JHP Newsletter - 2005, No. 3, 30 March
My trip to South Africa was great!
Equipment: Sigma 120-300 f2.8 APO EX IF HSM
I'm less pleased with the Sigma 120-300 f2.8 APO EX IF HSM than I was in the last newsletter. A couple of days after I sent out the last newsletter, I discovered that the finish was starting to wear off in some high-wear areas. I've never had the basic finish wear off a lens before. I've had some of the lettering start to wear off after a couple of years, but never the basic finish. So, I'm still less than impressed with Sigma lenses.
Equipment: Molar Bag
The Molar bag is a beanbag specially designed to be used on a window of a vehicle. I bought one for the trip to Africa, and it's great. It's a lot easier to travel with than a metal window camera support because it weighs a lot less and takes up a lot less space. When it's loaded with beans, however, it weighs a ton because it holds about as many beans as three normal beanbags. If you're interested in a window support for your camera, check it out at www.vertexphoto.com/BeanBag.aspx.
Equipment: Visible Dust
I've been using the digital camera sensor cleaning system from Visible Dust, and it works well. They have a line of brushes specially designed to take dust off the sensor, as well as a cleaning solution for stubborn dirt. Check it out at www.visibledust.com. I'm sure you'll be pleased.
Travel: South Africa
Immediately after the East Africa leg of my African safari, I went to South Africa for a month by myself. Shooting from my own vehicle allowed more flexibility and control to set up shots, and the lower shooting position, compared to that from a Land Rover or Land Cruiser, was advantageous most of the time. There were a few times where a higher shooting position would have let me shoot over some high grass, but being closer to eye level of the animals is nice.
First stop was three days in Pilanesberg National Park to the NW of Johannesburg. It was my first time there, and I went because the short blurb in the Lonely Planet guidebook says they have African Wild dogs, a species I've never seen before. I wasn't expecting to see them, but it was enough to get me to check out the park. I was glad I went because just about the first thing I saw was a mother and baby white rhino cross the road about 10 yds away. It was the smallest rhino baby I've seen, and I got some half decent shots of it. At the end of my second day, as I was racing to get out of the park before the gates closed, I came across a pack of about a dozen African wild dogs trotting along the road in the same direction I was heading! I slowed, and they kept trotting along, not particularly bothered by my presence. As I came right up next to them, they stopped, and after I got my camera ready, they parted so I could drive through them and get some shots. Because the gate was supposed to be closing when I got to the dogs, I didn't have time to work them, and only got a few snap shots. I looked for the dogs the next morning, but they were nowhere to be found. I wish I would have taken the time to get more shots, and then found out what would happen if I was late getting to the gate.