camera for our safari

[jashermd]

Hi Mary-J,



Hope you've received your camera by now! I'm a big fan of the Panasonic Lumix cameras -- I had an FZ-20 before I switched to the Canon DSLR and it was a great camera (my sister still has one). I got some great pictures with my FZ-20 and there are times when lugging my current gear around that I miss its light weight and simplicity (though I've gotten some stunning photos with my Canon).



I'd strongly recommend taking the time to play with your camera before you leave to familiarise yourself with the buttons and menus -- you don't want to miss a great shot because you can't find the right setting (I've seen this happen and it's always rather sad). You mentioned action shots; cyclists make great animal substitutes for practicing these. Definitely bring the manual with you -- it's great for looking things up, and it will be very helpful to anyone who offers to give you a hand. One thing about travelling with a lot of camera gear is that I tend to get asked for help with camera issues, and while I'm always happy to give it a go it's much easier to help people when they have the manual with them as the menu structure in particular can vary quite a bit from camera to camera.


I'd recommend shooting on the highest resolution / largest file size setting as this gives you the most flexibility -- you'll be able to crop out stuff you don't want and still have a file large enough to print a good sized photo. Cards are much cheaper than they used to be, but cameras also use up a lot more space per photo than they used to. You mentioned bringing your iPod with you in another post, and if you still plan to do that you may want to look at the cost of a camera adapter versus buying a bunch of cards. I had one of these for my Panasonic and like most Apple things it was plug and play - you just plugged the camera into one end, the iPod into the other, and went to take a shower or have lunch while it was transferring. The other plus to doing things this way is the ability to look at your photos on the iPod. If nothing else the iPod could be used to back up any particularly special photos.



Cheers,

Julian

[LL_Travelfan]

Hi Mary-J,

As always, jashermd has given you great and sound advice. Now that you have had your camera for a while, how do you like it? Are you satisfied with the way the camera handles, how have your pictures turned out sofar. Be sure to play with it as much as possible, familiarize yourself with it and with the manual as much as possible, and try to shoot the same picture at different settings to be able to compare what the different settings will give you.The i-pod is a great solution to view and even store some of your picutres, nonetheless, be sure you have enough memory cards with you. They are small and they are cheap, and you wouldn't want to run out of memory when you most want it.

Have a wonderful trip and report back to us.

Kind Regards,

[jmbklj]

Hi There!

I am going on my 1st safari March 10th in S Africa, and I just bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3. It has a 12 x optical zoom. The zoom also works while recording HD (AVCHD Lite). I've only had this camera 1 week so I am still definitely learning this camera. I just stumbled on this timely thread!



I have to figure out what else I'll need to be able to use the charger while there. What kind of plug converter? And will I need a electricity converter? Unlike some of my other travel appliances, like my hair dryer, I don't see a switch on the charger to change the kind of current.

[kyshel]

I hardly use a hair dryer in SA--just the ones provided--ck w/your property.

We have a multi-prong adapter but it does NOT have the SA 3 prong (one long two short--triangle config). Every hotel had them available. If you are concerned about voltage issues, you will need a converter (unless your appliance has dual voltage--my folding iron does yet, I rarely take it anywhere)
Where are you going--LL pkg?? If Ic an offer assistance, please feel free to ask. We've been to Madikwe a few times and several other times in SA (CPT/JNB both) Just don't ask me about cameras--I have a PHD [Canon] Push Here Dummy!

[omegaet]

jmbklj....may I suggest you invest in a second lithium-ion rechargeable battery.....you will be amazed how quickly you blow through battery life if you start shooting video...you also need to decide about extra(s) SD/SDHC cards (you may want to consider a 32GB).



Don't cheat yourself on battery power or memory....I am always amazed at the number of individuals who run out of one or the other at the worse possible moment...It's the shot they will talk about for the remainder of your life.....and they didn't capture it, just because they didn't invest in the basics!



Practice with your new camera every oportunity you have prior to the trip.....that is the best way to learn what it does!



If you plan to be a regular international traveler....consider buying something like a Proctor-Silex 10082 Foreign Travel Voltage Converter and Adaptor Set.

[snapyou]

jmbklj,you lucky bugger going on safari.



Where are you staying?

My GF and myself went to South Africa last year for 8 glorious nights in Phinda.the BEST holiday ever!



After each game drive,it's a good idea to review your pix and delete dulpicates,just keep the best ones.

Also,don't get tt caught up with trying to take photos,enjoy the experience.You don't want to be fiddling with dials and miss some of the greatest sights you'll ever see.



Your accomodation should be able to advice you if you need adapters.They will probably have hairdryers too.

Where are you from?




Message Edited by snapyou on 01-19-2010 12:27 AM

[shygirl724]

We went through a similar issue with our trip last year to Europe. My hubby's hobby is photography, so I was concerned about being a "camera widow". I did put down rules for him, restricting him to one lens (OK - he actually took 2, but I could live with that). He had a smaller Nikon digital camera, but his favorite medium was his Nikon film camera. I convinced him to convert to a larger digital Nikon D90 - which would take his current lenses and also took video. No film or extra video cam to schlepp as we had in previous trips.



We did get extra batteries and made sure we had a power converter, not just the adapter (without a converter, you will ruin your electronics). I thought we would drain the power, but it turned out that even with 5,000 (yes - that IS the correct number, sigh) pics and videos, we never had to recharge or change batteries.



The best thing we did was get several 4gb memory cards instead or 1 big one. If one gets corrupted, lost, or your camera is stolen, you will not lose all your precious photos. We just took one in the camera, a spare, and left everything else in the room safe. We had enought capacity that we did not delete anything until we got home.
Message Edited by shygirl724 on 01-22-2010 12:54 PM

[jmbklj]

snapyou, I'm going to Mabula Game Lodge, NW of Pretoria, then down to the Cape Town area for a week. I wished LL had more offerings in Cape Town right now. Still working on finalizing all the details of the 2nd week. Can't wait!

[kyshel]

jmbklj--
I can highly recommend the Steenberg. If you;ve never been to Cape Town before, you will be surprised how compact it is and how easy it is to get around to major sights. I'm not sure what the status is for Chapman's Peak Drive--hoepfully it is open all the way but do not miss it for the viewand experience! (even as far as you can go)
My husband hikes LionsHead often and has done the shark dive. If I can assist with more info, please feel free to ask.

[ksp48a]

We also took a Panasonic Lumix (12 power optical zoom, decent wide angle and 10 Megapixels--I forget the number but they have two of them marked Z-1 and Z-3 I think). I think it cost us $279 last year and I've seen them less expensive at Costco since). The pictures are outstanding and you really need the 12 power -- we also had a 10 power, 7 meg Panasonic Lumix with us--don't take less than 10 power. The convenience factor was really high as we also had binoculars and I didn't ant to cart around a larger camera.

For two days at Sabi Sabi we shared a range rover with a couple that had a several thousand dollar semi pro Nikon with 21 megapixels, a 400 mm Nikon lens and a unipod to hold it steady. They sent us some of their pictures that we compared to ours. Theirs were better (more detail, a little clearer), but if anything the comparison convinced us how great our little camera was. Our pictures were almost as good.



One more word. We took decent but not terribly expensive 8 x42 binoculars with us. One for each of us. Frankly they made a HUGE difference (especially for birds-- but really for everything) and I have become a bit of a nut on the subject. Do yourself a favor and take binoculars.