Trip around the Kalahari, KTP and CKGR

[tcom]

Hi

I am now on the way back from a wonderful 3 weeks trip around the Kalahari desert.

The tour started in Windhoek and headed south for the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Parc (KTP). Then, we left that parc for a few days in the Kaa Concession area and ended with the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), including mostly the Deception Valley.

The first week was very hot and dry (making it really dusty), the other two weeks showed us that the rainy season was not over. A rain or thunderstorm at midday or in the evening was likely. This washed away the dust, but humidity raised, up to the level of having quite dense mist on early mornings.

I finally decided to take the following equipment:

• 2 K-7
• DA12-24/4
• DA100/2.8 WR
• DA*200/2.8
• DA*60-250/4
• TC 1.7x
• Solarpanel with powermodule and Ansmann Vario Pro charger to charge the K-7 batteries when away from power supply.
• Netbook

What worked well

• The weather sealing of both K-7 and the weather sealed lens worked perfectly. Even in such conditions, I never had any dust on the sensor
• With the help of the 26W solar panel, a power module and the ansmann vario pro, I could charge all my batteries (K-7, AA batteries for GPS and the battery of the netbook). I even charged the batteries of other people in the group.
• All lens delivered great IQ.
• Quite frequent use of high FPS was really helpful to follow actions such as playing lions
• Sorting the RAW photos on the netbook in the evening was not quite fast, but still very usable. I do now have to sort "just" out of 800 shots, while I did really take over 2500 shots.

What did not work as expected

• DA12-24 does not zoom so smoothly anymore, so weather sealing seem to make the difference.
• Because of the dust and rain, the DA*16-50 would have been the better choice than the DA12-24.
• As it is not allowed to leave the car while in the national parcs, composing nice wide angle landscapes with the DA12-24 is not as easy.
• I took the DA*60-250 and DA*200 instead of the usual DA*200 & DA*300 combo. While the DA*60-250 produces great image quality, taking time to adjust focus and thinking too much about composition made me sometimes miss some wildlife shots. The 60-250 is versatile, but too time consuming. Using the DA*200 on one camera and the DA*300 on the other is more effective as I do not think about the zoom, I select the camera with the right lens, and compose, that's all.
• The 1.7x TC on the DA*60-250 takes too much light on early morning and late afternoon shots.
• On many occasions, I missed a longer lens. I do really wish a prime lens in the 500mm region. Hopefully Pentax will soon bring a lens going beyond 300mm, or I might well take the Sigma 500/4.5.

[tcom]

I am not yet ready to start the photo thread, but here are two first photos to "shorten" the wait.

1
Playing lionesses


2
Misty morning

[Mike Pearson]

Dominique,

Glad you're home safe and sound and hope everything went well 

Nothing like teasing us with a couple of excellent captures - love the lionesses 

Mike

[spyglass]

Welcome back Dominique,

Nice that you described the lenses you took and what your experience was in the field. Your comments regarding the 60-250 zoom did surprised me , while your comments regarding the 12-24 made a lot of sense when you factor in the conditions and rules of the park. I hope that Pentax incorporates weather sealing in future 12-24 lenses, or in the rumoured new wide angle landscape lens.

Can't wait to see what you have in your collection of 2500 photos. If these shots are any indication I know we will be in for a real treat.

Once again welcome back.

Spyglass

[blackcloudbrew]

Wow, what a cool start. Honestly, I want to know more about the solar panel charging system. Heck I want photos and details etc. as well. Anyway, welcome back and I look forward to viewing yours usual array of excellent images and stories.

Tim

[tcom]

Mike: thank you. Everything is fine, it is just that I do lack time to sort and process the many photos.

Spyglass: when using a prime such as the DA*200 or DA*300 on wildlife, I am much faster than with the 60-250. On the trips where I took both 200 and 300mm, when seeing an animal, I made a quick choice on which lens to use, pointed the lens at the animal. If the animal is too close for the focal length, I make a details shots such as a portrait, if it is too distant, I compose the image in order to show the animal in its surroundings. With the DA*60-250, you can basically make both, so you first try different variants, closeups, tight composition or animal with surroundings, which can be too time consuming. I do have now to say that I do prefer primes.

Tim: the images and stories will come as soon as I have processed at least a few images. As for the solar panel, I used:

1. Solar panel: Brunton Solar 26W http://www.brunton.com/product.php?id=420

The power issued by the solar panel varies from 8V-24V depending on various factors (cloud cover, angle to the sun, temperature,...). So, you need to add a voltage regulator.

2. Portable Power: I used a similar device to this: http://www.brunton.com/product.php?id=638. It basically contains a lithium battery which gets charged by the solar panel and delivers an output voltage between 5V and 19V to operate various devices, 5V devices on USB, laptops,...

3. Battery charger. I used the Ansmann Vario Pro. This is an universal charger able to charge as well AA batteries as lithium batteries.

[scott-devon]

beautiful first shots, I'm looking forward to seeing more when you get time.

[tcom]

I can finally start the photo thread of this trip.

23.03: Windhoek - Bagatelle Game Ranch

After landing in Windhoek and the immigration procedure, we are heading south for the first lodge, the Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch. It is a very nice lodge, especially to spend a first night after a long flight. We are there for lunch and take a long afternoon break. In the late afternoon we start for our first game drive.

1 Typical landscape of the Kalahari on the Namibian side.
DA12-24, 1/125s f/8.0 at 21.0mm iso100


2
DA*200, 1/400s f/5.0 at 200.0mm iso100

[tcom]

3
DA*200, 1/500s f/4.0 at 200.0mm iso100


4 No doubt, the rainy season is not over yet.
DA*60-250, 1/250s f/5.6 at 98.0mm iso100

[tcom]

5
DA*12-24, 1/60s f/8.0 at 12.0mm iso100


24.03 Bagatelle Game Ranch - border to South Africa

This morning, we do another game drive at the lodge.

6
DA12-24, 1/250s f/7.1 at 12.0mm iso100


7
DA*60-250, 1/125s f/5.0 at 250.0mm iso100

[tcom]

8
DA12-24, 1/200s f/7.1 at 14.0mm iso100


9
DA35, 1/400s f/6.3 at 35.0mm iso100


After this morning game drive, we leave the lodge to go to another lodge, located south, 8km away from the border to South Africa as well as from the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Parc.

To be continued...

[Mike Pearson]

Dominique,

Excellent photos - my wife wants the baby Giraffe 

I particularly like the last one with the DA35 

Mike

[tcom]

Thank you Mike. Yeah, that young giraffe was really cute

25.03: Namibia - South Africa- Botswana

Today, we first take the 8km to the gate of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Parc in Mata Mata, which is also the border to South Africa. First, we leave Namibia and do get the stamp in the passport that we left Namibia. We cross the border and go to South Africa. There, we are told that there is no need to make the immigration procedure as we will not stay the night in South Africa, therefor, we do not get the stamp in the passport for entering South Africa.

Then we take the road along the Auob Valley down to Twee Rivieren, which is the southern gate of the Kgalagadi, and the border between South Africa and Botswana as well. There is a new building, one half belongs to South Africa, the other to Botswana. Having to enter Botswana, we choose the Botswana side. Then, there seem to be a problem, we are coming from South Africa to enter Botswana without having a stamp that we ever entered South Africa. They clarify the situation, there is a special rule in this transfrontier nationalparc, everything is ok. We do now enter Botswana (and get the stamp in the passport).

Once we are in Botswana, Twee Rivieren is now called Two Rivers. All what remains to do for today is to take a place for the tents and mount them.

Here a few photos of the day.

10 Oryx
DA*60-250, 1/250s f/8.0 at 170.0mm iso100


11
DA*60-250, 1/250s f/5.0 at 250.0mm iso100

[tcom]

12 Springboks
DA*60-250, 1/400s f/5.0 at 250.0mm iso100


13
DA*60-250, 1/160s f/5.0 at 200.0mm iso100

[tcom]

14
DA*60-250, 1/320s f/8.0 at 220.0mm iso100


15 Oryx
DA*60-250, 1/250s f/8.0 at 60.0mm iso100