Safari Lens

I have a K100D with the kit lens. I will be heading to Namibia in Autumn.

I am new to photography but would like to upgrade the lens to something more suitable for wildlife photos while on safari. Also, I will have to travel light so cannot bring a large quiver of lenses/equipment.

Any recommendations?

Sigma 135-400mm APO. A brilliant affordable lens for your requirements. Roughly 200-600mm on a DSLR and great for animals with big teeth (you can stay well away). Oh, you'll also need one for insects, say a 100mm Macro. Then again you'll need something different for the landscapes (12-24mm or 16-45mm).

Moral: You really can't do it all with one lens, not even the 50-500mm Sigma (if you could get one).

Good luck,

Something "more suitable for wildlife" probably means something pretty long, which won't be much use for "normal" photography. So keep your 18-55, and buy a telephoto (prime or zoom). If budget is an issue, get the Samsung 50-200 from Jacobs for £50.00.

http://www.jacobsdigital.co.uk/index.php?target=products&product_id=174261

Alternatively get a longer tele-zoom like the Pentax 80-320. You've got plenty of time to find one on Ebay.

G

I took my Tamron 28-300 to Tanzania. I only took one lens because of the dust - and it will also be bad in Namibia.
I found the 300 to be too short, which is why I invested in the Sigma 50-500(Bigma). That will be my safari lens next year.
If you can't get the Bigma then the Sigma 170-500 or 135-400 would be good alternatives, plus a wide angle lens. Be very careful changing lenses though - the dust in Africa gets into everything.
For wide angle landscapes I stitched photos which worked just fine, though I didn't take many - the animals were my main subject.

I've never been on safari, but what wildlife photography I have done has lead me to the conclusion that 300mm is an absolute minimum for this sort of thing.

When I go hiking with intent to photograph things, I pack the following:

K10D with 80-320 and Tamron 90mm SP macro with matched doubler. This deals with the wildlife.

*ist DL2 with 18-55 kit lens. This deals with the landscapes.

I'm planning to get something in the 500mm range to replace the 80-320 though, either the 170-500 or just maybe if I can find the cash then the Sigma 100-300 F4 constant with a 1.4x converter.

I use the Sigma 135-400 on Safari all the time (3 or 4 times a year) with a tamron 18-200 for the evenings. I find that they handle the environment really well and with that range you are not changing lenses all the time so you can keep the dust out of the camera better.

If you set the K10D to clean the sensor every time you turn it on you should have few if any problems.

Rodger I am so envious of you - safari 3-4 times a year wow. I am so looking forward to going again next year. My once in a lifetime trip is going to be at least a twice in a lifetime trip. Africa has worked it's way into my heart.
When I win the lottery I will be of to Africa all the time

sligomd has a K100d not a K10D so soesn't have the dust removal system.
I agree he has to choose a lens that can stay on the camera - I saw one guy in Tanzania trying to change lenses to get a shot of a cheetah. By the time he'd succeded the cheetah was gone. He didn't even try and change lenses in his camera bag, just whipped the lens off, not even pointing the camera down. He was in another jeep to us, but staying at the same camp - the next day he was complaining about the dust on his sensor ruining his photos. Duh!