Some catching up to do

I've been learning a few things about my new lens. Here is a short summary:

1. Big lenses weigh a lot. I've had to buy a new more comfy camera strap.


2. f/4.6 isn't very big. Well, I guess I knew that coming in, but its a bit of a shock when I switch from the 18-200 f/4.6 to the 50mm f/1.8.


3. Just cause you can, doesn't mean you should. Sometimes it's hard to resist zooming in on things. Narrow-field composition is a very different beast than shooting wide.

Well, yes, I took this photo in captivity. And my photographic-cred takes a hit for that. Frankly, I'm not sure I'd want to run into this bugger on his own turf. That can-opener is a serious piece of hardware.

First day with a new toy

About two weeks ago I got my new toy. My first real uberlens. :)

The venerable Nikon 18-200 3.5-5.6 AF-S D VR

Needless to say I'm very happy with it. It's just about the most lens you can get for under a grand. And it replaces the need to carry two lenses. Thats not to say it doesn't have its downsides. For one thing the lens grows by about 200% when you zoom in. Imagine attaching a roll or paper-towels to the front of your camera-body. Yeah.

The other down-side is that it more-than doubles the weight of my camera, and all that weight is in the front. This means that a day of shooting comes with significantly more wrist-strain. Truth-be-told, I'm discovering new ways to hold my camera to account for this factor. I now almost always wear my camera's strap and use it take some of the pressure off my right hand.

Well how about some photos. Here are two photos taken on my first day shooting with the 18-200.



The truth about this image is that the focus isn't really as hard as it looks in the "medium" view. When blown up there is some blur in the texture of my shoes. Still, I like the foreground blur afforded to me by the long lens length.


Ok, it's pretty obvious what I'm doing here. I'm playing with the distance. Fine, you caught me. Its a long lens, and I think its cool. :-)