A few weeks ago when I met up with Lucy and Sijbrich at the folks' place, Lucy let me use her telephoto zoom. It is a Nikkor 55-200mm f4-5.6 IF-ED with VR. If that doesn't mean anything to you, you just need to know that it makes things that are far away look closer. And it is an impressive lens, particularly given it's modest price.
Last week while at work, I received an email noting that one of the benefits my employer offers is access to the BestBuy auction site for employees and partners. I had a quick look to see what they offered and was delighted to find that they had several of these lenses up for sale. I watched for a few days and was pleased to see that the auctions were closing for approximately $150 less than the street price. So, I put in a bid and won. Today the lens arrived.
After dinner I ran out to see what it could do:
Two things: Did you have any idea that ants like sunflowers? Let me assure you that they do. Secondly, while this is not the sharpest shot I've ever seen, it is pretty decent for hand-holding a 200mm lens in low light with the wind blowing as opposed to using a tripod which is usually necessary under these conditions. I'm also quite pleased with the bokeh--how the out-of-focus areas create this very creamy effect rather than a bunch of sharp points or octagons.
I think I'm going to find this a very nice addition to the kit.
for some reason I can't get all the photos to load. I like the landscape ones--is Guardsman pass near your house?
Posted by: lazyeye | August 26, 2008 at 10:14 PM
i think i have the comparable canon lens (canon ef-s 55-250mm, 1:4-5.6 IS). i was actually thinking of getting rid of it and getting something with a wider angle, which i think i need more, however, now you've got me thinking, and i took a picture today with it, that i'm really liking...
Posted by: r-dean | September 11, 2008 at 11:34 PM