| Good wildlife camera equipment on safari can | | | | |
| make the difference between pictures you will | | | | The cost of a digital SLR wildlife camera is |
| be proud to show your friends and family when | | | | high compared to a compact but that is only |
| you get back and ones where it's difficult to | | | | half the story. The lenses that you need to |
| figure out exactly what you were | | | | purchase for decent wildlife photography |
| photographing because it's only a fuzzy black | | | | often cost more than the camera itself making |
| dot surrounded by green vegetation. | | | | it a very expensive business indeed. |
| | | | |
| I take wildlife photographs for a living and | | | | And a bulky camera body and multiple |
| I have had to quickly figure out what the | | | | interchangeable lenses do add to the weight |
| best cameras and lenses are to get the job | | | | of your luggage and the inconvenience of |
| done effectively. | | | | carrying everything around with you. |
| | | | |
| Digital or Film - Which is better for a | | | | Digital compact cameras on the other hand are |
| safari? | | | | not extremely expensive and the results that |
| | | | you can obtain from them are almost on a par |
| Wild animals are very unpredictable. That's | | | | with a digital SLR camera and you don't have |
| one aspect of safari photography that makes | | | | to worry about any additional lenses if the |
| it so exciting because you never know what | | | | compact you buy has a decent zoom covering |
| you are going to get but this also means that | | | | the range from 80mm to about 300mm. There are |
| the number of pictures you need to take to | | | | a few of them on the market that do have |
| get a keeper increases. | | | | lenses like this and the range of the zooms |
| | | | increase every year. |
| And if you use film that can become very | | | | |
| expensive whereas with a digital wildlife | | | | And compact cameras live up to their name by |
| camera you can take as many as you want and | | | | being relatively small and light and one lens |
| then just delete the ones where the lion has | | | | means no additional weight or carrying and no |
| ducked behind a bush, the cheetah has blurred | | | | time wasted changing to another lens to suit |
| because the autofocus locked onto a twig in | | | | the situation. |
| front of it and the exposure of the hippo was | | | | |
| way off because of the reflected sunlight in | | | | The Best SLR Digital Wildlife Camera for |
| the water. | | | | Nature Photography |
| | | | |
| You can also make consistent use of | | | | If you have decided to go with a digital SLR |
| bracketing to get the perfect exposures | | | | then by all accounts the best one to purchase |
| without worrying about cost or running out of | | | | for wildlife photography at the moment is the |
| film which can be a problem in certain remote | | | | Canon EOS 20D due to the blinding speed of |
| areas of Africa where safaris take place. | | | | its shutter release (near instantaneous) and |
| | | | its continuous shooting speed of 5 frames per |
| So more is better in this case but what about | | | | second to a maximum burst depth of twenty |
| quality? The fact is that digital quality is | | | | three frames. It also powers up in next to no |
| fast catching up to film unless you fall into | | | | time at all. |
| the professional category and are going to be | | | | |
| selling your safari pictures or entering them | | | | This wildlife camera is as fast as you will |
| into competitions. In that case it might be | | | | ever need to freeze wildlife action and get |
| better to stick to film because the trained | | | | the picture in the can before the animal |
| eye will be able to spot the difference but | | | | moves off into the undergrowth. |
| in most other cases digital quality is more | | | | |
| than adequate. | | | | There are other SLR cameras that are nearly |
| | | | as good like the Nikon D70 and the Pentax ist |
| Digital also gives you valuable feedback | | | | D so take a look at them too before making a |
| while you are still on safari so that you can | | | | decision. |
| try and improve on that elephant picture with | | | | |
| the ear cut off the next day. You also have a | | | | The Best Compact Digital Wildlife Camera for |
| lot more control over the final product | | | | Nature Photography |
| because you can use software like Photoshop | | | | |
| to enhance and fine tune your pictures. | | | | Canon comes up trumps again in the compact |
| | | | camera category with the Canon Powershot S2 |
| Digital SLR or Compact Wildlife Camera | | | | IS. The factor that makes this camera ideal |
| | | | for safari wildlife photography is its huge |
| A safari is the dream trip of a lifetime and | | | | 12X optical zoom lens (36 - 432mm equivalent) |
| it's a great opportunity to get some | | | | with a built in image stabiliser which cuts |
| fantastic wildlife pictures but it's not | | | | down on blur when using such a massive zoom |
| necessary to buy the latest and greatest | | | | lens. |
| digital SLR and lenses to get them unless you | | | | |
| are planning to take nature pictures for a | | | | A 5 megapixal sensor is more than enough to |
| living or are a serious photography | | | | produce stunning safari images and as long as |
| enthusiast and are going to make regular use | | | | you can live with a slight shutter release |
| of the camera and lenses after the safari | | | | lag and power up delay this compact wildlife |
| anyway. | | | | camera is perfect for a safari trip. |