Paul's Photo Blog

I've been wanting this lens for awhile - I've heard good things about it. Since this lens has some issues, I basically got it as a throw-in along with another lens I purchased. I can probably squeak by with it:

Labels: flowers, lens testing, new lens, Tokina 28-70mm AT-X Pro f/2.6-2.8

My friend at work loaned me his old camera gear to play with. Included in the kit was the 105mm f/2.5 AI lens. Since this lens has a pretty solid reputation for quality, I wanted to see how it compared to my $55 100mm f/2.8 Series E lens -- one of my favorite lenses.

VS

All photos with the 105mm AIS were shot at f/2.8. Photos are exactly as they came out of the camera, with only the text added in Photoshop -- no further adjustment. I focused on the same item in both sets of pictures, using the same focus point on my D200. Let's look at the results:





These lenses are practically the same. I notice very, very little difference. In the last set of photos, I do like the 105's bokeh a tad better -- it's a little creamier. Honestly, it makes me that much happier with my cheap 100mm holds its own.

Labels: 100mm shootout, borrowed lens, lens testing

Finally got a chance to put the Tokina 300mm through some tests outside. Fortunately my puppy was a willing subject. What an awesome lens! Between the two of these superteles, I can hardly wait for baseball season -- the 2008 season -- to begin...

Labels: D2H, dog, equipment tests, lens testing, new lens, Tokina 300mm f/2.8 AT-X

I suppose some people wouldn't call a 300mm f/2.8 a "supertelephoto" per se, but considering its size with lens hood attached, I sure do.

Since my D1H was handy, I slapped on the new-to-me Tokina 300mm f/2.8 that I bought yesterday from the same person I bought the 400mm from. It focuses MUCH closer (8 ft. vs. 14 ft.) and I was able to take the opportunity to grab a quick portrait of my son, cranking the ISO to 1600 and shooting wide open (and removed some of the noise in Neat Image). I had 1/500th at f/2.8, and this lens is a lot more hand-holdable than my 400mm, so I was able to shoot this with only the 15-watt compact flourescent my son was looking into as the light source. Fortunately, he was as willing as always to pose. I just wish he'd follow directions that well when I wasn't taking pictures...

Labels: children, D1H, indoors, lens testing, new lens, portraits, Tokina 300mm f/2.8 AT-X

Supertelephotos are quite often used to chase around critters, whether small or large, and action, whether fast or slow. You don't see any wide-angle lenses in the sports pits shooting the action on the field. I'm still learning how to handle a supertelephoto for chasing the action. Meanwhile, I took a break practicing shooting action to see what things look like from the perspective of a supertelephoto, when the action wasn't an important part of the image.

Here are a couple of the results:

Labels: D2H, lens testing, Nikkor 400mm f/3.5 ED IF AI-S, Nikon lenses, sepia

Still practicing. Still missing shots, because I'm still trying to control this monster. But I'm getting better...


Interesting bokeh...

Labels: D2H, ducks, lens testing, new lens, Nikkor 400mm f/3.5 ED IF AI-S

I happened to luck into my first supertelephoto over the weekend. These lenses don't become available very often, let alone at the price I paid for it. Fortunately I had just enough in my lens fund, and was able to purchase this awesome lens. I can't wait to shoot a baseball game with it, although, I really have to get used to not having a zoom and using a monopod. This lens is heavy!

I've never shot with a supertelephoto, so I'm trying to get the technique down. It's a different world, that's for sure. I need to practice practice practice...





So, I took a break from using my son as a model. I decided to chase our poor dog around the back yard this time. With the compression that a telephoto gives you, I probably could've used a smaller aperture, to get the nose and other features more in focus.



I was blown away by the crispness of the numbers in this picture, when zoomed in at 100%. I don't think the full 4.1 MP image will display when you click on the picture, but you get a good enough idea.

This lens will change my photography. Heck, at this point, that should be my goal in acquiring gear. It's not about the gear you have, really, but about how you use it. It's too bad the Rainiers' season is over, otherwise I'd head to Cheney and shoot away. Need to practice a bit more before I head to Safeco...

Labels: D2H, equipment tests, lens testing, new lens, Nikon lenses

I'm really digging this lens! No, the slow-shutter-speed telephoto shots aren't totally sharp, but for on-screen viewing, they're "acceptible." Consider that it was so dark that I had to use the little LED "flash" on my cell phone camera as a flashlight to walk through the woods to get this image, well after the sun had set on the horizon:



1/8th @ 200mm ISO 800, a little sharpening and NeatImage.

It's not perfect, of course, but considering I was shooting in near-total darkness, literally catching the last light hitting this mountain, I think it's pretty cool that I was able to catch something hand-held...

Here are a few more images, some with VR needed, and some without:



1/90th @ 200mm ISO 200

Mmm. Huckleberry. Some of the softness is probably because I was a little too close. I actually wanted to slap the macro on, but since we were too busy picking huckleberries, I decided to leave the 55-200 VR on and step back beyond the 3-feet minimum. Here's where the 18-200 VR would've shined a little more, since its minimum focusing distance is only .5 m (compared with the 1.1m of the 55-200 VR). Again, pay a lot more, get a bit more...







The clarity of this lens, even when VR may not be needed, is still pretty amazing.

I can tell that the images I'm going to get in the 55-200mm focal length will be much better than what I've gotten out of my other lenses in that focal length. Nikon has produced yet another low-budget beauty (to accompany the 50mm f/1.8 AF).

Labels: D2H, lens testing, Nikkor 55-200 AF-S VR, Nikon lenses

We're on vacation this week, and as hard as it is to be away from the piano, it's been nice going out in the back woods on our family property and snapping away. We made the trip into Portland yesterday afternoon, and I found the camera shop I was looking for in order to compare a couple of lenses I was considering. I didn't have a whole lot of time, since my son was asleep in the car, and my wife was waiting in the car with him, but they had both lenses I was considering purchasing in stock, and I got just enough time to play with them.

After a quick series of in-store tests, I decided to indeed purchase the Nikkor 55-200 VR lens that recently came out. It dawned on me in the store that I'd never purchased a new lens, other than the lens that came with the first 35mm SLR I bought (the original Canon Rebel). All of my other lenses I've bought either at camera shows or on eBay. I hadn't actually sprang for a lens brand new.

Even though I had two lenses that basically covered the same focal length (my 70-210 F/4 Series E and my Tokina 80-200 f/2.8 -- both manual-focus), and I probably need to replace my 75-300 AF (since it took a 25 foot plunge onto a linoleum floor, even after being somewhat braced for the fall by hitting a woman's arm first), I wanted to get a VR lens. Sure, the 18-200 VR lens would be nice, and I'd like to get my hands on one, but I didn't have the budget for that lens, nor for one of my dream lenses, the 70-200 f/2.8 VR. I wanted to see, however, how well the 55-200 VR that just came out worked with my D2H. After reading some extremely positive reviews, I wanted to check out this lens, and compare it to the twice-as-expensive 70-300 VR.

The 75-300 VR felt a lot more solid (read: heavy) vs. the 55-200 VR, and you really could feel the VR kicking in. With the 55-200, it's a lot harder to notice when VR's working its magic. The 75-300 VR seemed noticably slower in focusing than the 55-200 VR, which sorta surprised me. Might just have been some other variables, though, since I was quickly running these tests, making sure I was OK with only getting 200mm at the long end. In the end, I decided that the 55-200 VR was certainly good enough to at least temporarily sate my VR cravings, and certainly the price was the most deciding factor.

I mean, heck, $250 for a VR lens? One that's light, compact, and could definitely stay on my camera? Score!

And after putting it through the wringer in the woodsy back acreage on our family property, I'm very glad I bought this lens.

On with the first sample shots!


1/8th second, focal length 150MM, ISO 400
Straight out of the camera -- no sharpening, no color adjustment - just JPG conversion in Capture NX and cropping/resizing in Photoshop & Fireworks (batch processing for web done in Fireworks).



1/6th @ 90mm



1/4th @ 70mm



1/40th @ 60mm

More testing the AF speed than VR here. Seems a little slow, as expected, but not anything unmanageable. Espcially since I've been using MF lenses for awhile, with less-than-desirable results.



1/40th @ 100mm



1/6th @ 200mm

Yes, that's right. One-sixth of a second at 200mm. Now, of course, it's not entirely sharp, and I did apply both USM in Photoshop CS and sharpening in Capture NX, but for on-screen viewing, it's certainly acceptible.



1/20th @ 135mm

All but the first image here have been post-processed in Capture NX and Photoshop CS. But considering I was shooting hand-held at ISO 800 or less, and the highest shutter speed I used was 1/40th in these images. I must say that my first impression is very favorable for this lens. The bokeh, in spite of the max. aperture being 5.6, is very solid -- which was one of my big hesitations in buying a "prosumer" VR lens. After all, my forays into the world of f/2.8 and lower were founded during a discussion about the 18-200 VR lens with a friend. I like bang-for-buck values, and this lens is definitely no exception. If the 18-200 VR were only $100-200 more than this lens, then I probably would've bought that lens instead. But since it's 3X the cost of this lens, I'm happy with what the 55-200 VR offers, price-performance-wise.

It's probably worth a bit more than the $250 retail it currently sells for.

Labels: 70-300 VR, lens testing, new lens, Nikkor 55-200 AF-S VR, Nikon lenses

I mentioned it in my last post, and my 'new' Tokina lens was waiting on the front doorstep for me to come home from my desk job today. First thing I noticed was that it was about as big as I expected it to be. Petty wide for a prime, wide-angle lens, and its heaviness and quality just says "professional" in every manner. With my previous Tokina lens purchase, in spite of its imperfection, I was pleased enough to want to try a more modern lens from Tokina. It's now my most expensive lens, ironically with all the Nikon/Nikkors I have, and the quality definitely shows.

Labels: cyanotype, IR, lens testing, photography, sepia