briansquibb said:
So you are saying take the 7D as well then? That makes more sense than dumping the converters as REVUP was suggesting ;D I would expect on safari in Africa in their summer that losing a stop would not be much of an issue shooting at that reach.
I have compared the IQ of the 1D4 and the 7D (on the 400 f/2.8) - which is why both 7Ds have been sold on.
Dont underestimate the 5DII on slower moving large animals either especially with the 500 at F/4 - the background blur will be far far better than the 7D will achieve
But it's an unfair comparison, Squibby! Of course the 1D4 will look better than the 7D at f2.8. The point is that you need a TC or a longer lens on the 1D4 to get where the 7D takes you, and the TC hits your image quality and it hits your aperture. The longer lens is bigger and more expensive.
And at the golden hour, when you're taking your prettiest shots, you're going to be wanting f4. Sure the midday sun will make aperture irrelevant. Indeed, I would suggest taking a few ND filters in order to maintain a low aperture. At mid-day in Africa at f4 you're probably shooting about, what, 1/2000th to 1/8000th at 100-200 ISO? Being able to cut 3 stops to make sure you don't exceed your shutter speed might be nice.
As for the 5D2/500 at f4... That's just an enormous chunk of hardware for something that a 7D + 70-300 (480 equivalent) can get you and you can hang around your neck to boot. You'll get very good photos, plus you can be extremely mobile with the latter and you will nail shots you will otherwise have missed. Try hopping out of a jeep and running to an angle with a 500 and you're lion fodder.