Two Safaris in One

Brenda's Stuff

My Stuff

Brenda and I have each made our final selection for what equipment gets to come with us on the safari. Obviously we have extremely different approaches. I'm rolling into the jungle with some of the latest greatest high-technology digital SLR technology the japanese know how to make. Even my lenses are really computers. She, on the other hand, might as well be headed out on a Safari in the 50s. The only concession she's made to modern technology is the pair of Nikon binoculars she's bringing for those times when her antique lenses just can't reach the animals...she can at least whip those out and enjoy viewing them if not shooting them. I love that we're taking these different approaches. Besides the fact that I love watching my wife shoot with such gorgeous old equipment, I really love the character of the photos her cameras take. I can't wait to see what she comes back with.

We are going to try our hardest to make this a carry-on-bag-only trip and since all this is just the photography stuff obviously (and not even all of it), it might be tough. We're going to give it our best shot though.

So here's my final roster of the stuff that made the cut:

Nikon D200 Camera body
Nikon D40 Camera body (not pictured...had to use something to take this photo!)
Nikkor VR 300mm f/2.8 IF-ED telephoto lens
Nikkor AF-S VR Zoom 70-200mm f/2.8 IF-ED telephoto lens
Nikkor 18-200mm (for the backup body)
Nikkor AF-S Micro 105mm f/2.8 (macro lens for the lizards/giant bugs)
Tokina 12-24mm Wide-Angle lens (for the vistas)
Nikon AF-S TC20EII 2x Teleconverter (for when the lions are faaaar)
A kinesis car-door mounted sandbag for in-vehicle shooting
Manfroto Carbon Fiber Monopod
Manfroto Carbon Fiber Tripod (not pictured)
A wired remote for the D200
A wireless remote for the D40
Lee Graduated filter
Circular polarized filter
3 batteries for the d200
2 batteries for the d40
Chargers for each
10gig worth of card memory
160gb ruggedized backup portable hard drive
Macbook Pro laptop
A giant LowePro backpack to hold/carry all this...I hope. I haven't tried putting it all in yet.

Here are some shots of me wearing said-backpack while trying out the big 300 lens with the monopod at the frozen lake bike race/art shanty project. Brenda's camera makes it look like I'm on some arctic expedition in the 50s. I love it. Presumably I won't need quite such a large parka in the Serengeti.

Been on a safari? Think I'm missing some stuff? Taking too much? Please feel free to let me know. This is my first time.

And as for brenda, here's her description in her own words of what she's taking into the jungle and why:

Voigtländer Perkeo II


Being the most recently acquired and therefore teacher’s pet, the Perkeo easily made the cut. It’s probably the smallest medium-format camera ever made, producing beautiful, large 6x6 negatives while still folding down to fit in a large pocket. No range finder, but I have an external to slip onto the accessory shoe when I think the “squint and wing it” method won’t cut it. I bought this fully reconditioned from Jurgen Kreckel, a beautiful camera that works perfectly.

Yashica 44

I love TLRs. I love their aesthetics, I love the few moments of wonky disorientation I feel when jumping from an eye-level viewfinder to a waist-level and I love the mechanical sound effects. The little 44 is more compact than the Yashica-MAT, takes great shots and is cute as hell. This is a great stealth camera- people typically don’t notice when I’m shooting from the waist. The lions won’t care, but it will be great for portraits.

Agfa Clack

Monster 6x9 negatives from an empty box with fake lizard skin and almost no available adjustments whatsoever. Of course it’s coming to Africa.

Retina IIIc

This was a tricky decision. I don’t love the Retina the way I love the others. I spend far more time screwing around with the camera than I do composing and taking shots. It’s a nice camera in very good working order, but falls outside of my acceptable range of punctiliousness. It is, however, my only 35mm camera. As someone accustomed to only 8 or 12 shots to a roll, a 36 exposure roll is downright luxurious. It makes me feel rich with film, and I can be a lot less thoughtful about pressing the shutter release because there are seemingly always zillions of shots left before I have to change a roll. I also really dig the thumb-winding mechanism; it’s very satisfying to use and allows me to take multiple shots without taking the camera away from my eye. Retina: consider yourself on double-secret fussiness probation. Don’t piss me off.

Holga
An obvious choice in order to fulfill my need for “haunted safari” images. I love these crappy pieces of plastic and have an assortment of a half-dozen or so Holgas and Diana clones. My favourite shots are those that make non-spooky things look very spooky, and the Holga is great for this. I’m bringing an IR filter and film for it which should up the creepy quotient nicely, and some close-up filters for lizards and icky bugs.




Other stuff
Cable release (fits Holga, Retina and Perkeo)
Joby Gorillapod
Bean bag
Gaffer’s tape and aluminum foil (have to tape the hell out of that Holga in order to pull off the IR)
Lens cloth
Film:
10 rolls MF B&W (100 and 400)
5 rolls MF color slide film (for x-processing)
2 rolls Infrared
4 rolls 35mm B&W
4 rolls 35mm Color
Everything goes into a Domke F-2 canvas bag, plus sunsceen, light sweater, hat and bug repellent.

Comments

[Simon]

hey there, I'd be interested in what film you got for your yashica 44 lm and where you get it =) as here in Berlin there's only one shop offering only the efke R100 and I've heard (/read) rumours about a slide film still being produced...

cheers,
Simon

[brf]

Hi Simon, there are only a few shops and online sources in the U.S. for 127. I generally get my Efke from B&H here in the States: www.bhphotovideo.com. Might be worth paying the shipping for the advantage you have with the exchange rate. I know there is a source for a new color print film “Bluefire Murano” being produced in Canada, available from Frugal Photographer www.frugalphotographer.com, and you can find color print film (and Efke) from Retro Photographic in the U.K. www.retrophotographic.com. I haven’t hear anything about 127 color slide film, but I sure would like to get hold of some if there is such a thing- let me know if you have any luck!