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The company I work for is celebrating its 25th anniversary by inviting us to a weekend in Berlin, which is in 1.5 weeks' time. We leave friday morning and return sunday evening. I've decided to spend some hours at the Berlin Zoo on the saturday and I'm debating what gear to bring there. I watched some vids on YT last night to get an idea how it looks. I was originally thinking of only using one camera (5D3), but now I think I will bring the 7D as well. I do want to be able to cover both wide and tele without too much lens changing. I primarily want to use the 5D3 for tele work, leaving the 7D to the wide angle work (which is kind of ironic). Is 5D3 + 100-400 and 7D + 17-40 a good setup? I'm also bringing a fast prime for the aquariums

Has anyone of you people on CL been to the Berlin Zoo?

Tips and thoughts appreciated

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Canon DSLRs: 5D Mark III, 7D
Canon lenses: 17-40/4L, 24-105/4L, 24/1.4L II, 50/1.4, 85/1.8, 100/2.8L Macro, 70-200/2.8L IS, 100-400L
Other stuff: Canon Extender 1.4x II, Canon 580 EX II, Canon 430EX II, Velbon Sherpa 600R
Apple: MacBook Pro 15", iMac 27", iPad III, iPhone 4S, Apple TV

My deviantART

While I haven't been to that one, most zoos are pretty similar. And bigger it is, the longer a lens you want to bring along. 70-300 class on crop works well for most large enclosure shots, backed up with a standard zoom. So I'd say those two bodies and lenses should be ok. At least you have the option to swap if you need more either way.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Yep, I'll do it this way. Should be good
Thanks, popo

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Canon DSLRs: 5D Mark III, 7D
Canon lenses: 17-40/4L, 24-105/4L, 24/1.4L II, 50/1.4, 85/1.8, 100/2.8L Macro, 70-200/2.8L IS, 100-400L
Other stuff: Canon Extender 1.4x II, Canon 580 EX II, Canon 430EX II, Velbon Sherpa 600R
Apple: MacBook Pro 15", iMac 27", iPad III, iPhone 4S, Apple TV

My deviantART

just got back to town and yup with everything popo said. you will be fine with that setup without a doubt.

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Canon 7D + 50D + EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM + EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
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I have been to the Melbourne Zoo with the 70-300. That was pretty much the only lens I needed on the 7D for the whole visit, except for the 100 Macro 2.8. Like it has been said by popo and Wolfsong, the 100-400L should be good on the 5DIII or the 7D for the bit extra reach.
The 100 Macro is good fun in the reptile section and aquariums. Where you thinking of taking a flash?
With changing lenses, it may not be much of an issue from what I have seen in zoos, generally the things that need the bright lenses are grouped together.

Are you going to take photos around Berlin?

Have just been away with family and caravan and dropped in on this park http://www.zoossa.com.au/monarto-zoo on the way home. One thing that I was again reminded and not trying to state the obvious, was to keep the iso up, its surprisingly dark in some of the enclosures even on a sunny day and the shutter speed drops right down.

Having a ff and crop sensor gives you great options.
I am still debating on what to do, get a ff like the 6D or another cropped body. I am sick of changing lenses when travelling around and having to change from landscape to wildlife set up
If I wasn`t putting in a new kitchen, the choice would be easy.

hey guys
just thinking aloud, would the 70-200 on the 7D be enough, leaving the 100-400 at home, the low light ability may come in handy?

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Canon Powershot S95, Canon 6D,7D, 24-70 2.8 Tamron VC, Canon 15-85, Canon 85 1.8, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L Macro, Canon 70-300L +Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic

I have thought about the 70-200 for its low light capabilities. When I visited Randers Regnskov (= Rainforest) in Denmark on an overcast/rainy day last summer I only had the 100-400mm for tele work and I really missed f/2.8 that time. I had the 5D2 and 50D working around ISO 1600-3200 most of the time. The full framer handled it pretty well, the crop cam not so much. I did enjoy the reach of the 100-400mm though.

I have found a possibility to bring a 1.4x Extender Mk II which means the 70-200/2.8 can give me everything from 70-200mm to about 150-450mm equivalent with these two bodies. What do you guys think about that? Seems more flexible to me, but I'll lose the ultimate reach of the 100-400.

I will be taking general shots around Berlin, yes. I expect to be using the 5D3 + 17-40 most of the time outdoors. For low light work I'll use a fast prime. 50/1.4 or 24/1.4. I have found the 24/1.4 much more usable in many low light situations due to its wider coverage, but the 50/1.4 is so small and light that it's hardly any burden. Most likely they will both go with me to Berlin. I'm still not decided on flash or no flash

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Canon DSLRs: 5D Mark III, 7D
Canon lenses: 17-40/4L, 24-105/4L, 24/1.4L II, 50/1.4, 85/1.8, 100/2.8L Macro, 70-200/2.8L IS, 100-400L
Other stuff: Canon Extender 1.4x II, Canon 580 EX II, Canon 430EX II, Velbon Sherpa 600R
Apple: MacBook Pro 15", iMac 27", iPad III, iPhone 4S, Apple TV

My deviantART

looks like you will have a full pack ,
the only reason I suggested flash was that I found it useful in the reptile/frog section when coupled to the 100 macro.

I haven`t used the lenses, but the 70-200 and extender makes sense.

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Canon Powershot S95, Canon 6D,7D, 24-70 2.8 Tamron VC, Canon 15-85, Canon 85 1.8, Sigma 30 1.4, 50mm 1.8, Canon 100 2.8L Macro, Canon 70-300L +Kenko 1.4 Pro 300DGX, Canon 430EX II and RS 4 Classic

We returned from Berlin late Sunday evening and I spent quite some time transferring images to the iMac before I went to sleep. It's been a slow day at work for most of us

In the end I brought the 5D3, 7D, 70-200/2.8, 1.4x II, 17-40 and 50/1.4 to the Zoo. The flexibility of having two different sensor sizes and the possibility to use the extender made the setup very flexible. There were some times when f/2.8 and FF was invaluable. Only when shooting small birds and waterfowl with the 7D and 70-200/2.8 + 1.4x did I miss the ultimate reach of the 100-400. All in all I made the right choices and I'm very happy about that.

I mostly used the 5D3 with the 70-200/2.8 with or without the 1.4x. When outside the extender was pretty much on the whole time. When I used the 7D I always had the extender on as I always wanted maximum reach when using that camera.

Having the wide angle possibility was great too to get the bigger picture in some cases, and the 50/1.4 was invaluable for the aquariums. The only downside of all the lens changes was a nasty dust spot on the 5D3's sensor which I collected at the Zoo Didn't notice it until I saw the shots on the big screen

I will start the great sorting and deleting job today! Some quick numbers to start with:
5D3: 847 shots
7D: 296 shots

PS: I wonder what f/8 AF on the 5D3 will be like!

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Canon DSLRs: 5D Mark III, 7D
Canon lenses: 17-40/4L, 24-105/4L, 24/1.4L II, 50/1.4, 85/1.8, 100/2.8L Macro, 70-200/2.8L IS, 100-400L
Other stuff: Canon Extender 1.4x II, Canon 580 EX II, Canon 430EX II, Velbon Sherpa 600R
Apple: MacBook Pro 15", iMac 27", iPad III, iPhone 4S, Apple TV

My deviantART