The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Using m4/3 on safari

Rich M

Member
Didn't mean it to sound that way, Just more info to give more detail on how
i made the m4/3 choice.
Terry....after my trip to SA, I just figured that if I needed a 600mm lens, then the subject was just too far away. I saw LOTS of encumbered photographers.

You made a wise choice.

R
 

Paratom

Well-known member
some weeks ago there was also an intersting read on LL from a photographer bringing a GH2 and a S2 to a safari.
 

Terry

New member
Terry....after my trip to SA, I just figured that if I needed a 600mm lens, then the subject was just too far away. I saw LOTS of encumbered photographers.

You made a wise choice.

R
I found 300mm (600mm) didn't go very far and there are many of my highest rated shots at that distance. It helped me a lot to focus in on what I really wanted in the shot. I also got a number of interesting bird shots using ETC so I was shooting at 1200mm. Now, if I didn't have a guide that was amazing with birds or a traveling companion that wasn't into birds, I probably wouldn't have taken the shots, but now that I have them, I'm glad I do.

By the way, the way we did this trip, we had the same guide and truck for the entire 15 days.
 
Last edited:
J

jrob

Guest
I'm new here but I'd love to see some of those bird shots when you get a moment Terry :thumbup:
 

Terry

New member
Over the weekend I'm going to move all of the files to my mac pro and will post more on the forum and also get the galleries up on my website. Stay tuned!
 

ggibson

Well-known member
Thanks for sharing, Terry. Really great set of images, and it sounds like a wonderful experience!
 

Roel

New member
Terry,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on your African safari. I am off soon to Africa (3rd time) myself... l am taking a Nikon (D3s) kit plus some new Samsung NX goodies with me. I will share my experience with both systems when I get back.

Looking forward to seeing more of your images!
 

Terry

New member
I'm working on the galleries but in the meantime there are a number of non gallery worthy shots that were part of the experience. I've decided to write about the experiences and use those pictures in the blog to illustrate.

The first is about the three different cheetah kills that we saw....yes I'm told seeing one is extraordinary. Seeing three was unbelievable.

http://www.terrybanet.com/?p=305
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
Great shots Terry! really lovely! Plus you made a lot out of m43!!!!

Having said that - for sure everyone has his/her own preferences - after shooting m43 myself and after reading all your feedback and findings, end of the day I would go for a FF DSLR when going on Safari.

Reasons are simple - because I would want shallower DOF and the advantages of higher ISO in combination with those larger sensors.

PLUS - and I come more and more to this conclusion again, I simply prefer OVF versus EVF. But as m43 considers to be so great because of offering either LCD composition or EVF composition, this is actually the biggest restriction for me if I want to do serious photography, I have done lot of game drives in Africa most times with APSC sized sensors from D1, D200, Eos 60D etc. with great results in combination with 70-200/2.8 and 100-400, but I would really go for FF if I have the possibility to go on Safari again.

Many thanks for all your feedback here and all your open mind - really enjoyed that!

Best

Peter
 

raist3d

Well-known member
I'm working on the galleries but in the meantime there are a number of non gallery worthy shots that were part of the experience. I've decided to write about the experiences and use those pictures in the blog to illustrate.

The first is about the three different cheetah kills that we saw....yes I'm told seeing one is extraordinary. Seeing three was unbelievable.

http://www.terrybanet.com/?p=305
That was an interesting read. Part of the reason I ask "which ones specifically?" when people say "there are many lessons to learn from animals" :)

- Raist
 

ustein

Contributing Editor
>end of the day I would go for a FF DSLR when going on Safari

Besides the cost there is the size and weight to consider.
 

Terry

New member
That was an interesting read. Part of the reason I ask "which ones specifically?" when people say "there are many lessons to learn from animals" :)

- Raist
I'm not sure I learned a lot of lessons from the animals. What I found fascinating was seeing the interdependencies in the ecosystem and how different species behave.

Simple little things like the oxpeckers that eat the bugs on the animals and the egrets that tag along beside the buffalo that eat the insects dislodged from the bushes and grasses as the buffalo eat.

Fascinating to watch the decision making process in a wildebeest crossing and how once the first one decides to go that there is mayhem as hundreds or thousands go along. They know there are crocs waiting to eat them and the ensuing mayhem seems to always drown a few.... or sadly to watch three small wildebeests risk everything swim back to the other side because they were separated from their mother and they are looking for her.

The impalas have their own thing going with the females separating from the males except for one dominant male that stays with the group. All of the bachelors vie to be the dominant bachelor in the group to then challenge the male in the female group.
 

Terry

New member
Great shots Terry! really lovely! Plus you made a lot out of m43!!!!

Having said that - for sure everyone has his/her own preferences - after shooting m43 myself and after reading all your feedback and findings, end of the day I would go for a FF DSLR when going on Safari.

Reasons are simple - because I would want shallower DOF and the advantages of higher ISO in combination with those larger sensors.

PLUS - and I come more and more to this conclusion again, I simply prefer OVF versus EVF. But as m43 considers to be so great because of offering either LCD composition or EVF composition, this is actually the biggest restriction for me if I want to do serious photography, I have done lot of game drives in Africa most times with APSC sized sensors from D1, D200, Eos 60D etc. with great results in combination with 70-200/2.8 and 100-400, but I would really go for FF if I have the possibility to go on Safari again.

Many thanks for all your feedback here and all your open mind - really enjoyed that!

Best

Peter
Everyone has valid points and are looking to get something different from the experience. As I stated I knew that a 17x22 animal portrait had an extremely low probability of hanging on the wall and that environmental landscape + animals were more important to me and that was a big factor in my decision making process.

Where I do kick myself is having too shallow a DOF on some critical shots. In trying to keep the ISO low and the shutter speed high I was shooting more wide open and at 600mm I could have actually used some more DOF. So, from that perspective I will disagree a bit and say that full frame actually makes getting good enough DOF even harder and puts even more pressure on lens choices. I really thing 600mm is a must. You can get away with a 100-400 lens on a crop sensor but on on full frame you will feel like there isn't enough reach. 600mm lenses don't come cheap to either buy or rent.
 

Terry

New member
Wow, really exciting stuff Terry... you were really lucky with the cheetahs!

Cheers

Brian
Thanks we were. Another member of our group got the nickname of Leopard magnet because every time he went out it seemed like he saw a leopard.

Other rare finds that we had were caracals and a serval. Our guides have only seen a caracal a few times in their career. Our particular guide was a bird genius and we found so many. I had a wildlife book with me and we checked things as we saw them....more than 175 species and about 100 were different birds....now birding is a whole different story in needing a long lens! Needless to say....I gave up on a bunch of them we nicknamed bird dots....they looked way better in my binoculars than on my sensor.
 
Terry,

Looking at the wild life pix that win the competitions I seem to feel that most of them are shot against the light, i.e. with the light behind the animal rather than behind the photographer.

This is alien to the run-of-the-mill tracker/guide who always prefers to be in a position where the animal is facing the light.

The shots you post in starting this thread are all with the light behind the camera. Now you have had time to work through your 10,000 images do have you found any keepers shot into the light/sun.

This is not a suggestion that your shots are not good - just a wonder, since you have so many to choose from, as to whether where the light is does make a difference.

Lovely pix for all that.

Tony
 

Terry

New member
I tried where I could to get some cross lighting. We didn't do much backlighting by choice. I was traveling with a birder who really wanted to get good detail and catchlight in the birds eyes which really needs them facing the light.

 
Top