Best Safari Camera for Beginners Like Me

I know my way around a camera but if I were to be honest with myself, I am no professional when it comes to photography.  So, I’ve been thinking about taking the weekend to visit one of the nearby national parks like Nairobi or Nakuru National parks and one of the things that have been on my mind is the kind of camera should carry. As someone who is not intimately knowledgeable about cameras, some of the questions on my mind are: what is the best safari camera for beginners like me? Is my smartphone sufficient or do I need a higher-powered camera to take pictures of the wildlife in Africa’s national parks? To satisfy my curiosity about these and other questions, I did a bit of research online on what the veteran Safari photographers recommend and here is what I found. 

I found the Canon Rebel series of DSLR cameras to be the best camera for beginners who wants to take pictures of wildlife on their Safari in Africa. This camera has the dual advantage of having many of the features found in the more expensive DSLR cameras but at a price point within the reach of many beginners who may not prepared or willing to spend several thousand dollars on a camera they will use for just a few days in a year. 

In this post, I will breakdown the reason why I think the Canon Rebel series of cameras are the best for beginner safari-goers and the logic that led me to that conclusion. 

The camera I have used

At work, I use the Canon 700D whose American Equivalent is the Canon Rebel T5i. It’s a good beginner camera. We got it about 3 years ago for KSh. 80,000 ($800) and it has worked great and satisfied all our photography needs ever since. It came with 2 kit lenses: one for normal shooting that is pretty wide, and the other being a high zoom lens that could take decent photos of subjects about 50Meters (About 150 feet) away.

Factors to consider when choosing a good beginner camera for an African safari

Based on my use of this particular camera and a few hours of research online, here are the factors that I think you should consider when choosing a camera for an African Safari.

Weight/Portability

When going on an African Safari, how heavy your luggage is will matter a lot. Part of the reason this is is due to the greater restrictions on luggage weight on the light aircraft that will be taking you to your national park once you arrive in Africa. Places like the Serengeti and Masai Mara have really poor access by road so avoiding flying may not be a viable option ( This article explains this in-depth).

With weight limits restricting how heavy your luggage can be, the weight of your camera becomes an important consideration.

Complexity

As someone who is just starting out in photography, having to memorize all the different settings on your camera and their effect on your photos can be a pain. For this reason, your camera should have a powerful enough auto settings mode that will save you at crucial seconds where playing around with the different dials and buttons will lose you that perfect shot.

Zoom capability

The national parks in Africa are not a zoo. The animals will sometimes be far from the road and difficult to spot. Your tour guide may do their best to get you close to the wildlife but on some occasions, you will not be able to view wildlife clearly or take beautiful photos without a zoom lens. This is especially the case with the cats like Leopards and chetahs that are difficult to spot in the trees or tall grass.

This is where a DSLR camera shines. This is because you can attach a lens that has high magnification on the camera with ease and get that prized shot that everyone else is struggling to get with their smartphones.

Quality of the Kit Lens

When buying your very first camera as a beginner, you don’t want to spend extra money on camera lenses when you could have gotten a decent enough kit lens for your African Safari. 

Buying your camera as part of a bundle might come with an extra lens that may be exactly what you need for your African Safari.

Removable Batteries

It is very likely that you will be taking photos all day when out on your game drive. You want to carry an extra battery with you to ensure that you are able to take photos all day without requiring to charge your camera. 

Fortunately, almost all of the camera brands have removable batteries. Something you need to watch out for is how fast they charge and how long they keep the charge. 

Dust and water resistance

One of the hallmarks of any African safari is the dust. It covers everything and gets into the most annoying nooks and crannies. You should definitely anticipate for this and get a camera that can withstand huge amounts of dust that an African safari will throw at it. 

Almost all Canon cameras I have come across look like they can take a beating and withstand harsh conditions so they should be ok with African dust. You may also need to have a cleaning kit to remove dust from the lenses.

If you’ll be going into the jungle in Uganda or Rwanda you might also need to factor in downpours. In this case, your camera will also need to be decently waterproofed to prevent water damage that can be caused by rain that may come unexpectedly.

Cost

Last but most definitely not least is how much the camera costs. As a beginner, it may not make sense to break your bank buying a $7000 camera just for your Safari. A good Safari camera for a beginner may not be as cheap as the basic point and shoot cameras used by the average traveler but they do not have to be top of the line and cost an arm and leg.

Is a smartphone sufficient?

So the natural question that comes from the factors above is, will a smartphone do the job of safari camera well enough for it to be the only camera you carry on your African Safari? 

My answer is a resounding NO for the following reasons:

• Smartphones have terrible zoom capabilities. Even some of the most powerful smartphones will have trouble taking a photograph of a subject that is more than a few feet away. 
• In addition to this, smartphones have delays in taking photos. The half-second delay may not make a difference if you taking a selfie but it definitely will when taking photos of fast-moving wildlife.
• Another problem that may not be major enough to make a difference in your photography is how long your smartphone can keep a charge. Many phones these days do not come with removable batteries and you may need to carry a power bank or some other external source of power if you plan to use your smartphone as your camera on your Safari.

What kind of beginner camera is Best for an African Safari?

Based on the factors indicated above I believe that the best beginner camera for an African safari is the Canon Rebel series and more specifically, the Canon Rebel T7i. It checks off most of the factors listed above and comes at a price that is reasonable enough for someone starting out as a photographer.

I would like to break down each factor on its own and why the Canon Rebel series fits this bill.

1. Weight/Portability: These cameras are lighter than the heavier and more expensive DSLR cameras. While they are heavier than normal point and shoot cameras, the advantages in features compensate for this extra weight. The Canon Rebel T7i weighs 26.3 oz (747 g) including batteries and kit lens. For comparison, the Canon 1DX (This is the top of the line in Canon Cameras)weighs 1500 g.
2. Complexity: the Canon has a full auto mode that allows you to use it as a point and shoot camera. This means that even if you do not have any experience using the DSLR cameras, you should be able to take decent of shots without worrying about your camera settings. The camera also has the full manual mode but as a beginner, using it can be both intimidating and unwise when taking photos of wildlife.
3. Zoom capability: the Canon camera we got came with two kit lenses one which was a zoom lens capable of taking decent photos 150 feet away. This zoom capability is sufficient to take decent photos of wildlife from reasonable distances.
4. Quality of the Kit Lens: the fact that the Canon Rebel T7i camera comes with two lenses: one zoom lens and another wide(ish) angle lens means that you will not need to buy any additional lenses for your trip to Africa. We eventually bought another lens for portrait photography but still find the kit lenses just as useful.
5. Removable Batteries: The Canon has a standard removable battery and you can get extra batteries
6. Dust and water resistance: This camera does NOT have any waterproofing capabilities and may not be the best camera to go onto a rainstorm with. However, having said that, you are unlikely to get rained on when out on safari unless you arrive at your camp and need to walk in the rain to get to shelter. Even in this case, you can shield your camera by placing it in a bag or cover it with an umbrella. It should be able to handle dust without any problems and you can clean the lenses in the evenings.
7. Cost: one of the things that made the Canon Rebel T5i our camera of choice was the cost. This is the entry-level model for the Canon brand and the price is within reach of many beginners. I went to Amazon and found the following Canon Rebel T7i bundle with a strong zoom lens that would be perfect for an African Safari.

What is the best lens for a safari?

As a beginner, working with multiple lenses can be scary and, if you have watched any reviews about DSLR cameras, you may have seen people recommending that you buy extra lenses. 

I personally think that for a beginner, using the kit zoom lens is sufficient for decent Safari photos. You may want to get a camera that is bundled with a telephoto lens like this one I found on Amazon. However, if you  already have a camera with a lens capable of taking clear photos of subjects 150feet away, you don’t need to get another lens.

Do you need a tripod?

You might want to get creative and experiment with taking photos in low light like the evening shot below

Getting that kind of photograph requires that your camera be very still and you will need a tripod for this. The great thing is that many DSLR cameras come with a tripod bundled with your purchase. 

How much storage space do you need?

The average good quality photo is about 5MBs large. So, assuming that you’re going to be taking 1500 photos Every day of your safari,  you need to have approximately 9 GB of storage space for every day that you’re going to be on safari. 

Since you may not get good internet connectivity in the national parks, I would advise that you carry two high capacity memory cards and a back-up hard drive that you will transfer the photos each day to. Your computer can also act as the back-up drive if you don’t already have one.

Camera accessories that might be handy

In my opinion,  you don’t need to get any extra accessories as a beginner photographer for your safari to Africa.  As long as your lens is high-powered enough and that you have your portable tripod, the rest will just add complexity and weight to your baggage. 

If you feel that your package is overweight you can leave the tripod behind. You are going for an African safari to enjoy yourself and not to get stressed out on the tons of new gear you need to learn how to use. So just take the basic camera set-up and enjoy yourself.

Best beginner camera bag.

You might get lucky, like we did, and get a carrying bag as part of your camera bundle. if this is not the case for you, you might want to check out some of the following beginner camera bags for your African Safari.

Canon 2400 SLR Gadget Bag for EOS SLR Cameras

Check Price on Amazon

Canon Deluxe Soft Case PSC-4200

Check Price on Amazon

Best camera cleaning kit

One of the things you need to put into consideration is the amount of dust that you will find in Africa. One of the things that I highly recommend that you carry with you is a cleaning kit for your camera. They are usually pretty small and will hardly add any weight to your luggage. Here is a good and inexpensive cleaning kit that I found on Amazon that has some good reviews. (pictured below)