off to south africa - what would you bring?

J

JimiHx

Member
Hi guys,

On 1 march I will be flying to cape town for a month long stay. I'm going to visit a friend who runs a guesthouse/kite-surf school at the beach. The first 2 weeks I will stay there and do some much needed kitesurfing and in the final week we're gonna make a trip (car+tent) following the coast line to surf and enjoy some nature.
I just started (november) a film company, where my main task is creating, directing & editing. I do own a GH2 since a few months and really want to use my time there to make some nice shots (both kite-surf/around the beachhouse and nature stuff) and build up my camera skills.
Now the question; below I've posted my gear so far and was wondering what you guys think i'm missing and definitely should bring along.

My gear so far:

I'll travel with a big backpack and my lowepro camera backpack as hand luggage, so I guess I'm travelling light :)

- GH2 + kit lens
- Voigtlander 25 mm 0.95
- one extra battery
- genustech eclipse ND filter
- gorillapod focus
- manfrotto 561BHDV monopod
- rode videomic pro
- MBP retina 15"

I feel like I should at least add another lens but I don't have the knowledge on what kind of lens I'm missing.
Firstly I would really like some advice on wich gap to fill lens-wise?

And I think it would be great to have a slider...would that be usefull without a monopod? Should I consider bringing a tripod instead of the monopod?

Anything else that I'm overseeing here?

Help much appreciated!
Cheers,

Rudolf

ps I know there is plenty to search for myself, but I've been very busy with the business start-up and preparing for the trip so I could use some guidance.
 
I have never shot with a GH2 and can't really comment on gear for it. However, as a general statement, I would want make sure that I had AT LEAST another battery. I hate that sphincter tightening feeling of watching the battery bars being eaten up while I have lots of cool stuff to shoot, which it sounds like you are going to have. I would also make sure that your charger is compatible with the electrical system in South Africa. Have a good trip... bring back some great footage to show us!
 
"off to south africa - what would you bring?"

I'm surprised someone hasn't already said a bullet proof vest and Glock 17, so I'll take the honour of being the first. :tongue:
 
I would never go to Africa without at least a 300 f4, legacy mf versions from Canon or Nikon are surprisingly compact and lightweight, but you will also really need a tripod.
 
With all that surfing you might want to add a GoPro camera to the list with a couple of mounting accessories (helmet, board, car etc).
 
glock + bulletproof vest added ;-)

thanks for the advice guys. I was already considering a gopro, will look into that one.

I'm a big noob in lenses.....is there a certain focal lenght I should add?
 
About the third m4/3 lens I ordered was the Lumix 45-200mm f4 to f5.6 zoom. The long tele end (400mm full frame equiv) is quite vulnerable to movement without special "braced" positions for handheld use but still possible with practice.

I second the extra battery (or two!) suggestion, and I also second the GoPro idea. This is an ideal all weather still and video camera in addition to being rugged enough for your "sport" activites. I recommend the LCD "bacpak" for reasonably accurate framing, especially if you use the "narrow" FOV which I find gets away from the exaggerated "fisheye" look (I picked up a used Hero2 and have a second on the way). Either order or make some kind of strong "tether" to attach to a belt or something on your person to prevent loss of the GoPro if it comes loose from it's mount.

Oh...And my LowePro backpack does not have a "built in" rain cover so I make sure I have a big enough plastic bag folded up inside the big pocket under the logo.
 
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Well I hope you enjoy it here. Keep your gear out of sight and it should be fine, but for the most part you'll be ok, just mind your surroundings. We aren't a safe country but you shouldn't be freaked out - point is I don't want you to be happy go lucky careless, most of your "dangers" will be crimes of opportunity when leaving stuff where they can be easily snatched when you aren't looking. You can also buy a GoPro most anywhere about's these days, but I am sure it will be cheaper for you to buy before leaving - here they kinda load the markup. R3000 for a GoPro Hero 3 - (this package: http://www.makro.co.za/p/33374/gopro-hero-3-white-full-hd-action-video-camera/) which equates at the moment to: $339.

I second the battery. I fell in the situation where I had to milk the battery for two hours because I couldn't get a ride to fetch a second or charge my battery at an event.

We use 220/240VAC and regarding the charger, you'll likely get to know our two-pin plugs which SUCK! You get a two-pin-to-three-pin adapter which helps a lot. Your two pin plug sorta becomes part of the three-pin adapter which you can then plug into any wall socket.

Have fun, beautiful part of the country that.
 
P13 said:
"off to south africa - what would you bring?"

I'm surprised someone hasn't already said a bullet proof vest and Glock 17, so I'll take the honour of being the first. :tongue:
Click to expand...

Oh come on now. South Africa isn't that bad. I have family there and it is a great place. Especially Cape Town. Not nearly as much crime as Jo'burg. You wouldn't want to wave bags of money around at 2:00 am in a drunken frenzy but a little common sense will keep you safe. My sisters work the night club scene in SA as promoters and while they have to be a bit more careful it isn't any more crazy then any other big city. I love the night life in SA.

As for gear you will want some sort of telephoto lens. SA has many beautiful sites you will wish you could get tighter shots of that just wouldn't normally be possible to walk up to. While I love the nightlife most of your shots are likely to be during the day since that is when the country really shines. Last time I was there I only had up to 42mm and I regretted it. Even the 45-200mm zoom might not get you as tight as you would like. Really the only other modern option for Lumix is the 100-300mm lens which is also good although it has its limits since it starts at 100mm. More of a special situation lens and may not get used as much. The 45-200 is kind of a sweet spot. It can still get wide enough for many situations to still be practical.
 
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