Long tele for trip in Australia

[davdenic]

Hi all
I'm planning my first trip in Australia and because I like animals I'm thinking in buying a longer lens then my 40-150R.
First: is it really necessary?
Second: at the moment there are oly 75-300 and pana 100-300, but there are two expensive alternative the new 40-150 2.8 + extender 1.4 and maybe the new 300 because the trip will be in august 2015.
Usually i like the compact size and low weight when I travel, but Australia has so many animals and birds...
What is your opinion?

 

[OzRay]

What sort of things do you think you'll be photographing, as that's going to govern what you might need?

 

[davdenic]

Well, in a trip I like to be flexible but I have enough lenses to cover from 9mm to 150mm
So as I wrote I'm thinking at a longer tele for birds and other animals. But I don't know if is really necessary because never been there. But from my experience on birdwatching each lens I used was always too short

 

[OzRay]

Have you decided on which parts of Australia you plan to visit and whether your intent is wildlife reserves and the like, or completely in the bush? The former won't often need long lenses, but the latter won't guarantee that you'll see anything. Most of our colourful birds, parrots and the like, won't usually require a really long lens and depending on the location, a short FL lens would be enough. And when it comes to the other animals, kangaroos, koalas, wombats etc, much the same applies.

 

[SeanKelleher]

Given that you presumably won't have unlimited time to track down the different wildlife, I would say get yourself a 75-300 if you are planning to shoot much in the bush.

While you can sometimes get close enough to get a shot with 150mm, that's not always the case and it would be a shame to miss such unique wildlife.

 

[Listener]

davdenic, thanks for starting the thread. ozray, thanks for the info so far.

my wife and i plan to visit australia next year. wildflowers in western australia and wildlife in the northern territories will be major attractions for us. time around Sydney is in the plan as well. perhaps 7-10 days for each area. we don't expect to spend much time in zoos or gardens.

we each have panasonic g6s, oly 60mm macro lenses for the flowers, panasonic 100-300mm zooms for the wildlife. we have a single 14-140 ii zoom for general walking around photos.

ozray, any other advice?

 

[SeanKelleher]

Try and fit in at least one trip to a native animal zoo/wildlife park. (Healesville if you come to Melbourne). You'd have to be fabulously lucky to see more than a few of the iconic animals in the wild in one holiday.

 

[OzRay]

The thing about both WA and NT are that they are geographically huge. While many wish to see wildlife in their natural environment, it can take weeks of travel, searching and waiting to catch a glimpse of anything. That's why wildlife parks are so popular, as you can get most of the native wildlife in a few locations and not run the risk of personal injury to boot.

Places like Kakadu in the NT can be teaming with wildlife depending on the season, but you're only going to be able to really see the places under a guided tour and where they take you is dependent on the season. A lot of places have permanent hides where you can position yourself to catch birds, but again it depends on the season as to how many will be around.

I'd say the best thing that you can do is start Googling about each of the locations to find out what is available and when, so that you can be well prepared when you come over. Don't forget, it's not just the wildlife that can be considered unique, most of it can be common to the tropics; it's the landscape that is so very different to anything elsewhere in the world.

 

[T N Args]

Shooting birds while 'on the move' means you won't be waiting patiently for them so they won't be coming to you, so the 100-300 is essential.

Add a tripod for wildlife. Some of your best opportunities will be in the gloom of dusk and dawn (aussie animals are not as outgoing as we the people); a tripod will be appreciated.

The OP is visiting in mid winter, so days will be short, all the more use for a tripod.

 

[davdenic]

The trip is not planned but we reserved our vacation time from 21 August to 25 September, 5 weeks. The main idea is to see something in the north near Darwin, in the center at Alice and the reef at Cairns. But because it's our first time we are thinking on a round trip Sydney-Melbourne-Adelaide-Alice spring-Darwin-cairns

 

[SeanKelleher]

You realise that its a plane trip between each of those cities, so you'll spend a lot of your holiday in airports, and that "near" in Australia can be a heck of a long way by European standards?

Unless you enjoy spending much of a holiday driving.

 

[AussiePhil]

I guess for what it's worth I only travel with 14 to 300 of focal lengths, now 12 to 300 with m43, the nice thing about m43 is you can do that small and light with 3 small zooms, add a couple primes and your done.
haven't travelled with the m43 kit yet but from 4/3 the 14-45 was general walk around with the 70-300 going on anytime an animal was involved, usually in a reserve/park/zoo, as other have said actually spotting more than a kangaroo in the wild can be pot luck, and the birds tend to be not so close.

Ultimately it depends on final destinations.

 

[GRIDDD]

I was very pleased that i had the Canon 300mm F2.8 when i was in Tanzania a few years agoe, didnt need a tripod even though i just had the GH1 back then so i didnt have any stabilisation, and now i´m eagerly awaiting the Oly 300 so i dont have to bulk around on the big Canon anymore, so if i was you i would hold on to see what reviews the oly 300 gets before buying anything.

(I had a GF2 with my pana 20mm with me also, so i wasnt only shooting at 300 all the time)

 

[SeanKelleher]

(I had a GF2 with my pana 20mm with me also, so i wasnt only shooting at 300 all the time)

"I'm not running away - just zooming (out) with my feet."

 

[Rasmus]

I spent a week around Sydney in april 2001 and was actually surprised by the fact that I saw kangaroos in the wild more than once during that week. Has the number of kangaroos plummeted since that, was I just lucky or is it fairly common to see them around Sydney? If I had owned the 300/2.8 and any of the teleconverters I guess I would have come back with a few nice pictures.

 

[mcasan]

Until the Oly 40-150 Pro and TC ships next month, consider the Panny 100-300. We have used it for wildlife and birds. It is the only M43 lens that DxO Mark recommends for wildlife.

 

[Listener]

thanks for the good input so far.

we do plan to spend 7-10 days in each area and fly between areas.

we are pretty hardcore nature lovers and take few people, city or landscape pictures.

 

[kwalsh]

we are pretty hardcore nature lovers and take few people, city or landscape pictures.

To me that screams 40-150/2.8 and the 1.4x TC. Assuming you've got a camera with IBIS...

 

[T N Args]

Until the Oly 40-150 Pro and TC ships next month, consider the Panny 100-300.

So, 150 x 1.4 = 300+??

 

[SeanKelleher]

I spent a week around Sydney in april 2001 and was actually surprised by the fact that I saw kangaroos in the wild more than once during that week. Has the number of kangaroos plummeted since that, was I just lucky or is it fairly common to see them around Sydney? If I had owned the 300/2.8 and any of the teleconverters I guess I would have come back with a few nice pictures.

Kangaroos generally are easy to find if you know where to look, as are some of the parrots. It's the other stuff that's harder to see in the wild.