Recommendation For Long Lenses

[wickidwombat]

wow that price is insane... seriously insane... I just go hire a 4x4 and can hire a driver for a small fee then its just me and my wife so there is no schedule and we can do what we want when we want. and it probably costs half that amount for 2 of us... just saying... can pick up a 1Dx with the savings

 

[aldvan]

wow that price is insane... seriously insane... I just go hire a 4x4 and can hire a driver for a small fee then its just me and my wife so there is no schedule and we can do what we want when we want. and it probably costs half that amount for 2 of us... just saying... can pick up a 1Dx with the savings

Too much money is at the present in too few people...

 

[wickidwombat]

I have ruled out taking the 100-400 as it is too soft.

May be I'm quite biased about the 100-400, since it is a lens I adore. I'm afraid you get a bad example of it and that is a shame, since, I know that for personal experience in photosafari in SA, the 100-400 has the perfect zoom range for the business. By the way, what do you mean by 'soft'? Is the following image (100-400 at 300) soft for you? (Unfortunately I had to resize it to allow uploading it, loosing a lot of IQ)

P.S. I think the following article could be very useful.
http://www.canonrumors.com/tech-articles/this-lens-is-soft-and-other-myths/

I'm very well aware that the 100-400's are not all created equal. There are good ones out there and there are bad ones. I agree the focal length is awesome for a safari. But what made me stop using MY 100-400 altogether is when I tried to micro adjust it, the output was too soft that I wasn't even able to find the sharpest point. I do own the 70-300L also but I opted for the 70-200 f/2.8L II along with the 300mm f/2.8L II instead because I can put converters on both of these lenses, their faster and sharper.

As for TexPhoto's idea of zooming with feet, I'm just crazy enough to do that but I want to be able to shoot again the next day not being the days kill. I love a wide angle, I like getting right into my subjects face but they won't let me in Africa for some reason.

Actually they do, in many of the south african private game parks you can go on guarded hikes with several armed guards and spotters who are in radio contact so they can take you directly to the animals, i have never done one but would love to, they are definately not cheap and there is still more risk than shooting from within a vehicle however it allows you to get angles you simly cannot achieve from a vehicle. i'm going to look into it for a trip next year.

 

[Caps18]

You will be better off with no lens in the 200-500 range, but with different cameras that can make up the difference.

If you have a second person, have them take the 7D with 70-200+/- TC, Mk4 with 500+/-TC, and the 5Dm2 with 8-15 and a fast portrait prime. If you only want two camera, the 70-200 would work on the 5Dm2 as well.

 

[bycostello]

have you considered hiring a lens? might make more sense as safari as bit of a specialty situation and if just a one off...

 

[cfargo]

have you considered hiring a lens? might make more sense as safari as bit of a specialty situation and if just a one off...

Not really as it would cost $1200 to rent one for 4 weeks and it cost $7199 to buy a new one. If I really didn't want to keep it I'm sure I could sell it for $6000 afterwards very quickly.