You’re going on an African Safari and you want great photos but don’t want to spend thousands on a new camera or lens. Renting camera gear may be the best option for you. Renting a camera when going on your safari will allow you to take amazing safari pictures and save the money you would have used to get a new camera on something else like extending your safari by a few days. Let’s talk about a few things you should consider before renting a camera for Safari.
I’d first like to give a disclaimer that I’ve never had to rent safari gear before so I had to do a lot of research to find the most accurate information around this subject. I would use this article as a starting point in helping you make your decision but you should also do a bit more research on your own as well.
1. Is renting for you?
The first thing you may need to ask yourself is whether renting that camera is something you should actually do.
To figure this out need to think about what you plan on photographing and whether what you already have is suitable for it.
Renting camera gear is a great way of keeping your toes into the photography industry without having to spend a large amount of money required to get started.
By renting that camera, you will have the opportunity to take awesome photos as a beginner and there’s no better place to find awesome subjects to photograph than an African safari.
Renting camera gear is NOT for you if
- You already have a DSLR camera and a decent lens that is above 100mm. These are essentially the two things that you need to be able to take decent safari photos and if you already have them, there’s no need for you to rent.
- Photos are not your priority but you just like to take a few for memory sake. For this you can just use your cell phone camera. it won’t be that awesome but you will have photos that will capture the memories of your time in Africa.
- You are clumsy and may break any of the equipment. The fact that you are renting is a Ferrari gear means that if anything goes wrong you will need to pay for any damage. With the cost of average camera gear going into the thousands of dollars, you cannot afford to damage it because it’s as good as bought if you do.
2. When is buying a safari camera a better option?
you may want to take the plunge and just buy your camera before starting your African safari.
Buying instead of renting your camera safari gear is a great option for you if:
- You already know what kind of photography you want to do and have a long-term plan for how you will use your camera equipment after you return from your Safari.
- If you would like to get started in photography and want to use your own camera from the get-go instead of someone else’s.
- If you plan to use your camera in risky situations like climbing Kilimanjaro and don’t want to have the stress of thinking about what will happen if you drop one of the lenses
3. The kind of camera you should rent
There are a number of considerations you need to think about when choosing the kind of camera you take on a safari.
- Weight: The camera needs to be lightweight since having equipment that is too heavy may mean that you cannot fly on local safari airlines that use small planes that have strict luggage weight restrictions. There are times where flying using these planes is the only way of getting to the National Park.
- Ease-of-use. unless you are already a professional photographer that knows how to use a complex DSLR camera, you need to pick a camera that will be easy to use and whose point-and-shoot settings are good enough for you to take decent safari photos.
The camera you should use
Based on these factors I found the following Cameras to be best suited for renting when going on an African Safari.
I would advise that you get the Wildlife Kit for Canon offered by Lensrentals.com
This kit contains the following gear:
- Professional general use Lens: Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II
- Professional Telephoto Zoom Lens: Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II
- Professional Mid-Range DSLR Camera: Canon 5D Mark IV
- Bean Bag to Stabilize your Camera on Bumpy Safari Roads: LensCoat LensSack Jr.
- A Spare Battery for the camera: Spare Canon LP-E6N Battery
- 2 high-capacity Memory Cards: (2) SanDisk SDXC 128GB Extreme Pro 170MB/s UHS-1 U3
4. The kind of lenses you should rent
The kind of lens you carry to an African safari will significantly impact the kind of photos you will be able to take.
here are a few factors you should consider when choosing a lens to rent for your African Safari.
- Zoom Capabilities: When going on safari you will be in vehicles most of the time and will need to take photographs of animals that are not always very near. Having a zoom lens, not above 100 mm will allow you to take photos of animals that are a few hundred feet away.
- Versatility: on some occasions, you will get the opportunity to go into the city or have a landscape that is an incredible photo opportunity. You will need to rent a lens that will allow you to easily switch modes and take good photos of all of these scenarios but still take great wildlife photography. You need to get a lens or lenses that will allow you to take photos in these two scenarios easily and without struggling.
- Weight: as I mentioned earlier how heavy your gear is will impact the kind of transport that you can use when on your safari so you want to keep your lenses as light as possible.
How many lenses do you need?
Since weight is one of the big factors you need to put into consideration, carrying a lot of lenses is not an option.
However, you should have at least have two lenses:
- One Telephoto lens that will allow you to take photos of animals that are a bit of a distance away.
- One wide-angle lens that can be used for all other scenarios like landscapes, portraits, etc.
The lenses you should choose
Based on these factors, I found the following lenses to be most suited to rent when going on an African safari
5. How long should you rent your Camera Gear for?
If you are going on a 10 Day Safari, you might want to rent your camera equipment for about 21 days. This is because the 10-day safari does not include your travel time from home and back.
Having additional days will allow you to have enough time to try out the camera and lenses before you go and a few spare days after you return to ship your equipment back to the renting company
6. Cost of renting camera gear for an African safari
So how much does it actually cost to rent camera equipment if you’re going on safari?
The cost will be determined by two things:
- The kind of equipment you will be using (use the recommendations described on number 4&5)
- How long you’ll be renting the equipment for: Give yourself a few days before you travel to use the rented gear and figure out its basic settings.
For a 10 day safari, you expect to spend about $880 USD. This price will give you access to the following equipment.
| Equipment | Brand | Purchase Price on Amazon |
| Normal Use Lens for everyday photos & Landscapes | Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II | View Current Price on Amazon |
| A Telephoto Zoom Lens to capture distant wildlife | Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II | View purchase price on Amazon |
| Professional DSLR Camera | Canon 5D Mark IV | View purchase price on Amazon |
| Bean bag for stabilizing your Camera on the vehicle | LensCoat LensSack Jr. | View purchase price on Amazon |
| Spare batteries (You will need these) | Spare Canon LP-E6N Battery | View purchase price on Amazon |
| Enough Memory to store 3 weeks’ worth of high-quality images. | (2) SanDisk SDXC 128GB Extreme Pro 170MB/s UHS-1 U3 | View purchase price on Amazon |
7. When should you rent
As I have advised earlier, you want to ensure that you get the camera you will use for your safari a few days before you travel for Africa. The reason for this is the fact that you don’t want to be completely unfamiliar with your equipment when you arrive.
Best case, you will lose valuable shots at the beginning of your safari as you try to learn how to take the photos on your safari.
Worst case, you may end up with unusable photos for the whole of your safari since the settings you used were wrong.
8. Rent it from Africa or home?
I would advise that you rent from your home country and travel with your gear instead of trying to rent it when you come to Africa. First, you may have delays in getting your gear if you are lucky enough to find a company that will rent the equipment to you as a foreigner.
Rental companies avoid shipping internationally because of the taxes and duties such items attract.
You also don’t get the chance to test out your equipment ahead of the trip and this will work to your disadvantage.
9. Is there insurance for the equipment rented?
Lensrentals offers a type of insurance for their camera equipment called Lenscap
It protects you as the person renting the gear from full liability if something happens to the lens when you are on safari.
10. Should you rent the memory cards as well?
Even though the camera pack described above comes with high capacity memory cards, I don’t think renting the memory cards will be a great idea.
The cost of a memory card is really low and I think keeping it after your safari is worth it. You will have a backup location to store your safari photos and the memory card may become useful in the future.
11. How to Rent Safari Camera Gear
The process for renting camera gear for your safari can be ordered in the steps below:
- Figure out what type of camera and lenses you need: Doing a lot of research online on the type of lenses professionals typically on a safari
- Find a lens rental company near you & check whether they are legit and that they have a stock of the latest high-quality equipment.
- Make your order: some camera renting companies will start counting your rental period when they ship the gear to you.
- Confirm that the gear you had requested is what has been delivered
12. How to return a rented safari camera
Once you have come back from your safari, you will need to ensure that you have safely stored away all your pictures and cleared the memory cards you were using before returning the gear.
You will also need to ensure that the gear is in good working condition just as you received it before shipping it back.
Lensrentals will give you a prepaid return shipping sticker with your camera gear when you receive it. All you will need to ship back the camera will be to put the items back to the box they came in, seal the box and put the return shipping sticker with the
13. Traveling with a rented camera
It will be important to remember that the camera you are traveling with is not your own and you will need to pay greater consideration for the safety of the gear you are carrying.
Here are a few tips I found to travel with your rented camera gear.
- Put everything together. This will help you not to forget anything at home. It will help you also to keep your equipment within a single point and prevent you from losing anything along the way.
- Carry the camera as carry-on luggage: Since cameras are fragile, you need to pack your gear as carry-on luggage that you will bring you to the plane. You also minimize the chances of the gear being lost with your luggage if you carry it with you instead of checking it in.
- Use a padded bag: when traveling to Africa, you will inadvertently bump into things. Either on the plane or on your safari drives. You want to prevent any damage to your equipment by using a bag that is padded and if you can, use a camera-bag.
14. Cleaning. Should you do it?
My general feeling about this is that you avoid cleaning your rented camera equipment if you do not have experience in these things. You risk damaging the camera or lenses if you clean them inappropriately and you would rather leave this to a professional.
With this, I am assuming that you are taking good care of your camera and that the only things that need cleaning after you come back from your safari are dust and a few smudges on the screen from you touching it when viewing photos.
The companies offering camera gear rentals will deliver your camera gear clean and will professionally clean the gear when you return it.
15. What happens if you damage it
Damaging rented camera gear on your African safari is something you may want to be worried about and you may be wondering what happens when your rented gear is damaged.
You would be liable to replace the item if it is damaged or stolen and you will need to take precautions when handling your gear.
The companies may offer a cover that limits your liability when damage occurs but you will still need to pay a portion of the repair cost.
You need to report immediately to the rental company that there has been damage or loss for them to advise you on the next steps.
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