Overview
There are few things in life more thrilling than being on safari in the African bush. For some of us it is the dream we’ve planned and prepared for our entire lives. While preparing to go on a photo safari ask yourself some questions.
- What kind of images do you hope to get?
- Are you interested in animal behavior? Birds or Mammals? How about landscapes?
- Are you planning on shooting at dusk and dawn?
- How much weight are you allowed to carry on the plane?
- How much gear are you willing to carry?
- Are you familiar with your gear, have you worked with it and can you use it instinctually without thinking?
- What kind of safari vehicle are you using in the bush? Are you on a group tour or have you hired a private guide?
- What kind of weather and terrain are you expecting to encounter?
The answers to these questions will help determine your readiness to go on safari and the success of your photographic journey.
Long lenses are a necessity on safari if you want to capture meaningful animal behavior and environment portraiture. They’re also really useful for creating lovely landscapes while out in the bush. In a safari vehicle you will most commonly be shooting handheld or off sandbags. Your location is limited to the vehicle. There is no chance of “zooming with your feet”. The distance to the wildlife may be a couple meters or hundreds of meters, although it’s usually somewhere in between. The conditions may be bright clear daylight, cold blue early dawn or dry dusty sunset. Sometimes, it is too cold, too hot and so on. The dirt roads get bumpy and stuff gets banged around. It’s important to be flexible.
As a Fujifilm X camera user you have a number of choices for going on a photo safari. You can buy Fuji’s longest 200mm f/2 prime with it’s teleconverter. Alternatively you could buy and bring everything under the sun then spend hours at the airline counter explaining why your camera carry on weighs 40 pounds. Lastly you can bring a selection of Fujinon Red Badges zoom lenses and this is what I choose to do.
Fujinon 100-400mm in the African Bush
I bought my copy of the Fujinon 100-400mm in 2018 shortly after I bought my shiny new X-T3. At the time it was the longest of Fujifilm’s four professional Red Badge zoom lenses. It sports a metal barrel, it’s weather sealed and image stabilized. The front element is fluorine coated to help protect and repel environmental hazards against the glass and make cleaning easier. There is a tripod foot with rotating collar and all the other trappings you would expect in a quality lens. One if the things I really like about this lens is the zoom ring lock. This is super handy when traveling or walking around while the lens is not in use as it prevents the lens from extending the barrel, keeping it snugged in and protected.
I chose to buy the Fujinon 100-400mm because at the time it was Fuji’s longest zoom lens and based on my experience with the 50-140mm I was confident that it would provide me a high standard of image quality. As much as I liked the shorter lens, I needed more magnification on safari. In my experience, the 50-140mm is too short to be the primary lens for African wildlife.
On the X-T3’s APS-C sensor the Fujinon 100-400mm becames 150-600mm in legacy 36×24 film frame lingo. That’s plenty of magnification to reach out and touch someone. But it’s only f/4.5-5.6 you claim! True but this also makes it more easily transportable and hand holdable. At 600mm, f5.6 is a non issue. My wife owns and uses a Nikkor 180-400mm f/4 on her Nikon Z7 II, perhaps the most superb safari zoom lens ever made. It has a built in 1.4 teleconverter and when it’s activated at 400mm the focal length and f stop becomes 600mm at f/5.6! I’m not suggesting that the Fujinon zoom is in the same league as the legendary Nikkor, it’s not, but it’s pretty darn good. It is also one fifth the cost and a fraction of the size and weight. You can see a gallery of some of her safari images here.
The Fujinon 100-400mm balances well on the X-T3 and presumably also on the X-T4 and X-H cameras with the addition of a battery grip. It’s not as comfortable to use without the battery grip especially during a long day of shooting. Bean bags help immensely, they take the weight off your hands and provide a stable shooting platform. In Southern Africa I used it zoomed all the way out to 400mm nearly the entire time.
Life on Safari
Morning animal viewing starts at sunrise so it’s out of bed at 6AM, coffee, breakfast, gear check and into the vehicle around 7-7:30AM. Sometimes you get lucky and actually catch the sunrise, typically the light is faint and cold. ISO can be 1600 or higher with the lens wide open. Vegetation in the bush has deep shadows and animals have excellent camouflage. The driver may double as your guide or there might be a separate driver and guide in the front seat. There might be a spotter as well in the spotter seat mounted on the front of the vehicle. If predators are around the spotter will get into the vehicle with the rest of us. I like to plant myself in the back of the vehicle as high up as possible.
Drivers, guides and spotters chat on their radios with their colleagues in other areas of the wildlife preserve. Everyone is on the lookout for the big five: lions, elephants, rhinoceros, cape buffalo and leopards. I would also include cheetahs. Everybody wants to see the big cats. But beware, the most dangerous animal in the bush is not the predatory cat, it is the hippopotamus and crocodile.
At this point, get into the groove and spirit of the adventure. Look through your camera, meter the vegetation, the ground and the shadows. Point your lens deep into the trees and imagine what a leopard would look like perched in the branches. Try to anticipate and pre-visualize what you expect to encounter. Practice holding your camera steady while the vehicle bounces along. Suddenly the call comes over the radio, someone has spotted a lion or a cheetah or elephants. The driver and guide spring into action! When you see an animal wait for the right moment to release the shutter, take lots of images. Most of all, have fun.
Criticism and Conclusions
I own all four current Fujifilm Red Badge zooms. As far as the Fujinon 100-400mm is concerned I have no complaints. It is what it is intended to be. A rugged professional quality 100-400mm zoom lens. Image quality is fantastic for it’s cost and size.
Build quality is good enough to be bounced around and banged up in general aviation and safari vehicles day after day with hardly a scratch during several African safaris over the past four years. I have rarely missed an image and when I have it has been my fault, not the fault of the lens or camera. Shot discipline and technique matter. In my experience the telescoping lens design was a non issue. I have had no problems with dust and the design keeps the lens compact and light weight. The internal dust and moisture seals have proven to be excellent.
If you enjoy using the Fujifilm X system as much as I do and you need a long zoom for wildlife or safari, buy this lens. It’s great for mammals large and small, large and medium sized birds as well as the occasional crocodile. If you specialize in bird photography you may be better served by the 200mm f/2 prime with teleconverter with it’s better subject isolation and low light performance. My wish is for a 400mm f/4 lens that works with their teleconverter. Fantastic for wildlife! I can dream can’t I?
My Fujifilm Safari camera and lens kit recommendations are:
- One, preferably two camera bodies. I like the X-T3 and use two.
- Battery grip for the body with the large lens. Maybe one for each.
- Minimum three batteries for each camera. Extra external battery charger.
- Fujinon 100-400mm lens. This will be on one of your cameras 100% of the time. Avoid changing lenses in the bush to avoid getting dirt and grime inside the camera.
- Fujinon 16-55mm f/2.8 lens for general photography on the second camera body. Avoid changing lenses in the bush.
- Fujinon 16mm f/1.4 lens or another favorite prime for adding a different interesting perspective to your work.
- Lens cleaning kit. I have a blower bulb and microfiber cleaning cloth and lens pens with me at all times. I keep a cotton bandana handy to cover my camera in case it gets really dusty. Some people prefer a shemagh.
- Sandbags. Usually supplied with the vehicle or by the safari outfitter.
- Sunglasses on a leash so you can flip them off in a hurry. Lite weight gloves, hat, long sleeve shirt, windproof jacket, all in earth tone colors.
- Compact binoculars. I use Nikon Monarch’s in 8×42.
- Electronics. Laptop, back up hard drive and extra memory cards. I carry eight 128gb SD cards as all times. Outlet adapter for your location and an extension cord with lots of plug outlets and usb slots. Headlamp and a small rechargeable flashlight.
- A comfortable camera backpack.
If you have any questions, comment or suggestions please let me know!
Disclaimer: I personally own and purchased the equipment reviewed in this article.