The photos included on this website were taken via the following Canon digital cameras: Rebel XTi, Power Shot S2, and Power Shot A540.

The Rebel XTi is a Single Lens Reflex camera and mine has an image stabilized 70-300mm lens. This camera was perfect for the trip – it produced more than 80% of our web photos. While a 400mm lens could have produced better photos for some distance shots, I believe such a camera is much too cumbersome for the average safari photographer. In fact, some of the “roads” were so bumpy I often supported my XTi to cushion the worst shocks.

I only have one lens for the XTi. I don't use another lens for wide angle shots because I don't want to change lens when a good panoramic opportunity presents itself. This is especially problematic in a dusty environment as was the case for much of our safari. I prefer to bring my older Power Shot S2. The PS2 is not an SLR, but it has an image stabilized 12x optical lens which works great for wide angle shots or closeups and even can produce good bird photos if I can find the bird without being able to use an SLR feature. The main drawback I find to my PS2 is that its older technology provides only a maximum ISO of 400, but that is quite adequate for most situations.

Sandy has the Canon Power Shot A540. This is a compact camera that has a 4x optical lens system. In general it takes excellent pictures. However, in Tanzania the very dusty safari environment did give it some problems. The camera has an automatic lens cover that automatically opens when the cameral turns on and closes at power down. We found out that dust could affect the mechanism and cause partial opens and partial closures. Fortunately we had a combination lens brush / lens airblower with us that was able to remove dust from the lens cover as needed.

It goes without saying that on an extended camera outing such as our African safari it is important to bring lots of memory for the digital cameras and spare batteries. Plus, don't forget a battery charger and plug adapter for foreign receptacles. Between Sandy and me, we took over 3000 pictures on the trip and still could have taken more if the urge hit us. Of course that large number of pictures has required weeks of editing when we returned home, but we're retired!