Food, Photos and Travel

Monday, March 03, 2008

New Lenses!

My camera bag has had a bit of an overhaul lately! First lens to go? My Tokina 12-24 f/4. Last year sometime, I dropped this lens and the autofocus stopped working. It was a great lens, and still looked almost perfect cosmetically, but I really didn't use it all that much, so I sold it.

Next, I was in a bit of a quandary trying to figure out what lenses to bring on an upcoming trip to Costa Rica. When I travel, I rarely bring anything longer then my 85mm lens. I tend to be more of a wide angle shooter. However, Costa Rica is known as a birder's paradise. My longest lens was a Nikon 80-200 f/2.8. While it is a fantastic lens, it's also very heavy (too heavy for me to carry around by myself all over some hot, tropical country). 200mm is also a little short for wildlife. So, I started looking into the newly released 70-300VR. I had previously owned the Nikon 70-300D, and it was a pretty horrible lens, so I didn't have high hopes for the VR version, however after doing some research the reviews were surprisingly favorable and I ordered a copy. The lens surprised me in every way. So much so that I realized I no longer had a need for the 80-200 so up for sale that went! Don't get me wrong, the f/4.5-5.6 aperture of the 70-300 in no way replace the f/2.8, but like I said, I rarely shoot above 85mm anyway, so there was no reason to have both of them and the size of the 70-300 makes it a much more enjoyable lens to use.

My next new lens is the 17-35 f/2.8. This is a sweet lens. I had a copy of it a couple years ago, but like an idiot I sold it and I have regretted it ever since. After selling the 12-24 I needed to replace it with something on the wide end, and the 17-35 was my first choice. I got a great deal on one from a seller on Nikonians, and I will be receiving it soon!

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