Back from Tanzania. Photos and thoughts to share (large post)

[Andy Biggs]

Andy,

Welcome back! We are looking forward to seeing some of your pictures. Note that we have a new forum for you to announce future Safaris! Get a rest, then, we'll chat.

Kind wishes!

Asher

Thanks, Asher. Nothing like jet lag and waking up for the day at 3:00am. zzzzzzzzzzz.

 

[Stan Jirman]

I shot that much in two days Of course now I am paying the price for that - I still have three days worth of sorting to go...

I agree on the jet lag, even if for me it's 4am. Basically I am going to bed at the same time as Rachel

 

[Rob.Martin]

I shot that much in two days Of course now I am paying the price for that - I still have three days worth of sorting to go...

I agree on the jet lag, even if for me it's 4am. Basically I am going to bed at the same time as Rachel

I find the post safari stage quite tough., Everyone's expecting some cool images. You're knackered (tired) and the last thing you want to do is wade through bucket loads of images. For me, I still go back to old safaris and find stuff I passed on the first time. Of course, there's a better way, go back for more..... right andy???
hehe
Rob

 

[Andy Biggs]

Yeah, I am pretty much through with my first round of selections, as well as my initial raw conversions. I would say that it took me about 10 hours to get to where I am at the moment.

Rob, we will certainly make sure that you make it back to Africa with me.

 

[Richard Rickard]

The greatest Biggs Safari

Hello Every one

I went on Andy's first Safari and used his 500 L he wanted me to try his 400 , but he could not pry the 500 L out of my hands. The 1D Mark II works great w/ a 1.4 or 2x Ct will auto focus, people with a 20d , 30 & 5D had to hand focus. His Safari in my opinion are first class. Thanks Andy, I have some great pictures.

Rick Rickard

 

[Andy Biggs]

Hello Every one

I went on Andy's first Safari and used his 500 L he wanted me to try his 400 , but he could not pry the 500 L out of my hands. The 1D Mark II works great w/ a 1.4 or 2x Ct will auto focus, people with a 20d , 30 & 5D had to hand focus. His Safari in my opinion are first class. Thanks Andy, I have some great pictures.

Rick Rickard

Thanks, Rick! I have to say that I have a difficult time deciding which lens I like more: the 500mm or the 400mm f/4 DO. Both have their spots in my bag.



You are correct, Rick, that autofocus with an f/4 lens and a 2x teleconverter is tricky, no matter if you are using a 1 series camera that maintains autofocus with only 1 AF point or if you are using a 20D/30D with no autofocus. It also comes down to quality, and often I feel that we are better off cropping an image that was taken with a 1.4x than using the 2x.

 

[Stan Jirman]

When looking at the pictures I actually found that AF is pretty tricky with the 400DO even with 1.4x TC. Now I have not noticed that before, so maybe something is busted with my setup, but the pictures taken with just the 400DO are *far* sharper than those with the TC. This is true only for images close to infinity - images at closer range are tack sharp. It may be time to send the stack including the 1Ds2 to Canon...

 

[Andy Biggs]

When looking at the pictures I actually found that AF is pretty tricky with the 400DO even with 1.4x TC. Now I have not noticed that before, so maybe something is busted with my setup, but the pictures taken with just the 400DO are *far* sharper than those with the TC. This is true only for images close to infinity - images at closer range are tack sharp. It may be time to send the stack including the 1Ds2 to Canon...

Stan, I was thinking the exact same thing. I was wondering if it was my setup. I have a number of images where I was at f/10 or f/11 (plenty of DOF), and my subjects don't seem as sharp as they should be. Distance was about 75 feet away, and shutter speeds were well above my minimum for tack sharp subjects (1/500 sec).

Interesting times.

 

[Stan Jirman]

My rhino shot (the 2nd day in the crater) are 1/500s, beanbag, f11, and terrible in comparison to non-TC shots, or TC shots of the bustard on close range juts right after the rhino.

In hindsight, I am happy that I almost never put the TC on; I am quite pissed that I never took the time in the evening to review the shots (they were too many and simply no time - my first trip where I didn't review all images every night), as that would have exposed this, plus some other braindead things that I kept doing thru the whole trip without noticing until home. Sigh.

 

[Andy Biggs]

My rhino shot (the 2nd day in the crater) are 1/500s, beanbag, f11, and terrible in comparison to non-TC shots, or TC shots of the bustard on close range juts right after the rhino.

In hindsight, I am happy that I almost never put the TC on; I am quite pissed that I never took the time in the evening to review the shots (they were too many and simply no time - my first trip where I didn't review all images every night), as that would have exposed this, plus some other braindead things that I kept doing thru the whole trip without noticing until home. Sigh.

Stan, I guess shooting 10 to 15 GB per day will prevent one from reviewing one's images. Pure overload!