SANParks.org Forums

There is some nice equipment out there among the forum..

My equipment is as follows

Canon EOS 300
Canon 28 - 80mm std lens
Sigma 70 -300mm AF
Sigma 170 - 500mm AF
Canon 550ex ETTL Flash
Extension Cable for flash
Canon Cable Release
Tripod & Monopod
Homemade Beanbag.

Saving for the Canon 20D, I like it, I like it alot.

I am ashamed to say, seeing that the rest of the bunch all have big cameras with hundreds of lenses. I only have a Minolta Dimage Z3, with 12x optical zoom. It works really well, is real easy to operate and are light and easy to carry around. Got great photo's last week in Kruger, without any fuss! Great little camera, I recommend it to any first time digital camera user.

Re the multiple plate car/mains charger...

Unfortunately I can't find a brand name on the charger itself but I bought it at a camera shop in Eastgate Shopping Centre in Bedfordview (15 mins drive from Joburg Airport). It has a switching mains adapter, suitable for voltages from 100-240v (it has a 2 pin plug) and a 12v cigarette adapter. It cost about R300 with extra plates at around R50. The first plate was supplied with the charger.

It's a natty bit of kit and works perfectly - I will never travel without it! When I only had the camcorder, I had a Hahnel charger, which also worked fine, but unfortunately, they didn't use interchangeable plates and therefore I would have had to carry the canon charger separately. This was a perfect solution to the problem.

Here's a different make on sale in the UK - cheaper, but I don't know if it will work on US mains voltage...

As I (and others) have said before, it's not so much what you use as how you use it. The eye of the photographer matters as much (or even more) than the hardware. And being comfortable with your camera is very, very important, too. So please don't ever feel "ashamed". Fancy camera equipment is no guarantee of good pix. And making the most of simple equipment is, IMNSHO, definitely the mark of a fine photographer!

Thanks Arks for the info on how to input "quotes" and Krok for the details and link for the bit of kit.

Our kit:
Cameras:
Canon
EOS 10D
EOS 5
EOS 100
EOS 600

Nikon Coolpix 3100

Lenses:
Canon;
100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS USM
75-300mm f4.0-5.6 IS USM
75-300mm f4.0-5.6 USM
17-40mm f4L
35-105mm f4-5.6 USM
35-70mm f3.5-4.5
Sigma;
24-50mm f4-5.6
500mm f7.2 APO
Jessops 2x converter

Flash:
Canon 580EX & 430EZ

Manfrotto Tripod & Monopod

Various Filters

Beanbags

Aluminum Case, Hama Track Pack & Hippo Camera Bag

Dell Laptop

Worldwide Insurance

We are in the process of downsizing.

All equipment recently purchased. Previously used Canon Powershot A20.

Canon 350D (Silver casing)
Canon 18-55mm lens (Std)
Sigma 170-500mm AF APO

512Mb CF Ultra II card
1GB CF Ultra II card
Vosonix VP 3310 X-Drive Pro 40Gb

Africa Beanbag (purchased, easier seeing I'm so lazy)
Ergorest tripod with Manfrotto 322RC head

Still looking around for some more toys

[edit] Add memory card and windowrest [edit]

Newbie adding my meager list.

Started off with a Pentax K1000 & ProgramA, motordrive, various lenses.
Got angel hooked with a HP Photosmart 850.

Graduated to Nikon D70, Kit 18-70 lense, 300mm G, 60mm Macro, SB600 Flash, 2 x 1 Gig cards, decent laptop, etc. Various Filters, Tripods, Bean Bags.

Favourite lense 60mm Macro Nikkor - the best!

Hi, here our equipment:
Canon EOS 1D MKII

Canon 100-400
Canon 70-200 f4
Canon 24-70 F2.8
Canon 17-40 f2.8
Canon 28-135
Canon 100 f2.8 macro
Canon 50 f1.4
Canon Extender 1.4x
BW Circular Pol filter 77mm
Canon Speedlite 420EX
Canon Cable release

2X Sandisk Ultra II 1 Giga
Microdrive IBM 1 Giga
XDrive 40 Giga

Canon battery reserve NP-E3

Manfrotto Tripod 055PRO
Manfrotto ballhead 468 RC
Manfrotto Monopod 681B
Manfrotto Head 234RC

Bag Tamrag Daypack 752
Neckstrap Op-tech Pro

Beanbag: We use a self made system:
we put on the windows of the car a foam pipe (normally used for isolation of central heating pipes)
We fixe them with medical tape
This is a very simple, cheap, light and efficient system.

see photo:


Greetings from Belgium
Andre & Helen

[quote][b]Hi there,

I'm using a canon eos 300 + 300d
with a sigma 100-300mm and 170-500mm lens..
I get stability by using my selfmade beanbag ( made from old army pants ) that is filled with rice, and a selfmade carwindow-mount. With a few pieces of aluminium and 2 fishingrod-rests you can make a very stabil and cheap mount that works well with big lenses.
I'll send a building-plan on request

Pascal


82 days to Kruger.....

We are using the analog Canon EOS 50E with a 28-105mm lens and a 100-300mm tele and the pocket-size digital Canon Ixus 400. The next step will probably be one of the digital EOS cameras, hubby is eager to get one.
The Ixus 400 was our start into digital photography, and I like it very much, it has a very short delay time and makes really good pics even when the light is quite low.
We also found it quite practical to have one large-bodied camera with the zoom attached for the all the sightings that could do with a good bit of zooming, but, as you might have experienced as well, round the next bend something may turn up right beside your car window and you may not have the time to juggle with your lenses, so this was the time for the pocket-size camera. We were often swapping them from left to right and back and had pictures taken with both cameras, and on your computer screen the quality of the pictures is undistinguishable.
Otherwise I do agree with other forumites: It's nice to have fancy equipment, but in the end it comes down to who is behind the lens and a good bit of luck. If you are not a pro who is willing to sit for hours for that special moment when the light and your target is 100% right you have to make the most of what you get by chance. And I do think the learning-by doing approach gets easier in the digital world.

Camera body:
Canon EOS 20D


Lenses:
Canon EF 400 f5.6 L USM
Canon EF 28-135 IS USM
Canon 1.4x

Flash:
No thank you

Beanbag:
Double Beanbag for car window


Memory
1GB SanDisk Ultra II
256MB SanDisk
Vosonic X Drive II VP2060 (30 GB)
VoSonic X-Drive VP6210 (60GB)

CCD cleaning
Any help on this topic appreciated !!

To see my pics please see this topic:
http://www.sanparks.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3282&highlight=ithala (and please respond there !!)

Regards,
Michel

Since you asked and on behalf of my husband, a very committed amateur wildlife photographer. (52 arch lever files full of 5x4 slide sheets at home).

Canon:
EOS1Ds MK2
2x EOS1 N
EOS 3

600mm EF 1:4 US
400mm EF 1:2.8 US
70-200mm EF US
50mm US
17-35mm US

Tamron:
300mm

Gitzo Tripod w Arca Swiss monoball head

2x 2GB CF cards

Fujichrome Provia 100 film (a lot less now!)

JOBO 60GB GigaVu Pro + charger + car adapter

Bags don't ask! at least 14kg of camera equiptment, plus 2 kids (aged 5.5 and 2).

We'll be in Kruger the first 2 weeks of October 2005. Yipee.

Hope to have a great time, good luck to all with their visits and photography.

Photography kit:

2x Canon A1 with motor drive (yes, I'm one of those oldfashioned guys)

Tokina 5.6/150-500
Tokina 2.8/80-200
Canon 4/100 Macro FD
Canon 4/28-85 FD
Canon 3.5/24-34 FD
Canon 2.8/20 FD

Canon extension tubes for Macro lens

Linhof ballhead, Manfrotto tripod and monopod

Metz CT 45
Canon Speedlite 199 A

Polarizing and 81 B filters

Various wire releases, angle view finder

tons and tons of Fuji Sensia 100 + 400

Tamron bag + Temba backpack


cheerio
Uwe

very impressive stuff you guys have ...
as requested, I post my kit, which is ...less impressive ...but nonetheless gives good photos ...

it's a Fuji Finepix S5000
+ teleconverter fuji TL-FX9 *1.5

memory :
2*128 + 1*64 MB