I was on safari in Kenya, on the Masai Mara plains, which is where Kenya meets the Serengeti in Tanzania when i took the photograph below.
I was using a Nikon D3 with a 200-400mm lens using either a 1.4 or a 1.7 tele-converter, but often just shooting 200-400 without a TC, so my maximum focal length was 680mm. In the vehicle with me was a guy who had a Canon EOS-1D Mark III with a 800mm lens (EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM). We are talking $12,999 for the lens alone. Plus i guess about $4,000 for the camera body.
He was a Nikon user who switched to Canon simply because they make a 800mm and Nikon do not. So the Nikon vs Canon banter was extreme in the vehicle and at all meals during this safari.
As you can guess from the header photo on this post, there was big glass everywhere.
So after days of fun banter about Nikon vs. Canon we switched cameras for about 10 minutes. I would have switched for an entire day, but he wanted his 800mm back! I can't blame him.
I shot this Vulture in a tree far far away and i am happy to share it with the Steemit community for the first time.
When challenged as to the practicality of a 800mm lens, the owner demonstrated that you can shoot hand held with a 800mm , though he didn't shoot hand held for very long!
Thank you for the opportunity to share this photograph and a little story from my safari adventures.
ps. For the full blow photo-nerds who "have to know", the header photo is, from back to front, Nikon D3 + 600mm then Canon EOS 1D + 800mm then Nikon D3 + 200-400mm. The 600mm looks bigger because it has a very wide lens hood. The 800mm has quite a long and comparatively narrow lens hood.
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