Cygnus

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Here are a few photos I took this morning with the new D200 and the 70-200 f/2.8 VR lens.

I still have a lot to learn about how to use this lens, but I can say already that it's amazing.

It focuses very fast and acurately. The only problem I have found has more to do with the fact that I sight with my left eye instead of my right. My nose sometimes bumps the 4-way rocker switch, changing the focus zone unintentionally. There is a handy lock switch though, so I can disable the rocker switch to avoid this problem.

This lens is great for close-ups, but it has a much longer minimum focus distance than my little CoolPix 4500. I have to stand at least a few feet from the subject in order to get it in focus.

70mm isn't exactly wide angle, so I have to stand way back if I want to get anything resembling a wide shot. I can see how the 18-200 VR lens could be more convenient than this one, provided you don't need to take photos in low light.

I do love the lens though. It's so much fun to use.

Some of these shots came out slightly blurry, and I'm not sure why. Maybe the focus was off a bit, but I doubt it. Perhaps the blur is just camera shake; if so, then the vibration reduction isn't perfect. Maybe I can get a sharper shot by upping the ISO and using a faster shutter speed. This is my first SLR, so I'm almost completely new to all of these considerations.

That's all for now. More to come.

Monday, June 05, 2006

I'm trying to improve my skills at taking close-up photographs. So everwhere I look, I see beautiful objects just crying out to be photographed. Here are couple of small pitchers made by Höganäs Keramik.