Kruger 2009
Daily Blog – http://www.1ds.com (I uploaded the days trip report and picture nightly)
Daily Trip report: http://www.1ds.com/wp/kruger-trip-report-2009-live/
Gallery of images so far… http://www.pbase.com/lecter/kruger_2009
The Gear:-
What worked, and what could be included, excluded or altered.
Cameras.
All of the cameras apart from the 5D2 (Which has a failed LCD, which means video is impossible) worked impeccably. The 1D3’s were attached to 500/4 IS’s for all of the trip and they performed as good as any 1D2 has in the past, with better results. The 5D2 was great, but we really want to use it to record HD video next time as many of our experiences were interactive (i.e. upset Elephants, feeding crocs, flying eagles) and video would add a dimension and perspective to many of the still shots.
The 1Ds3 was awesome on a 70-200/2.8 IS and the 5D2 performed on the 100-400/4.5-5.6. These lens / body combo’s really got a lot of use this time as we went for contextual shooting and tried to get more feel from some of the situations.
The G9 was used as the messing around camera and performed well.
Lenses
The main lenses were the 500/4 IS super telephotos. As always these performed magnificently. Both of us hand held the big guns and rested them on padded windows for a lot of the shooting.
As mentioned above the 70-200 and 100-400 were the “foil” lenses that worked off the main guns. Flawless and great results.
We had a 24-70/2.8 and 24-105/4 for other items, but Sao preferred to walk around with the G9 for the camp shots and those of the environment. I used the 24-70 a few times for some panos and wider shots.
Our decision to limit the lenses was right. We would never have used anything else.
I used the 1.4x teleconverter a lot and the 2x teleconverter “now and then”. The Macro extension tubes got used once.
Lots of talk about the 800/5.6 lens. Jury still out on this one. We did use the 1.4x a lot. Contemplating this!!
Accessories
Storage: The Colorspace UDMA’s were the primary backup. Amazing how fast they are. Certainly one can see the differences in the performance of the CF cards using this device as it tells you the download speed and you can see each picture loading. I have 500GB drives in each one, so we had plenty of room (just)
Tripod:- Oops… big mistake. Was going to do star trails, but was too tired….. Maybe next time, Perhaps not. We wasted space and weight lugging the big Gitzo and RRS ball head around.
Travel / Camera bags:- We used 2 Kiboko Bags (http://www.guragear.com ). I have longer arms as we got so much in them. (Which is a Blessing and a curse.) If travelling donkey class, sure would be a problem. We never had any issues as the bags are perfect for overhead compartments and great in the car for storing, packing and unpacking on the go. Andy says he’s looking at a wheels option which would then make them perfect. Aprt from miscellaneous chargers and stuff, all the bodies and lenses were in the Kibokos.
Internet BGAN device: (Google it!) – Amazing. This worked a treat!! Hooked up every time and allowed us to deliver a day by day vicarious safari experience to our friends and family. Also adds safety to any trip as it incorporates ISDN telephony as well. This is highly recommended, budgets allowing.
Computer:- Macbook Air. Small and portable. Needs another USB port, but otherwise perfect. Runs fast enough for lightroom to do a quick check on the days pictures and select one for the blog. I have the 128GB SSD and 1.76ghz processor.
Radios:- We bought more radios for this trip. They disappointed. Anyone with ideas for radios that are portable and work over more than 5kms please get in touch!! These really help and allow us to spread out looking for cool sightings. On more than a few occasions we were able to call each other to Leopard, Rhino and other sightings. Range and quality are the prerequisites. We have not nailed this yet.
In Summary:-
Cameras = Perfect, G9 could be replaced by an M8+ perhaps.
Lenses = good. The 24-105 could be left home.
Accessories – Storage = perfect
- Tripod – Ugh. Leave at home.
- Kiboko Bags = Perfect
- BGAN = Perfect (watch the budget)
- Computer – good. Needs more USB. Hubs suck.
- Radios – sucked. Need good options
I also used a GPS logger. Still not quite up to speed with this Geo stuff. More mucking around needed. You’ll definitely see more of my images on Google Earth!! (Panoramio has a few already)
So that’s the gear summary for Kruger 2009.
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Evaline - Grade A stuff. I’m uqneusitonably in your debt.