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 
And here I was all excited to take that shiny new RF 1200 along….. lol as if.
Your post makes perfect sense. I usually use my EF 500 f/4 for birds, but I rarely shoot big animals, here in the Pacific NorthWet. That said, While it is a tad bit less good than the 500, I have loved my Tamron 150-600 G2–got it within a month of its release, full warranty, for $300 below MSRP! Hoping to start taking some guided trips, but need to wait until my rental house sells, to be adequately funded… (thanks for the last entry–about the R5, which I also ordered on its release date.
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I know people who love their Tamron and Sigma zooms. I stopped using my 500mm f/4 once I got the 100-400mm II Canon zoom years ago. The 100-500mm RF with the 1.4x is my go-to these days. Haven’t missed my 500mm since I sold it. Thanks for the comment! Love those birds in the Pacific Northwest!
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