Camera

If you do get a big camera, then practice, practice, practice before you go

Given your situation - that you haven't used a regular camera in a long while - I'd recommend going with your iPhone. A good regular camera will be expensive and you have to know how to use it - to get the best out of it. That's a lot to bite off between now and September.

mil

use what you know the most and it's available to you without any xtra expense. If you do get a new camera, make sure to consult with the Saler what's best for you and practice as much as possible.

Another great idea it's to rent camera & lens- from any rental photographic equipment shop.
I normally go to Borrowlenses.com (844) 853-6737 west coast or www.bhphotovideo.com (800) 606-6969 New York
Both places will guide you on what will be best for you. I have had great experience with both. - no complains.

I normally take my iPhone + my DSLR camera and rent the lens.

LindaAlbrecht

Tanks to all of you who commented

Linda, there are some expert photographers on this Forum, but I am not one of them. I use my iPhone and make coffee table books with the pics. Some I print and frame if they are worthy. The TD on my last tour had a great little camera. It was a compact Canon Sure Shot I think. She gave me the serial number, and I will search for it in my notes if you’re interested. Have an awesome trip!

LindaAlbrecht

Sandy feet if you run across that serial number of the camera… Please send it on. However, I am very comfortable with my iPhone camera. I was just beginning to think I was pretty naïve for thinking that that would be enough for a trip like this. But from the many comments, it seems like it would be OK. If you run across that serial number sure send it on thanks.

Linda, my TD used a Canon power shot sx720has, and she took great shots like this. I shot the same scen. Can you differentiate between the one she took with her Canon and the one I took with my iPhone?

Great comparison. I can’t guess

Smiling Sam

I assume the iPhone photo is the second shot because of the difference in zoom. iPhones tend to lose clarity when zoomed but are just fine when not zoomed. As such you wouldn't be able to get the first shot, as clearly, if you zoomed your iPhone to get the shot. Just my conjecture.

MS78

Both are great photos!!

gladysorlando984

Love both photos !!!

Each camera has certain advantages. The iPhone will generally provide better pictures in low light conditions than a regular camera, but the iPhone does not do well with telephoto shots. With a regular camera and a long lens, you can get really nice, sharp close-up shots.

Here's an example. This picture was taken with a regular camera and a long lens. The cheetah was a good 50 meters away. There's no way you could get this picture with a smartphone.

If you have good lighting and are not zooming the picture too much, the iPhone will give very acceptable pictures.

The iPhone 15 pro max has a 5x optical zoom. Samsung has a 10x optical zoom. But that's starting from really wide angle so it's sitll fairly limited in telephoto shots. I expect the next generation of the iPhone will offer 10x optical zoom.

The big advantage of the iPhone is that it's small.

Jill Boyle

I suggest the original poster visit a good camera shop to investigate whether or not to buy a camera rather than using an iPhone. I LOVED my DSLR with 3 different lenses on my first and second Africa trip as the telephoto lens was wonderful. My next trip is Namibia and I just will not have room to bring my Canon camera. I agree that the zoom feature on the iPhone has less resolution than with a regular camera. The zoom lens on my DSLR was best for capturing great animal shots, the wide angle for landscapes, etc. Everyone has a price and budget but it is important to practice with any new camera before an epic trip like this! I am less interested in spectacular photos now and will enjoy "being in the moment" but gosh darn, I will miss my DSLR in Namibia especially on a hot air ballon ride.

The first time we went to Namibia, our balloon ride was canceled for unsuitable weather, so don’t rely on it. We got fantastic photos of the desert landscape from a scenic plane ride over the area when we went in November.

Both iPhone photos.

Yes, British, you are correct. It was a trick question. 😎

PS. Our Epic Namibia tour May 7-17 did not include nor offer a hot air balloon ride. We did see the baloons; the TD said the cost is $500 USD pp. I think Kwessi Dunes provided hot air baloon rides , but you would have to negotiate with their staff unless Tauck changes its itinerary to add a 🎈

Sealord

The biggest problem with iPhone pictures on safari is it is difficult to see the screen in bright sunlight. You are often shooting blind.

Sealord - The biggest problem with iPhone pictures on safari is it is difficult to see the screen in bright sunlight. You are often shooting blind.

It seems to me that Apple has improved on that. When we went to Hawaii, I had an older iPhone and that was a problem I had shooting with it - I couldn't see the screen.

On our last couple of trips, I had the iPhone 15 pro max and didn't experience that problem in bright sunlight. I'd be interested to hear the experiences of others.

I had more difficulty with my camera than my iPhone because I have progressive glasses that darken n the sunlight so it was difficult with a camera but fine with my iPhone 14 pro max

JimFlorida

I use both an IPhone and a lower end Nikon. The camera gives greater flexibility with faster shutter speeds and distance shots. The phone is less bulky and better, in my opinion, when lighting is poor._

MS78

And if you like to take videos of the animals, especially those darling baby elephants, the iPhone is so much easier. I take both but when I need a video, it’s definitely the phone.

JanP

I use both. I have a DSLR (Canon T7i with a Tamron 18-300mm lens) which is great for general photography and getting up close to the animals. I have my iPhone for videos, food photos and whatnot. I use a sling strap for my DSLR, which takes the weight off of my neck and is very comfortable. I’ve been very happy with the photos I get and how good they look when I have my photo book printed.

travel maven

I have been an avid Photography Hobbyist for over 50 years, and I am not sure I could travel strictly with my smartphone. I have a Samsung S21. However, I am slowly beginning to change my mind after reviewing posts and classes on the Kelby One Photography site. Several of their instructors are now beginning to travel on epic journeys only using their I-Phone and it is amazing the quality of the images they capture. These are Pros that we are talking about. I think if you are familiar with the basic concepts of photography, especially with composition, the phone can be very freeing and allow you to enjoy your trip more. The Kelby site has several classes on using the I-Phone for your travels and even has a conference dedicated to it. Unfortunately, they do not have classes on the Samsung. One of my favorite photographers, Rick Sammon, has traveled to Africa on Safari, Antarctica, Morrocco and many other exotic Countries only using his I-Phone. One of the arguments in the past is that Smart Phone images do not look great when enlarged, but that is just not true these days. There are so many software tools available these days to help eliminate noise, increase sharpening and enhance pixels. I am a member of Kelby One, however, you can also access the site for free and some of these classes may be available for no charge. My only complaint with my Samsung S21 is the darkening of the screen when shooting outside, however, I do believe newer models eliminate this issue. I was at a car show yesterday and I only used my mirrorless camera and my husband used only his phone and his images were amazing and much better than the ones I took. I should have used my phone. I am becoming a believer. I do believe there is still a need for mirrorless cameras in certain areas of photography like long exposure for night photography, star trails, etc. however the I-Phone has several new apps, tripods, etc that may make cameras extinct in the future.

There’s a limit to what you can do in software to improve an image, and the smartphone people are doing that in the phone at the time when you take the picture.
To improve the image you need more optical magnification (lens magnification). To get that magnification at a distance the optical path has to be long. That’s why they call telephoto lenses “ long lenses”.
But on the smartphone there’s only the length of the thickness of the smartphone.
What Samsung and Apple are doing now is to use a mirror to change the path of the light to up and down the smartphone. This gives a longer optical path and allows more optical magnification.
Samsung gives 10x optical zoom and Apple gives 5x. But that is measured from a very wide angle setting so the telephoto is still very limited.
When the smartphone people can honestly advertise that the optical path in their phones is equivalent to a 300 to 400mm lens on a 35 mm camera, they'll have replaced the need for a regular camera.

Trying to apply more sharpening in post often leads to a very artificial looking image.

These kind of iPhone pics are good enough for my purposes

@british - the iPhone can produce good images within certain limits. It's when you attempt to exceed those limits that you get degraded images.

If you are satisfied to stay within those limits you'll get good images.

MS78

HI Travel maven, I too follow Rick Sammon and several other professional photographers. I especially love Richard Bernabe, he leads photo adventure trips and has a great podcast.. I still use my mirrorless but often defer to the phone, because 1. I always have it 2. its a whole lot lighter to carry and 3. I've watched several of those videos showing how to use the phone camera to its best advantage. Even National Geographic photographers are giving tips on iPhone photography on the Nat Geo web site, something I never thought I'd see.
Theres no right or wrong answer, just that the best camera is the one you carry with you and use when the spirit moves you.