Dust Prevention on Safari?

I'll be spending a month in Tanzania shortly and was told by friends there that the dust is pretty bad in places.  Anyone have any tips on how to best control the situation while out in open vehicles all day?

Yes there is dust especially in the Serengetti on unpaved roadways.  Was there a few weeks ago and my experience was the most dust occurred while in transit across roadways (most were not paved) at some speeds (up to 45 mph). Photos were not taken on these roads at that time.  Some dust occurred while moving about looking for wildlife but not as bad as while in transit.  Things to consider- be in the first vehicle if you are in a group with more than one vehicle.  If in one vehicle ask the driver to not follow too close behind any vehicle. One thing I did was to have a towel, cloth or jacket and covered my lens and camera body when not taking photos.  It does not stop your equipment from getting dust on it but it does help mitigate the accumulation of a dust coating.  I used two cameras while taking photos.  One had my big lens (200-400mm Nikkor F-4) and the other had my shorter lens (24-70 mm F-2. for closer animals.  That way I would not expose the inner cavities of lens or camera body by the process of changing lenses because the cheetah walked up close to the vehicle.  I made a conscious decision about which lens/ body I used that day and did not change.  When I returned to camp or lodge I would use my bulb blower to blow off as much dust as I could followed by a soft brush.  All before separating lenses from bodies. I too was told there would be lots of dust.  It was not as bad and I expected (I thought maybe big clouds of dust).  But It was enough to take precautions by being prepared.  Maybe others will have some other tips.  

Hello Ron,
I have been to Tanzania multiple times and the dust can be quite bad if it is dry. A common problem is you are driving along, spot a great animal and stop to photograph it, but as you stop the vehicle is engulfed in its own dust cloud. But if an exotic subject, like a bird that could fly, you need to get the image quickly. If you are using fixed focal length lenses, you may need to put on a teleconverter or take one off. Some people will not change lenses or TCs in such a situation. I will change lenses/TCs at any time, even while enveloped in a dust cloud. Just use these simple procedures to change lenses quickly:

http://www.clarkvision.com/articles/dsl ... ng.lenses/

On a typical 2 week safari, I may get a dust spec on one of my cameras once or twice, but I have always been able to get it off with a clean now application where the camera shakes the filters over the sensor quite a lot. I've only had to use a rocket blower once after many trips, and never needed anything more than that on a trip.

Keeping cameras stowed or at least covered help a lot too.

The worst dust I have ever had though was after my last trip to Tanzania. On the way home on the flight, the body cap came off my 1D mark 4 and it was exposed to all the dust in the backpack. It took two sessions with eclipse and sensor swabs to get it clean, and that was after cleaning the inside of the body. Now I put rubber bands around the camera and cap.

Roger

You will want a dry sack or some similar cover for your each lens and camera you will have with you in the Land Rover. See link below for a suggested cover that can be sealed when driving in dusty conditions.

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/59916?fe ... ppxs&dds=y

Do not change lenses in the field if at all possible. Have the second lens mounted to another camera body. When action occurs, you will not have time to change lenses anyhow. REI has other covers that might work too. Just make sure they are long enough for the lens, lens hood and camera.

Joe Smith

don't change lenses unless you must and then when not moving. I bring XXL ziplocks with me and use them as my clean room in the camps.