The Wild Photographer

Best Lenses and Gear for Wildlife Safari Photography

• Episode 66

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Summary

In this episode, Court Whelan discusses the essentials of wildlife photography, particularly focusing on the best lenses for wildlife safaris. He emphasizes the importance of adequate reach, low light sensitivity, and flexibility in lens choice. The conversation also covers the necessary accessories for wildlife photography, including tripods and camera bags, and concludes with recommendations for both lenses and gear to enhance the wildlife photography experience.

Takeaways

  • Wildlife photography is a pinnacle experience for photographers.
  • Choosing the right lens is crucial for capturing wildlife.
  • Low light sensitivity is a challenging but key consideration for wildlife photography.
  • Flexibility in lens choice provide more photo opportunities and simplify your gear.
  • Travel-friendly gear is essential for wildlife safaris.
  • The 100-400mm or 200-600mm lens class is recommended for most photographers.
  • Consider renting high-end prime lenses for specific trips.
  • Accessories like dry bags, excellent camera bags and tripods are vital for protection.
  • Third-party lenses may not match the quality of brand lenses, but do have oodles of options.
  • A "nifty 50" lens can be a super fun and helpful lens for low light situations.

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Court Whelan (00:00)
Going on a wildlife photo safari is no doubt the pinnacle of one's year or even career when it comes to nature photography. We're talking about much more than just the traditional safari like you might think of in Africa, but well beyond that to places like Brown Bear photography in Alaska, might be tiger photography in India.

We're talking about all things wildlife photography, but specifically we're talking about the best lenses for wildlife photography safaris. This podcast is intended to get you dialed in on the lenses you need to come away from any wildlife photo safari with shots of a lifetime.

simply put, wildlife safaris are epic. They also test the limits for wildlife photography. You are traveling. You have oftentimes conditions that you're not frankly quite used to. You have different types of light. You might be shooting at different times of day to maximize wildlife opportunities. The distance is sometimes a little bit unknown. It's variable. And then let's be honest. You're, just in front of some plain, awesome things that you may never get a chance to see again.

So you want to make sure you capture them in all their glory. So today's episode is dedicated to all things having to do with lenses for wildlife photography and really specifically on safari traveling to do wildlife photography around the world. But first I'd like to say a quick thanks to our sponsors.

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on your wall is just awe inspiring. Next up, I'd like to thank Art Storefronts. Art Storefronts is a one-stop shop website building and promotional tool for photographers out there. If you're looking to level up your game in the next year, if you want to sell prints, if you want to have a beautiful photo website that drops ships directly from companies like Bay Photo to fulfill the orders to actually print and send to

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they have sort of a white glove concierge service that will do all that for you. There's online forums where you just drag and drop your photos, tell them what you want them to do with them. Do you want to create a new black and white album? Great. Upload a few photos, tell them you want to do that. And they do it all for you. And then when you check back in a day or two, all of a sudden you have a new gallery on your website. It's, it's simply amazing.

If you'd like to check out what one of their templates look like, you can check out my website at shop.courtwhelan.com shameless plug, but it's a great way just to see what they're capable of. And again, they link directly to companies like Bay photo. So when people are ordering, they can frame, can, they can choose the mat, they can choose the paper, they can choose the size

but I also want to highlight their promotional tools. they have a fantastic service that promotes your artwork in conjunction with a little side business of theirs called art helper.com. You may have heard me talk about them in the past.

let's be honest, I'm busy and I don't have time to compose all the social posts and compose the blogs. They help with all that and they schedule it. They even give you a full month's marketing calendar It's just plain awesome. So art store fronts.

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It's almost a $2,000 value. So that's pretty significant. Again, if you're looking to level up your art business, your photo business, wanting to sell prints online they are the one stop shop for all that. Once again, artstorefronts.com Okay, let's get into today's episode. We're talking about best lenses for wildlife photography and specifically for safari photography, big wildlife and travel.

Okay, so let's start off with what you need in terms of lenses and lens capabilities. You of course need adequate reach. We're going to talk about that first. You also ideally want some sort of low light

And yes, the cameras do a lot of that for you with high ISOs and you can let in more light through shutter speeds, et cetera. But having low light sensitivity through big apertures is a huge, huge bonus. You also want flexibility. And I realize that there are a lot of

big prime lenses out there, like the three, four, 500 millimeter primes that are just fixed focal lengths. You know, they're at 500 millimeters. You cannot zoom in and out, but there really is a big advantage in Safari photography specifically to add that flexibility. So we're going to talk about the pros and cons of prime lenses versus zoom lenses in today's episode as well. And last, but certainly not least, since we're talking about Safari photography that you are likely traveling to, we're going to talk about travel friendly options involving size and weight.

So the reality is these are the four things that we want reach low light sensitivity, flexibility in terms of zoom and being travel friendly, but it is honestly hard to get it all. ⁓ you're at least hard to get it with any inkling of affordability. ⁓ but even that being said, if you had all the money in the world to get all those four things, 10 out of 10, perfect, it's, it's almost impossible. So you will have to make compromises. So again, when I'm going through each of these sections, I'm going to be talking about the compromise.

and we talk about what I do and talk about some suggestions for you when thinking about packing and prepping for your safari.

Okay, let's start off with adequate reach and I want to emphasize adequate. This is not perfect reach because there's really a very accurate adage that, We will always find a photo op where we want more telephoto power. So adequate is really the key thing here. You don't want to have too little. You also don't want to have too much. You want to have enough that maybe a little bit of cropping occurs, but ultimately you can get the photos you want for the conditions that are on the ground. So to me,

something around the 1-500, 100-400, 200-500, 150mm to 600mm class of lenses is kind of my go-to for Safari. Again, I realize that some people might be looking at or preferring prime lenses,

I think of a single lens that can do the lion's share of the work,

Yes, pun intended with lion's share. I'm thinking about lions and the Serengeti right now after my recent trip. These are the class of lenses that I do recommend. They're going to be your workhorse. Now there are so many options in today's world, whether you're shooting Canon, OM Sony, Nikon, Panasonic, but every single one of these will have some sort of variation around the 100 to 400, 100 to

So what I love about these lenses is they do have the reach. Ultimately, when you are going on any sort of wildlife adventure, you want to be at your upper end somewhere around 400 millimeters to 600 millimeters. I think even on a crop frame sensor, 300 millimeters is just, it's not going to cut it. If you're wishing to zoom in,

and be flexible for anything that gets thrown at you when you're on Safari. The problem with these lenses, to be totally honest, is that they're not really great for low light sensitivity. So immediately we're talking about the give and take here. Low light sensitivity is all about the F number. It's all about your aperture. So these telephoto zooms, they're great for the pocketbook. They're reasonably priced compared to the big primes. They're very versatile. You when we're thinking about a 100 to 400 or 100 to 500.

They're usually relatively small and lightweight, again, compared to the biggest fanciest options. And they had the reach, right? But their weak spot is going to be the low light sensitivity. For instance, I have the Canon 100 to 500 millimeter lens, and it is an aperture of 4.5 to 7.1. That means that 100 millimeters, it's 4.5, and at 500 millimeters, it's 7.1.

7.1 is honestly not a great aperture. Unfortunately, ⁓ it's not going to have that beautiful background blur or subject separation. It's not going to be great in low light. So if you think about it, if we were to instead have a lens that can get down to F4 at that 500 millimeters, we're almost quadrupling the amount of light that gets let in. And that has big ramifications for wildlife safari. So again, when we're out there photographing the big wildlife, the iconic

critters of the world were usually around the start of the day or the end of the day when light is low. Our eyes are going to adjust. So we're going to be able to see these critters just fine. But being able to photograph them with a reasonably fast shutter speed really relies on letting in light in your camera. And of course you can do that with ISO and better cameras these days are getting so good at high ISOs, know, very, very good quality photos, but nevertheless a 7.1 or even higher. Some of these newer lenses like Canon's

200 to 800 millimeter tops out at around F9. That means 800 millimeters, great, two to 800, great flexibility, but low light sensitivity is pretty poor. So you have to kind of go into the trip realizing that these lenses do have a lot of benefits, a lot of superlatives. Again, the reach, the flexibility, they are travel friendly, but low light sensitivity is going to be your pain point.

So if low light sensitivity,

is a priority or let's just say it's a top priority for you, we're talking about moving into the big primes. We're looking at those big 300, 400, 500, 600 millimeter prime lenses that usually have exceptional optical quality. So they're gonna be sharper than these zoom telephotos. They're also gonna have really, really good aperture rating. So for instance, on all the big camera manufacturers, they're gonna have a 600 millimeter F4. Compare that to

a 500 millimeter F 7.1, you can tell which is going to outperform in low light, et cetera, et But the thing with these lenses is that not only are they really darn expensive, you know, they're, probably three to four times as much in terms of cost as the zoom telephoto classes I was just talking about, but they're not flexible. So you are stuck at that millimeter length at that focal length. So if you see a lion that's pretty close,

and you're at 600 millimeters and you're filling the face and not even getting the ears, you're just getting the nose and eyes. You don't have a recourse. You're going to either change lenses or rely on bringing a second body. So they do have that limitation. Another limitation is that they're not very travel friendly. These, are huge bazookas, just like they're three to four times the cost. They're often three to four times the size and the weight. And for wildlife safaris, we're often limited by size and weight, not only in terms of what we can carry and handhold,

but also in terms of what we can bring on these small bush planes or vehicles or heck even international flights. So they do have a bit of a downside there. I have to say if you're the kind of person that is okay with that and you are prioritizing low light sensitivity and wanting that reach and of course the optical quality, they are amazing, amazing lenses, but don't be fooled into thinking that they're the perfect lens even if the pocketbook allows

because they do lack that flexibility. Now there's another lens I wanna talk about here when I'm talking about low light and that's the Venerable class of the 70 to 200 millimeter lens. Now this lens is not gonna be great on reach if we're thinking about the four categories here. So 200 millimeters, not a lot of reach. It's gonna be great for landscapes and wildlife and landscapes, but you're not gonna able to zoom in and fill the frame with anything usually unless you're quite close, which does happen.

but it's really good for low light sensitivity. gives you that F 2.8, that class of lenses, So this is something if you are prioritizing light sensitivity can be a really, really good choice. I like putting it on my camera oftentimes to force myself into the creative shots, into the landscape shots that have wildlife in them.

I'm not going to be filling the frame and counting the eyelashes on a tiger necessarily, but they're really great because they are very handholdable. They do have that low light sensitivity. They do have a good zoom range. 70 to 200 gives you that flexibility and they're pretty friendly in the pocketbook as well.

This is often the point when I'm asked about tele-extenders. What about doubling the length of your lens or even multiplying it by say 1.4 or 1.6? Usually most camera manufacturers have two different classes of telephoto. Something around a 1.4, I believe Nikon's is like a 1.5, so it's about the same. And then a two times, so a doubler. To be totally honest,

I'm not a huge fan of teleconverters unless you're using the big primes. They do take optical quality down a notch. They do limit your light. So the 1.4 times or 1.5 times limits your light by one full stop. So it cuts it in half. The two times reduces it by two

So imagine you have a 400 millimeter lens that's an F 5.6. One stop is going to be up to F8 and two stops is F11. You'd be hard pressed to go on any sort of wildlife excursion and be able to shoot it F11 all the time. So yes, it's nice to have a tele extender in theory. It's really cool to able to double your focal length. But unless you're starting off with a super big aperture, AKA a small F number,

Once you start going up in those stops, meaning

start reducing your light by two or even four times, it gets really, really limiting. So to me, the tele-extenders might have a place in the kit, but really only if you're bringing a prime lens. but for example, shooting on a 300 f2.8.

If you double that, that turns

600 millimeter F5.6. That's pretty good. know, at 600 millimeters, F5.6 is not too shabby. It's not gonna give you quite the same background separation as an F4 if you go for one of the big primes. In addition, it's going to halve the amount of light getting into your sensor going from, you know, four to 5.6.

But nevertheless, it is an interesting option and it's something that for those that have the funds, for those that are okay with a slightly bigger size, you know, a 300 millimeter is not as big as a 400 millimeter prime.

300 millimeter with one or two of those tele-extenders can be a really dynamic choice for wildlife safaris.

A two times is always going to be degrading your quality of your photo a little bit more than a 1.4.

So have to do some of the math and some of the calculations. again, if you think that you're multiplying a 300 millimeter by 1.4 times, you're getting a 420 millimeter lens.

Is this going to be enough telephoto power for the wildlife you're photographing 400 millimeters? Like I said, is about the minimum I would like to go for on any sort of wildlife Safari, but it is of course, very subjective. If you're photographing gorillas in Uganda, you're going to get much closer in theory than if you are going to be photographing cheetahs on the Serengeti very, very different environment, very, different needs. So you have to think about that.

In today's day and age, because so many of these lenses are coming out that are in this super telephoto class, you we're getting the 500s and the 600s, even the 800 millimeter lenses pretty easily. You have to think is 400, 420 going to be enough for my needs.

But when it comes to lenses for safaris around the world, your telephotos, your zoom telephotos, it's not the only thing you want or you need. You're definitely gonna want some sort of landscape lens. You're definitely gonna wanna have a lens that's capable of photographing animals and wildlife much closer. And this is where I personally go for the 24 to 105 millimeter. But in this class of lenses, you are faced with another decision. You have the 24 to 105, which is an F4 for most camera systems.

Or the 24 to 70, which is usually F 2.8 for camera systems. Remember if you go down from F four to F 2.8, you double the amount of light. So if you're struggling to photograph a family of cheetah at one thirtieth of a second, because that's what your camera is giving you for the light, for the ISO, for the aperture that you have. If you can double your light, that means you can now shoot at one sixtieth of a second. That's kind of a game changer for being handheld at say.

50 millimeters or 60 millimeters. So it's a consideration. It really depends on your kit, what else you have in your low light needs. And let's be honest, it also depends on the quality of your camera body. if you can shoot at ISO 6,400 and it looks about the same with a little bit of denoising software as ISO 3,200,

Doubling that amount of light just happened in camera through your ISO. You may not need to spring for that 2.8 on your wide angle lens. So it's a really important consideration to think about whether you go for that 24 to 105 or 24 to 70. I personally prefer the little bit of added reach because I'm doing a lot of people photography, a lot of travel photography. So having that versatility and not having a reach for my other camera, my second body, or not having to slap on a different lens gives me

the versatility I need for what I'm photographing. However, when you're thinking about ultimate versatility in low light conditions, that 24 to 70 does start to look pretty darn good.

Another lens that makes it in my kit is some sort of ultra wide

the classic ultra wide that most people reach for is going to be your 16 to 35 class. This is going to be usually an F 2.8. So we're back in the realm of good low light capabilities,

it's not going to get you close to wildlife, obviously. So what do you use these lenses for? Well, it's really great for

general storytelling and people photography. They're really great for photographing inside vehicles or inside accommodations. And they're really good for night sky photography.

Something that people don't often think about when going on a wildlife expedition is what happens to the sky at night. And having just gotten back from Africa, I was blown away by what the night sky looked like in both Kenya and Tanzania. You have that bit of elevation. You of course are very, far away from cities. And frankly, you have the time.

from the evening, you definitely have some time to set up a tripod, do a star lapse, do some time lapses, do some night sky photography.

pretty darn amazing. So I make sure to always have an ultra wide angle lens in my kit and preferably something that does have that fast aperture. There are options that are more in like the F4 range. They will save you a little bit of weight, a little bit of size, a little bit of money, but having that fast lens in that ultra wide class can be a game changer for low light and star photography.

I also often bring a little nifty 50 lens with me. And this is sort of a cheeky name

class of lenses that usually have staggeringly fast apertures, meaning like F 1.4 or F 1.8 in a really, really small size and a really, really friendly price tag. So again, a 50 millimeter F 1.8 is what I bring with me.

of course that 50 millimeter range is nothing remarkable for wildlife or landscapes. It's just right in the middle where it's not, it's not especially good for either, but what it is good for is shooting in low light conditions. So this is a great lens to slap on your camera when you are leaving first thing in the morning or getting back late at night from a wildlife drive or hike, because you can get shots that you probably wouldn't be able to get otherwise. going from F.

2.8 even down to F 1.4 gives you four times as much light. So as an example, if you're shooting on your 70 to 200 at 2.8 as the sun goes down and you're finding that you need to shoot slower and slower and you're getting into like the one tenth of a second range, all you got to do is throw that 50 millimeter on and all of sudden you have one fortieth of a second. It quadruples the amount of light and you can quadruple your shutter speed in terms of.

the fastness that you shoot to minimize handshake and to minimize wildlife movement. So these lenses, again, it's what I would consider like an X factor lens. It's nothing special, nothing remarkable in terms of the telephoto capabilities, but it is really special in terms of being very, very fast. And you can get shots that you probably wouldn't be able to get with any other lens out there. Would you like a 400 millimeter F 1.4? Heck yeah. Doesn't exist. Sorry.

I want to take a moment and talk about third party lenses for a second, so I'm sure that might be on some people's minds and a third party lens is essentially a lens not made by the camera manufacturer that manufactures your camera body. So when we think of companies that specialize in these third party lenses, I'm thinking Sigma Tokina Tamron. These are some of the major ones that.

They don't generally make camera bodies themselves, but

They do make lenses that adapt to most camera bodies out there. I will say with the advent of new mirrorless systems, some of the manufacturers particularly Canon have not opened their system up to these third party lenses, but nevertheless, they are opening the door for it. It's getting more commonplace. We're seeing more of these lenses available to all systems out there. that all being said, I don't.

typically use third-party lenses and for a few reasons. One is that they generally in the telephoto realm, they are not as high quality as the lenses your actual camera manufacturer will

we're talking about this quest for perfection and, and you know, I admit that I'm a pixel peeper in some cases because I will crop my photos and I do need these to be high enough resolution for printing for

digital spaces for catalogs and brochures, things in the travel industry.

that higher quality. In addition, I have known other photographers to use third-party lenses and at some point, and this is sort of tragic, but the third-party lens will just not talk to the camera very well. Remember, these are other camera companies, well, lens companies, other photography companies.

that are kind of hacking the system and trying to figure out how can my lens talk to the camera itself. Part of that information is supplied by the camera company, but part of it is just them researching it. And I got to be honest, they don't totally always get it right. I think things are improving, but you definitely need to do your research. Look at the reviews, talk to photographer friends out there to see, you know, which lens

them over the years. I typically don't go that route.

And the other reason is that the resale value just isn't as high. So if you get a top quality Canon lens, I find that several years later, I can actually sell that lens on a Craigslist or Facebook marketplace for like 70 to 80 % of the original value. You do that with a more discount lens or more budget friendly lens, and you're probably looking at 40 to 50 % of the value. So the reality

it kind of boils down to just having to spend a little bit more money upfront.

because you are going to recoup more money in the end. So you're really not at too much of a loss. Yes, more money is out of your pocketbook at the start, but you're going to able to recycle that into new camera gear once you're ready to sell that lens, upgrade, move on to a different system, et cetera, et cetera.

As a little bonus, I want to talk about accessories real quick. know this, this episode title is about best lenses for wildlife photography, but there are some accessories, particularly for travel, safari photography that are quite important. So the first one up, this is kind of an obvious one, but consider bringing a tripod. If you are planning on doing any sort of slow shutter photography, like night photography, sunrise, sunset. If you're thinking about doing time lapses, it's, it's kind of a must have. I really do like.

travel tripods, but I would advise you to be quite wary of how small and how light they are. Remember the function of a tripod is to be rock solid and steady. Getting something really lightweight and really thin and made of very cheap lightweight materials can sort of fly in the face of being sturdy and rock solid. The one exception I've found is Peak Design's carbon fiber tripod is an exceptional example of kind of having your cake and eat it too. It's not an inexpensive tripod.

Retails for I think about five or six hundred dollars at this point But they are very small The whole tripod would pack down inside your luggage or your suitcase or your camera bag is just a little bit bigger of like the inside cardboard roll of a paper towel roll So it's it's really small. It is also very very lightweight and it is incredibly sturdy

But there are many other options out there, so I don't want to say that's the only one that you can travel with. But just be aware when you are getting some of the cheaper ones, the ones that are claiming to be super lightweight, just make sure you do some research and reviews to make sure that they are also quite sturdy, because that's the thing that you really, really need.

favorite camera accessory for any wildlife safari is not a lens or anything to do with photography. Uh, other than that use it for photography. is a dry bag. I love bringing these little eight or 13

bags. They're made by outdoor companies like sea to summit and others. And it's essentially my foolproof.

solution to having my camera dry and safe and protected when I'm on the road.

Oftentimes when we're on wildlife safaris, we're in different types of vehicles and boats where you could be churning up some dust or you could be bumping around in the ocean or a river. And having that dry bag is just incredible peace of mind. And like I said, it works not only to keep your camera dry if you're in water, but it provides really kind of an airtight seal. If you are in dusty conditions, I'm thinking so many African safaris I've been on have a lot of dust in the air. Same thing with Indian tiger safaris.

So having that dry bag, really good peace of mind and they're super lightweight. They're very packable. They can basically pack down to being in your pocket if you're on a hike or a walk. They're really an indispensable part of my Safari gear.

Another really key thing that I would say maybe now that I think of it as almost more important than that dry bag

good camera bag. Something that you can travel with that is friendly for international flights. Something that is protected enough and sturdy enough that if you need to put it underneath the plane of a small bush flight, it's not gonna completely ruin your gear or compromise your gear. It is gonna be something that can...

very easily sit in the seat next to you. If you're bumping around in a safari Jeep in some of these places, it can sit or be put in the bottom of a boat and not get your camera gear all wet. I really like personally the Shimoda Designs company for camera bags. I have their action 40 liter bag and I'm in love with it because it has enough waterproofness that I'm not worried about water if I put it on a wet seat or the wet bottom of a boat.

It has a really good frame to it where my camera gear is extremely protected and maybe more than anything. It's a really comfortable backpack for those international travel days for carrying my gear around lodges and camps. And it has really easy access to my camera gear through a back flap. So this allows it to sit next to me in my seat. If I'm in a safari Jeep or safari truck.

and I can easily close it to further prevent dust from getting into my gear. I can open it and access it really quickly. So I'm not saying Shimoda Designs is the only one. There are many, bag manufacturers out there, but when you're thinking about the right camera bag for you, the laundry list is, you know, make sure it's easy to carry. my qualm was some of the, the sling type bags that are kind of over the shoulder or like messenger bag style.

is that when I'm walking through days of international travel through multiple airports, it's not all that comfortable. I personally prefer a backpack. You want it to be sturdy, well padded. That's usually a common thing with all camera bags. And you want it to be a nice shape that can fit in overhead compartments. And again,

maybe more than anything, probably that ease of access is something I really look for. I really like when the back of the backpack, meaning the part that actually touches my back, is the part that zippers open. That way I can put the bag on the ground. It could be in the dirt, the soil. It could be on a dirty bench of a small boat, And then I can zip open the back.

The clean back and have complete access to my camera gear. I've had camera bags in the past where the zipper is actually on sort of the outside, meaning the part that's not touching your back. And then what happens is when you put your camera down on a bench or somewhere to access to zip it open and grab your out of it. Then you're putting that part that was just in the soil or in the dirt or on the dirty bench of the little boat. And it's now on your back and it's just, I don't know. I'm not sure why.

more camera bag manufacturers aren't thinking about that, but I really do like that feature of Shimoda designs. And I would say look for that in any sort of other bag company. I like PeakDesign I like Lowepro. ⁓ I think F-Stop makes a great bag as well. These are all interesting options.

One thing that I don't bring, but I do get a lot of questions about is whether I bring any sort of stabilization device like a photo bean bag or something that might adhere or a fix to my vehicle door. I've seen these, they're cool looking. They might work in theory, but I got to say, I don't want or need anything that restricts my movement. So in other words, if I'm bouncing from left to the right of the vehicle,

I don't want to have to move my bean bag. I don't want to have to unscrew this clamp and re screw it on the right side of the vehicle. I'm going to be handheld as much as humanly possible. That being said, one hack that I've sort of found over the years is yes, it is nice to brace the tip of your lens on something soft so it's not rumbling around on a metal frame of a boat or on a vehicle. I just simply bring a little bandana with me or nowadays a little buff and I just cinch it down on the tip of my lens.

So when I do brace my lens, cause you know, at times I do need to do that for stabilization or just to get my arms a break. Then I have a little padded thing that my lens is sitting on versus the, the wooden door or the wooden side of the boat.

If you don't have a bandana or don't have a buff, you can even take an old t-shirt and just kind of tie it around, just do a little knot at the end. And it's just a little bit of extra protection. And again, with that question of, I bring a photo bean bag? No, I don't. I don't think it's necessary. In addition, if you come prepared with a photo bean bag, it's got to be filled with beans or rice or something that provides that sand like texture that allows it to sit on the side of the vehicle.

And that's heavy. That's hard to bring with you. And if you just bring the sack itself and then expect to fill it with something on Safari, then you've got another big step of the way where you have to find someone that's going to give you the filling for this bean bag. Yeah, it's nice that you didn't have to fly with all that weight. But again, it's just another big step that I don't fuss with. And I haven't really missed it ever on any of my travels.

Okay, so that brings us towards the end of the episode. wildlife safaris like those in Africa, Alaska, heck, the Arctic, and really anywhere are the holy grail for nature photography. And while they're fun and not too strenuous, they are quite demanding from your equipment. we've talked about the four kind of

hillers of getting the right zoom telephoto with adequate reach and low light sensitivity, the flexibility with zoom and ultimately being very travel friendly with size and weight. But really think about the fact that the best times a day are the golden hours and that really equates to the sunrise and sunset time when that light is lower. So low light sensitivity, although it's one of the harder things to really achieve with lenses, it is quite important.

My ultimate takeaway is that that 100 to 400, 200 to 600 class of lenses is what is best for the vast majority of people. Yes, they will have some downsides for low light sensitivity, but fortunately cameras are getting better and better at this. And let's be honest, you know, when we're on these wildlife trips, we're not only photographing at the sunrise and golden hour time of day, we're photographing throughout the day. So other than that first and last hour of the day, these

bigger F number type lenses, you know, getting to F 7.1 and F eight and even F nine can be okay. You know, if you're photographing anywhere from 10 a.m. To 4 p.m. Which a lot of us do, that's gonna be just fine.

But I will say one of the biggest game changers for me and one of the biggest for you. If you are a serious photographer is indeed consider renting or purchasing one of the big primes that we talk about like a 302.8 with a teleconverter or two one of the 600 f4s a sort of holy grail of wildlife lenses out there. It can be an absolute game changer and while the purchase of these things can set you back at least one kidney.

I do have a code for you with lensrentals.com to get 15 % off. So I rent lenses all the time for like every trip that I do,

might be a lens that I plan on using a lot. It might be an experimental lens. It just gets me some X factor types shots. But if you use a promo code wild photo 15, you will get 15 % off and you might be surprised how affordable one of these big lenses could be, especially compared to buying it.

for a week or two when you're going on a wildlife photo safari.

So remember, subscribe to this podcast to never miss an episode. I am coming out with some awesome, awesome episodes in the first part of next year with some amazing guests. don't wanna give away their names, but some really, really compelling guests. And also consider checking out my YouTube channel. You can just go to youtube.com slash @courtwhelan So that's at, you know, the little at symbol Court Whelan

And I've got some cool visual tutorials as well as these podcasts on YouTube. And finally, if you check out my website, courtwhelan.com you'll find a photo and travel blog. You can subscribe and hear from me to learn

new fun things in the world about nature and travel photography. And I've got some really exciting new drops in 2026 for that as well. So with that, I'm wishing everyone a very happy new year and thanks as always for listening.


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Court Whelan

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