the_niner_nation wrote:
"cmyk" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I'll be doing the same sort of things in a few weeks - Nakuru - Masai
Mara - Ngorogoro - Serengeti. I'll be using an EOS 30D, with 8Gb storage
and two batteries, plus a laptop, but I plan shooting somewhat more
conservatively than you, so I expect to get by just fine.

You could get some more batteries, or perhaps a voltage inverter to run
your charger *and* media player from, via the safari vehicle's battery.

Ahh..I am in 2 minds about taking my lap top..my safari is on the
rough'n'ready side...more rough than ready :-)

I also think i ought to shoot some RAW...I don't leave until october, so I
have plenty of time to learn :-)

This is a dumb question....but where might i buy an 'inverter' ( i dont even
know what one is!!) ??

Several things:

You can get a small inverter with a single AC plug that is smaller
than your fist that plugs into a standard cigarette lighter plug.

I assume you will be very weight limited on your flights to
Africa (mine were). So carrying a car battery type device
is probably not an option. Another option is a solar cell
charger. A small one could charge a battery in a few hours or
less.

I would urger you to take multiple batteries, at least 2 days
worth of heavy shooting (4+ batteries?)

Plan on tripling your photo count per day; more if conditions
are great. I encourage you to shoot raw as much as you can.

On my January safari to Tanzania, I shot about 8,000
images in 2 weeks; four other people shot about 5,000 each.

Try and get out at sunrise and sunset. On my safari with
2 vehicles (2 photographers per vehicle),
we always left well before sunrise so we were
among the animals before sunrise. It was rare to see other
vehicles at these times; usually we saw vehicles a couple
hours after sunrise, when the heat of the day was upon us,
the animals were bedding down in the shade, and the light
was harsh, and we were heading back to the lodge!
In that case, a couple of CF cards might be fine
for the whole trip ;-).

I would think most tent camps will have a generator and
power for a brief time each day. Check with your outfitter
and see if they will have it, and if not, would they add it?
(and if not maybe a different outfitter?)

You need some device to review your images. This is necessary:
1) to check for dust, 2) to examine your results so you
can see what works and improve. A laptop is great but
something like an Epson P5000 will work too but is slower.
For such a costly trip, have a second backup (like a USB
drive; arrange with a friend to help each other with
laptops/viewing devices if one breaks).

For the total cost of a trip, why scrimp on batteries and
CF cards that will last long beyond the trip?

FYI, I took 2 camera bodies, multiple lenses, 3 batteries
for my 1D Mark II, and 6 batteries for my backup 10D, along
with 74 GBytes of CF cards, and 1 laptop, an Epson P5000,
and a USB drive (4 backups including the CF cards). Results:
http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries/gallery.africa

Roger