Tiger safari lens ?

Ugg10

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Doing a bit of forward planning for a potential trip to India which will hopefully take in a couple of days in Ranthambore on a Tiger safari.

Now I have done the Kenya safari thing and my crop camera with 70-200 F4 IS L (100-300 equivalent approx.) was fine (was too long for some of the elephant shots !) but now have a full frame and wondered if I need something different.

So, first question, has anyone got recommendations for tours to the golden triangle + Tiger Safari + a couple days on the beach (2 week tour)?

Secondly, if you have been on a tiger safari how close do you get and what lens would be best (focal length).

I guess my options are to chop the 70-200 and 1.4x in against a new 70-300 IS L (can't stretch to a 100-400) or go for the G1 Tamron 150-600 but this may be a bit too long ? Shame there isn't a 80-400 lens for the Canon other than the old Tokina (please correct me if there is one).

All comments welcome.
 
I can't help, all I can say is that I am EXTREMELY jealous ;)
 
I went to Ranthambore three years ago. I used my 80-400 with a 1.4TC on my full frame D800E to get shots like this one -


Tigers in Ranthambhore-6
by John Alexander, on Flickr

I would definitely look for something longer than 200 on FF. There is alos lots of other wildlife in the park, including lots of peacocks! Tiger sightings were good but we didn't get a close to them as I would have liked - for example I have been much closer to lions, cheetahs and even leopards in South Africa. Maybe we were just a bit unlucky. On some drives we didn't see any tigers at all but I think this was down to the way in which the drives are organised. Each morning the park officials assign different sections of the park (I think there are 6 in total) to the assembled drivers to limit the number of jeep in each section. I think it might be worth asking your driver if there is anyway to "influence" which section you get sent to ;).

With regard to rest of the trip , we flew in Delhi and then used the train to get Sawai Madhopur. We also went to Agra for the Red Fort and the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is definitelty worth a visit, one of the most amazing man made structures I have ever been to. Indian trains are OK, but make sure you get teh highest class available. We stayed at the Oberoi Hotels in Agra and Ranthambore - not cheap but worth it, especially as the one in Agra gives a fantastic view of the Taj from your room. I used Tropical Sky to sort out the details in India Luxury Holidays. The person I dealt with was Jenn O'Neil.

Don't forget you need an Indian visa and the photos for the visa are NOT the same size as usual passport photos, they are larger.

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Tos see all the shots from my trip, please look here
India 2014
 
John, many thanks, very useful, will have a look into that company. Also had a look through flickr and as you say the majority of tiger pictures are around 400+mm mark so looks like I may be looking to chop in the Canon 70-200 for a Tamron 150-600 unless I can somehow wort out a way of keeping both (I do have an old 100-300 USM to fill the gap if needs be) :)

Edit - Just spotted Sigma are about to release a 100-400 f5-6.3 C lens, currently pre-order for a similar price to the 150-600 (Sigma C and Tamron G1) at £799, if this is OK and can be used with a 1.4x then this may be worth a look as it is smaller and lighter and takes sensible size filters (same as my 70-200 at 67mm) so may get used more than the big bazookas. Be interesting to see how it compares to the canon 100-400 even if it is 1/3 stop slower.

Sigma Announces the 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary Lens
 
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Just spotted Sigma are about to release a 100-400 f5-6.3 C lens, currently pre-order for a similar price to the 150-600 (Sigma C and Tamron G1) at £799, if this is OK and can be used with a 1.4x then this may be worth a look as it is smaller and lighter and takes sensible size filters (same as my 70-200 at 67mm) so may get used more than the big bazookas. Be interesting to see how it compares to the canon 100-400 even if it is 1/3 stop slower.

Sigma Announces the 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary Lens

Just a thought, will your camera still be able to autofocus a 100-400 f5-6.3 C lens and the 1.4 TC?
 
John, thanks, good spot, does not look like it based on compatibility of the 6d + 100-400 + 1.4x.
 
I have the 6D, 100-400 MkII and 1.4x extender and can confirm the camera will NOT auto focus with the lens and extender attached.
 
I have the 6D, 100-400 MkII and 1.4x extender and can confirm the camera will NOT auto focus with the lens and extender attached.

...does live view auto focus still work? Slow but might be practical for some safari situations?
 
Don't forget you need an Indian visa and the photos for the visa are NOT the same size as usual passport photos, they are larger.

According to my son, who's recently returned from a 3 week tour of India, £125 a pop :eek:
 
Happy to be corrected thanks Raj, there was 2 of them that went so maybe he was talking the total cost for the 2 of them :confused: He was as vague as ever and I can't even use the excuse anymore that he's a typical teenager!
 
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Happy to be corrected thanks Raj, there was 2 of them that went so maybe he was talking the total cost for the 2 of them :confused: He was as vague as ever and I can't even use the excuse anymore that he's a typical teenage!

[emoji106] not an issue.. Didn't realise how much the prices have increased though.
 
I understand that one of the main reasons why Brits have to pay so much for a visa for India is that we charge them so much to come here!
 
I understand that one of the main reasons why Brits have to pay so much for a visa for India is that we charge them so much to come here!

I wonder if it's because we're supposed to haggle?

I remember mistakenly being curious about the price of a beach mat whilst in Kerala, the first day it was 575 rupees. Every day the same seller approached me with the price dropping each time, despite me saying I wasn't interested. On my final day it was down to 25 rupees and he finally accepted I was no longer interested. I reckon I could get a visa for about £3.50.
 
If it was me I'd buy a canon crop body (the cheapest one available would probably do the trick). That was you can sort whatever the primary interest distance is with your fullframe (near or far depending on what you are looking at specifically at the time), and set up thye crop for the opposite distance in case something happens and you've no time to switch lenses(switching lenses on safari is not always recommended from what I hear, even a light breeze can carry particles of sand which are not great for your exposed camera innards)

if you have the money it might be nice to ditch the tc and 100-300mm and buy the tammy or siggy 150-600mm, you'd basically have everything covered then
 
Muljao, thanks for the comment, I have a 550D but my son has started to use that so do not really want to take it away form him, assuming he comes along (20 year old + free holiday to India = do bears poo in the woods !) I would expect him to be using the 550D and 100-300.

The idea of giving up the 1.4x (plus will not get much for the 100-300) and putting that towards the Tamron 150-600 and keeping the 70-200 is appealing, will need to do some maths on that. SRS are doing the Tamron 150-600 for £750 at the moment which looks a good deal.
 
, assuming he comes along (20 year old + free holiday to India = do bears poo in the woods !) I would expect him to be using the 550D and 100-300.
.

Assuming bears are now politely pooing in toilets, then I'll happily take the free holiday!
 
Muljao, thanks for the comment, I have a 550D but my son has started to use that so do not really want to take it away form him, assuming he comes along (20 year old + free holiday to India = do bears poo in the woods !) I would expect him to be using the 550D and 100-300.

The idea of giving up the 1.4x (plus will not get much for the 100-300) and putting that towards the Tamron 150-600 and keeping the 70-200 is appealing, will need to do some maths on that. SRS are doing the Tamron 150-600 for £750 at the moment which looks a good deal.

I have the Sigma 150-600 and that was brilliant during my safari trip to Tanzania...
 
Usually, at least once per year I go to either a motor race or an airshow and would like to take more of the birds in the garden so would get use occasionally. I am guessing rental for a 2 week + trip to India may be quite expensive but will look into it.

if the sigma 100-400 get good review I think that may be a reasonable compromise in terms of size/reach and hopefully be good quality. Due to start shipping soon and similar price to the Tamron 150-600 so hopefully review will be available in the next few weeks.
 

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