What's in My Bag: A Hybrid Shooters Kit for Wildlife Photography
One week to go!
I am about to pack my kit for South Africa. We are flying to Kwazulu Natal from February 13th to March 1st. Have I forgotten anything? Every time I travel to Southern Africa, I forget something, mostly just little things like the lens/sensor cover for a Sony body, or so. But these things are crucial in the unfortunate conditions in the bush. Sensor smudges are the result. But this time I have a sensor cleaning kit with me.
I always make an updated checklist for the photo equipment I plan to take with me. This list changes mostly until the last day before departure. The problem is again and again overweight with the hand luggage. At the moment I am at 17 kg, but 8 kg. would be allowed with Swiss Airline. As you know, the lenses have the most weight. But you need good glass in the African bush. Last year on the flight to Namibia I had 18 kg. Overweight. But Qatar Airways had mercy on me and I didn't have to pay anything extra. Did you hear Swiss Airline? I expect the same service from you ;-)
My Photo-Kit for South Africa
SONY A9 Body
SONY A7R IV Body
SONY FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS
SONY AF-Telekonverter 1.4x SEL-14TC
SONY FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM
SONY FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM
SONY FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM
GITZO Traveler Kit Tripod
My video-Kit for South Africa
FUJIFILM X-T30 Body
FUJIFILM XF 18-55mm f/2.8-4.0 OSS
FUJIFILM XF 10-24mm f/4.0 OSS
RODE Video-Mic Mini
SIRUI Mini Tripod
my Video/Photo editing kit for south africa
APPLE Macbook Air (2019)
3 SanDisk SSD’s 1TB
2 Toshiba SSD 512 GB
Capture One
Final Cut Pro
bags
LowePro Pro Runner BP 450 AW II
ONA Bag The Bowery
accessories
ND Vario Filters
SD Cards
Peak Design Slides
Sensor Cleaning Kit
Power Supplies
World Adapter
Spare Batteries for Sony and Fuji
Important - Insuring your Equipment!
It would be a pity if the whole equipment is stolen already on the 2nd day in South Africa and you are not properly insured. Here is a solution which I already used last year for Namibia:
The insurance service of Lings, a startup from Generali Insurance in Switzerland. https://www.lings.ch/
And this is how it works:
Capture equipment, activate insurance with one click and deactivate it as soon as you no longer need the protection. If something happens, simply record the damage online, dry tears and wait until we contact you within 24 hours. And we will refund the repair or the current value as new.
O.K. and how much does the insurance coverage of my kit for 17 days in South Africa cost?
Let’s have a look:
Total costs: CHF 125.80 for 17 days.
Not bad for a kit with a value of over CHF 20'000. This insurance coverage is well invested money and would cost many times more on an annual basis.
And what are your tips and experiences for your perfect Wildlife Kit? What else should be included in the kit? Your experiences are certainly interesting for me and all readers. I am curious about your comment.