@jonmacks - I did some testing with my iPhone 15 Pro Max for telephoto pictures. Now, everyone has their own standards, but I was not satisfied with the picture quality when I zoomed out fairly far. Once you get fairly far into the digital zoom the image degrades quite a bit. It's not bad if you only go maybe 2x into the digital zoom. If you add that to the 5x optical zoom, it gives you 10x, but I believe that Apple starts their specifications from fairly wide angle, and not normal (the equivalent of 50mm in a full frame camera). I didn't feel that 10x gave me what I wanted in telephoto pictures.
If I take my Canon with its 70-300 lens for the long distance shots, how much memory do you think I will need if I use my iPhone for the rest of my photos? Would one 128 GB card be enough. Are two batteries enough, you think? My batteries seem to hold a charge ok, but they are about 12 years old.
I think I used 128 or 256 cards for the last time I used my Fujifilm camera. Didn't come close to filling them up. You want two batteries with you when you're using the camera - one in the camera and one in your pocket. Make sure you charge them every night. I'm a belt and suspenders kind of guy so I always bring extras (of just about everything).
@jonmacks : Even if you think you can fit all photos on one card consider taking multiple versions. Cards are cheap and cards fail. So my strategy is to rotate out a card every 2-3 days so that in the worst case scenario I only lose 2-3 days of the trip and not the entire tour if I used only one card and it went south on me. A 128 GB card should hold 3000+ shots at 40MB per shot. (Your camera file may be larger or smaller). You will shoot LOTS!! So have lots of storage. On my last two Africa trips I took over 10,000 shots but I do shoot at 10 frames per sec typically. Carried 4 off 512GB cards and rotated them every 2-3 days as I suggested. Some cameras have two card slots. You may consider using one as a back up to mitigate the failure scenario.
I didn't mention what rwilso15 said, but my Fujifilm camera has two storage slots and I use both of them. I put RAW on one and JPEG on the other. If your camera has two storage slots, it's a good way to provide some backup.
Good comments here. Thank you. I respect the fact some people don't want to take pictures on safari, some want to go as lightly as possible by using an iPhone, some use bridge cameras (my husband will have that one in tow) and yet another group uses DSLRs/Mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses. I'm among the last group listed and understand the challenges of shooting in the dusty, quickly moving atmosphere. My biggest challenge is fine tuning what I carry with me and how to ensure the kit doesn't exceed the expressed limits. I appreciate the advice and real-life experiences outlined.
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I am jealous. If I were to convince my wife to go, which African adventure should we take? I would like to see animals and the open plains of Africa.
@jonmacks - I did some testing with my iPhone 15 Pro Max for telephoto pictures. Now, everyone has their own standards, but I was not satisfied with the picture quality when I zoomed out fairly far. Once you get fairly far into the digital zoom the image degrades quite a bit. It's not bad if you only go maybe 2x into the digital zoom. If you add that to the 5x optical zoom, it gives you 10x, but I believe that Apple starts their specifications from fairly wide angle, and not normal (the equivalent of 50mm in a full frame camera). I didn't feel that 10x gave me what I wanted in telephoto pictures.
If I take my Canon with its 70-300 lens for the long distance shots, how much memory do you think I will need if I use my iPhone for the rest of my photos? Would one 128 GB card be enough. Are two batteries enough, you think? My batteries seem to hold a charge ok, but they are about 12 years old.
I think I used 128 or 256 cards for the last time I used my Fujifilm camera. Didn't come close to filling them up. You want two batteries with you when you're using the camera - one in the camera and one in your pocket. Make sure you charge them every night. I'm a belt and suspenders kind of guy so I always bring extras (of just about everything).
@jonmacks : Even if you think you can fit all photos on one card consider taking multiple versions. Cards are cheap and cards fail. So my strategy is to rotate out a card every 2-3 days so that in the worst case scenario I only lose 2-3 days of the trip and not the entire tour if I used only one card and it went south on me. A 128 GB card should hold 3000+ shots at 40MB per shot. (Your camera file may be larger or smaller). You will shoot LOTS!! So have lots of storage. On my last two Africa trips I took over 10,000 shots but I do shoot at 10 frames per sec typically. Carried 4 off 512GB cards and rotated them every 2-3 days as I suggested. Some cameras have two card slots. You may consider using one as a back up to mitigate the failure scenario.
I didn't mention what rwilso15 said, but my Fujifilm camera has two storage slots and I use both of them. I put RAW on one and JPEG on the other. If your camera has two storage slots, it's a good way to provide some backup.
Good comments here. Thank you. I respect the fact some people don't want to take pictures on safari, some want to go as lightly as possible by using an iPhone, some use bridge cameras (my husband will have that one in tow) and yet another group uses DSLRs/Mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses. I'm among the last group listed and understand the challenges of shooting in the dusty, quickly moving atmosphere. My biggest challenge is fine tuning what I carry with me and how to ensure the kit doesn't exceed the expressed limits. I appreciate the advice and real-life experiences outlined.