On my first safari tour to Maasai Mara and Amboseli National Parks in Kenya, I was highly disadvantaged after I realized that the camera and the lenses I had carried were not sufficient enough to take great photos. But as we passed other photographers on our game drive, most of who were tourists from different countries, I observed that many of them had done their homework well and carried cameras and lenses just proper for the expedition.

Planning and packaging camera lenses for a safari tour can be a bit challenging since there are many factors that you need to consider. To start with, a safari tour can be undertaken for two main reasons. First, you can take the safari purely for pleasure, which brings in the issue of a holiday, or you can undertake the trip for professional purposes where you need to take photos for commercial or professional purposes. Even for the later purpose, a bit of pleasure is involved and the two purposes will require almost the same considerations while packing the cameras and lenses.

Let’s look into some of the factors to consider in planning and packing camera lenses for a safari tour and what lenses you should carry.

Factors to consider

The first factor you should consider is your destination. If you live near your destination and you have the liberty the carry as much luggage as you can, then you may consider heavy equipment. But if you have to travel by air to your safari location, then you should remember that many airlines will only allow you 20 to 30 kilograms of luggage. Some cameras and lenses can weigh as much as 20 kilos! This will leave you with no space for your personal stuff like cloths etc.

Another important factor to consider is your target subjects. If you are interested in landscapes and not animals, then you will need certain type of lens and vice versa.

Another factor to consider is the cost. Though it will be a great idea to capture photos of certain chimpanzees that often live on high places like hills and tall trees using the best telephoto lenses, it may not be worthy if you have to deplete all your resources to acquire one of those long muzzles. One option you may go for is hiring a lens or buying one but reselling it on your return.

Lenses to carry

As we mentioned above, selections of lenses depends on many factors. However, here is a general guideline on lens selection for a safari tour.

If you are not carrying DSLR camera and instead you have a compact digital camera, then you won’t have to worry much about the lenses but resolution. These cameras have digital lenses that can get close to far objects. However, they may not give you the sharpness that you require. There are good point-and-shoot cameras that come with powerful superzoom lenses which also have wide angle capabilities. These cameras can assure you good photos unless you need to take better photos where you need to use a DSRL with various detachable lenses. Jon Hill, a renowned safari tours photographer agrees with the use of superzooms and compact digital cameras but warns that one must always use a tripod to stabilizers to increase sharpness and reduce noisy in high ISO.

Your DSLR often comes with an 18-55 or 18-70 mm zoom lenses. These are basic lenses and will take good for landscape photography or for taking photos of subjects that are close by like a herd of elephants. You can couple this with wide angle zoom lenses like 10-20mm, 12-24mm, 14-24mm, 16-35mm, or 17-40mm. However, if you have to take photos of distance subjects like chimps, you need to acquire a powerful telephoto lens like a 70-200 or 70-300 mm. Canon has got 100-400 mm zoom lens which will also give excellent result but comes at a cost.

In my recent interview with a Kenyan wildlife photographer Mr. Samuel Kirimi, an issue of packing lenses for a safari came up. Mr. Kirimi told me that he prefers prime lenses like wide angle prime e.g. 14mm, 21mm, or 24mm. Kirimi also said that one can have a normal prime, e.g. 35mm or 50mm, and a medium telephoto prime, e.g. 85mm or 135mm, adding that these lenses will ensure great sharpness though one has to physically move closer to the subjects.

Final take

Even as you plan and pack your cameras and lenses for a safari tour, don’t forget to carry a good easily portable tripod to stabilize your camera. It is also advisable to carry two cameras just in case one breaks down or you need to capture a quick action which one camera may not help within the time frame.

	Quick read: In packing lenses for a safari tour, you should consider these factors: your destination, target subjects and the affordability of your lenses.  If you don’t have a DSLR camera you may carry a compact digital camera whose lenses can get close to far objects. However, they may not give you the sharpness that you require Your DSLR often comes with an 18-55 or 18-70 mm zoom lenses. These are basic lenses and will take good for landscape photography or for taking photos of subjects that are close by  if you have to take photos of distance subjects like chimps, you need to acquire a powerful telephoto lens like a 70-200 or 70-300 mm

Photos by Dr Caesar Sengupta / Fotosocial