On safari, which lens would you put on the 7D and the 5D Mark II and why?

[Karren Kraemer]

I am going to Tanzania on a photo safari soon. I recently purchased a Canon 500mm f/4 and already have a 24-105 f/4 & 70-200 2.8 and a 1.4TC
I am taking a Canon 7D and 5DMark II. Can't decide which lens to put on which camera, as there are pros and cons to each. I know I don't want to switch lenses in the field too much, due to dust. Am hoping to make the right decision in advance, so I don't miss any more shots than necessary.
This is my first time to Tz and would really love to hear your thoughts & experience-and thanks in advance!!!

[Roger Clark]

Karen,

I have been to Tanzania with both 500 f/4 and 300 f/2.8. What I would choose depends on intended targets. For large mammals I would put the 5DII on the 500 and 7D on the 70-200. But when you need the reach, I would use a 7D + 1.4x TC + 500. In 2009 I went with a 500 f/4 IS, 70-200 f/4 IS, 28-135 IS, a 1DII and a 5DII. I found image quality of the 5DII trumped the frames per second of the 1DII, and did most wildlife images with the 5DII. One just needs to anticipate peak action and frame at the peak rather than lay your finger down on the shutter button and hope. As far as dust, I change lenses often (whenever I feel the need) and do not worry about dust. I simply minimize the time the camera is exposed:
http://www.clarkvision.com/articles/...anging.lenses/

One other option you might also consider is to get two 1.4x TCs and put them on each camera. Then you can switch lenses and always have the camera sealed. Then the only time you might need to expose the camera is when you put on your wide angle lens. When starting out in the morning before sunrise, I would have the wide angle on the 5DII for landscapes and the 500 bare on the 7D. Then put on the TCs once light levels come up.

My Africa galleries are at: http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries/

One other thing, when you really need the reach, use the 7D + 2x TC + 500 and live view to focus.

How will you support the 500?

Have a great time!

Roger

[Karren Kraemer]

Roger,

Thank you for your suggestions-all are very thoughtful and quite useful. I hadn't thought about the 1.4 on each camera-unique idea regarding the dust!

I am going to support the 500mm with a Molar Mini (TV) bag. Stuffed with hulls it only weighs 2 1/2 # so it will rest nicely on the window opening or I can lay it any direction on top of the vehicle. Because of its light weight it will be easy to move around. I had not planned to take a gimbal head, pod or any other stablizing device. Someone mentioned it is a lot easier to be ready for the shots, just leaning the lens on the Molar TV. What do you think of this set-up?

Also, I went to your website and looked at your photos-stunning!! But another question arose-I noticed you posted a number of jpegs & stated that you had not yet processed the raw. Do you routinely take both raw and jpeg? I was considering doing that, but the storage/back-up is holding me back. Was thinking of not backing up at all, and just buying more memory, or maybe even shooting just jpeg and backing up on my Epson 5000 and iPad. Problem is I know I will run out of space quickly & my Epson, tho it has 80GB of memory, it doesn't accept over 4MB cards. My iPad only has 60GB available! Haven't quite decided what to do yet.

Thanks again!!

[Roger Clark]

Roger,
Thank you for your suggestions-all are very thoughtful and quite useful. I hadn't thought about the 1.4 on each camera-unique idea regarding the dust!

I am going to support the 500mm with a Molar Mini (TV) bag. Stuffed with hulls it only weighs 2 1/2 # so it will rest nicely on the window opening or I can lay it any direction on top of the vehicle. Because of its light weight it will be easy to move around. I had not planned to take a gimbal head, pod or any other stablizing device. Someone mentioned it is a lot easier to be ready for the shots, just leaning the lens on the Molar TV. What do you think of this set-up?

Hi Karen,

Whenever I took the 500 I took a full Wimberly and mounted it on a Todd-pod. The problem I had with this is that the weight was too much and I was not able to move it up and down from the top of the vehicle fast enough in some situations. For example, driving fast in rough terrain or roads, then stopping for a photo op, getting the big lens up to take images was tough and got tougher as the day wore on. (I'm in reasonable shape--did 21 miles hiking above 10,000 feet in 3 days in Colorado 2 weeks ago carrying 30+ pounds of photo gear, and several miles last weekend carrying 40+ pounds of gear). This year in Tanzania, I took a 300 f/2.8 and used beanbags. I was able to respond very fast, including moving to the window to get lower or move to the roof. So I think the beanbag route is a better, but I will guess that you might get tired holding up the lens. It is also harder to change lenses/TCs when the lens isn't supported. For example, with the 500 on a Wimberly on a Todd-pod, you can take the camera off, let go of the lens and put the TC on. With a beanbag, you can't let go of the lens.

It will certainly be easier to stay within airline weight limits only taking a beanbag. But I suggest at least two. You may often want to move positions and having a beanbag in place for both positions will enable faster response. You could buy beans or rice in country or have your outfitter supply them. Be sure the beanbag has something where you can attach a cord to it and tie it to something to keep it from falling out of the vehicle. I use a carabiner.

Also, I went to your website and looked at your photos-stunning!! But another question arose-I noticed you posted a number of jpegs & stated that you had not yet processed the raw. Do you routinely take both raw and jpeg? I was considering doing that, but the storage/back-up is holding me back. Was thinking of not backing up at all, and just buying more memory, or maybe even shooting just jpeg and backing up on my Epson 5000 and iPad. Problem is I know I will run out of space quickly & my Epson, tho it has 80GB of memory, it doesn't accept over 4MB cards. My iPad only has 60GB available! Haven't quite decided what to do yet.

Thanks again!!

I almost always record raw + jpeg. I take enough memory cards to not recycle them. In a 2-week trip I tend to record about 100 gigabytes in Tanzania, not including video. I take a netbook (e.g. check out the ASUS Lamdourghini (sp?)) and save the data onto local hard drive and USB hard drives. So I have the original memory cards and 2 to 3 backups. On some trips that are more weight limited, e.g. Katmai, Alaska, I'll just use memory cards. The reason I do raw + jpeg is that when imaging 800+ frames per day, simply backing them up takes a lot of time. I do a quick review to be sure I've done everything correctly. I find that raw conversion takes too much precious time, and software like bridge takes too long to evaluate critical focus. So I just use the windows fax and image viewing software (which is better in windows 7). (On my next trip, I'll take a linux laptop for better speed advantage, and in my opinion, better fast image viewing.)

Memory cards are getting cheaper and cheaper. My last trip I took 200 GBytes in flash cards. Next time I'll take a 32 gbyte card for each day. Don't forget some HD video, but that eats memory cards even faster, thus 32Gb/day.

Roger

[Charles Glatzer]

Karen,

With V shaped bean bags you cannot pan easily without altering the focus or zoom. A flat bean bag solves this problem, especially when using two Wimberley Module 1 brackets in opposite directions attached to the lens foot http://www.tripodhead.com/products/f...other-apps.cfm. Alternately, you can use an Apex bean bag that offers the best of all worlds...a flat top for use as above, and/or with the accessory plate to attach a gimbal or ball head atop the bag, or upside down with u-shape. http://www.essentialphotogear.com/products.php?cat=48


Personally, I would use the 7D with higher frame rate and quicker AF for action images, and the 5D 2 whenever possible for those times when fast action is not required or on the zoom when a wider angle is necessary.

Best,

Chas

[Roger Clark]

Personally, I would use the 7D with higher frame rate and quicker AF for action images, and the 5D 2 whenever possible for those times when fast action is not required or on the zoom when a wider angle is necessary.

Hi Chas,

The AF speed of the 5DII and 7D are the same in the measurements of AF speed that I have done.

Roger

[Charles Glatzer]

Hi Chas,

The AF speed of the 5DII and 7D are the same in the measurements of AF speed that I have done.

Roger

Hi Roger,

I shoot with 1D MARK IV and IDs Mark III bodies, exclusively. I have never used either of the cameras above for any period of time. I do know both the 7D and 5D Mark II use DIGIC 4 image processing, my comment being based on what I was told by others when discussing speed of AF acquisition in the field.

Warm Regards,

Chas

[Roger Clark]

Hi Roger,

I shoot with 1D MARK IV and IDs Mark III bodies, exclusively. I have never used either of the cameras above for any period of time. I do know both the 7D and 5D Mark II use DIGIC 4 image processing, my comment being based on what I was told by others when discussing speed of AF acquisition in the field.

Warm Regards,

Chas

I have posted this previously on BPN:

Experiment to determine focus acquisition speed:
Time to move from minimum focus to infinity and lock on a target at infinity (the Moon in a dark sky).

Canon 300 mm f/2.8 L IS lens with canon 2x TC.

1D Mark II: 4 to 5 seconds
5D Mark II: 4 to 5 seconds
7D: 4 to 5 seconds
1D Mark IV: 2 to 2.5 seconds.

Canon 300 f/2.8 with no TCs:

1D Mark IV: about 2/3 second or a little less.

Roger

[Charles Glatzer]

Roger,

While this analogy may be valid. That "test" does not really simulate actual in field parameters for a bird and wildlife photographer. Depending on circumstance theory and practical application may yield different results.
Tracking and locking on to a moving subject would seem more relevant.


Chase

[Roger Clark]

Roger,

While this analogy may be valid. That "test" does not really simulate actual in field parameters for a bird and wildlife photographer. Depending on circumstance theory and practical application may yield different results.
Tracking and locking on to a moving subject would seem more relevant.


Chase

Well, Chas, I have used all 4 cameras in multiple conditions, including in the field tracking subjects, and the field results say the same thing I observe in the test. The test just puts quantitative numbers on the differences.

Roger

[Charles Glatzer]

Roger,

Thanks for the expanded explanation. I will defer to you results, as I have not made such comparisons.

Best,

Chas

[Karren Kraemer]

Thanks to each of you for your responses! Was very interesting all around!! I definitely have some sound procedures now and really appreciated your photo talk!!

[Jess Lee]

I would second Chas comments about the type of bean bag you use. You will be happier with two and so will the other people in you vehicle. If you are in a normally configured Rover with rails around the top the best practice is to strap a bean bag on each side. ( I am assuming you will have a row to yourself).
When you use one BB the motion and noise of bringing the bean bag up and putting it on the roof will effect some animals especially the big cats with very young. Thise animals my not run of but often they will turn their back to you.
Have a great trip.

[Andy Biggs]

I hear these questions all of the time, and I have a fairly hands-off response:

You will either love 700mm or 500mm on your 500mm lens (500mm time 1.6x = 700) or you will find that it is too much lens for how you see the world. Be prepared to experiment a little bit, as you will learn a ton after your first few game drives. My hunch is you will end up with your 5DMk2 on the 500mm and the 7D on your 70-200mm. The 1.4x can be used to taste on either lens as needed.

I am not a fan of raw + jpg, as the workflow doesn't make sense to me. You can have a better quality jpg if you only shoot raw, as you can quickly generate jpg files from Camera Raw of Lightroom. Raw + jpg also eats up your buffer on your cameras, potentially compromising 'the decisive moment' that we are all after. Raw processing tools are so darned easy to use these days, unlike 10 years ago when all we had was crappy Canon software and Breezebrowser.

I am a huge fan of the Kinesis Safari Sack beanbags, and you can get them filled with poly or buckwheat hulls. They don't weigh very much, and work well in East Africa vehicles. Here is a video that make be of interest to you, which I created a few months ago in Tanzania:

How To Photograph From An Open Land Rover in Tanzania

Have an awesome safari!

Andy