notes from behind the coffee counter

I’m back. I’ve neglected this spot for awhile. It’s not that I’ve been terribly busy just lazy. I’m one of these guys that gets online and I’m finished for the day. Its amazing I even finished college. Anyways, I’m housesitting for a friend (actually dog and multiple kitty sitting) who has an awesome yard with a garden. While sitting here one night I came up with the idea to take some pictures of birds. This time of year all the real pretty ones, like cardinals and bluejays, are all over the place. Problem is my Nikon D60’s lens ¹ doesn’t get very close, its max zoom is 55 mm which translates to about 70mm on this DSLR, not to mention its not a really fast lens (f/5.6 at 55 mm.) If I’m going to photograph birds I can’t just walk up to them. So I needed a better lens, preferably a zoom. Ever price Nikon lenses? Yeah, no shit. Then I remembered some sites I bookmarked that actually rent lenses. I settled on Lens Pro To Go. To be totally honest here my choice had nothing to do with price or service. It was about availability of the lens. Period. I wanted a fast high powers telephoto zoom. I have no need for a normal or wide lens for this. I settled on a Nikon AF 70- 200 mm f/2.8 VR. Read up on some reviews and made my decision. They’re charging me $110 for the week and that includes insurance and shipping. Well it arrived this afternoon on Fed Ex. First, its packed in a Pelican case. A nice one.

I always wanted one for my cameras (wonder if they make one for laptops, oh well more time to spend on the net.) Next, this lens is huge and heavy. The package weighs in at 9 pounds and the case barely weighs anything. Its 9 1/2 inches long.

It came with a tripod mount ² Took some pictures this afternoon basically testing it. I’ll post some on my Flckr account. But here’s a sample.

That cardinal is about 30 feet up above me. I did some comparison shots between lenses. It’ll take me a couple of days before I really know if I like it. So far so good. Stay tuned.