.
- Wide angle lens for general things in the 24-105mm range. This is a good lens to take photos around the lodge. It’s a great lens for taking photos of family, friends, or food. Also a nice lens for landscapes and sunsets.
- Super wide angle lens for grand landscapes. That would be a 16-35mm for a full sensor camera or a 10-22mm for a cropped sensor camera. This is a wonderful lens for photographing the vastness of Africa.
- Circular polarizing filter for the super wide angle lens. Be sure to buy the filter based on the filter size of the lens. The best circular polarizers are the Singh-Ray Lighter Brighter Neutral Thin circular polarizer. Be sure to get the “thin” filter so the edges don’t show in the photo.
I suggested Cheryl rent any of the lenses is she didn’t already own them. Renting a lens is a great way to give it a test run.
Cheryl was smart and rented the lens several weeks before her trip. She used it at a local wildlife refuge as a pre-safari test run. Then she rented it again for the actual safari.
I hope this helps if you have an African safari in the near future. Ask any questions below.
I’m leading a safari to Tanzania in May 2024. The dates are May 16-30, 2024. We’ve already booked our flights so this is a trip ready to go. Join us if you’d like. More details at Tanzania Photo Safari with Strabo Photo Tour Collection.
Here are some photos from my previous trips:
Kathy Adams Clark 