Rocks and Ice at Great Falls

During a recent trip to Great Falls, I found some pleasing patterns in the ice alongside Great Falls. I would have liked to try the shot with a polarizer to cut some of the white glare on the ice to see how it would look, but I didn't have any polarizers to fit the lens I was using at the time.

My review of Tamron SP 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di Auto Focus Zoom Lens with Hood for the Maxxum & Sony Alpha Mount, with 6 Year USA Warranty

Originally submitted at Adorama

Tamron SP 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di Auto Focus Zoom Lens with Hood for the Maxxum & Sony Alpha Mount, with 6 Year USA Warranty

Tamron SP 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di Auto Focus Zoom Lens with Hood for the Maxxum & Sony Alpha Mount, with 6 Year USA WarrantyTamron SP 200-500mm f/5-6.3 Di Auto Focus Zoom Lens with Hood for the Maxxum & Sony Alpha Mount, with 6 Year USA Warranty

Lightweight, inexpensive super-tele

By Tamerlin from Silver Spring MD on 2/13/2007

 

4 out of 5

Pros: Lightweight, Clear Glass, Strong Construction, Easily Accessible Controls

Cons: Slow aperture

Describe Yourself: Hobbyist/Enthusiast

Best Uses: Landscape, Wildlife

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

This lens does not have the largest aperture out there, being limited to f/5 at the 200mm end and f/6.3 at the 500mm end. However, the advantage is that the lens is much smaller and lighter than the Nikon and Canon equivalents which do have larger apertures.

For the price, it's a hard lens to beat; the manual focus is nice and smooth, and the images are sharp even wide open. It's not going to match up to a 400mm Canon L, but it also costs 1/5th as much, and weighs a lot less, so that's the tradeoff.

My interest in the lens resulted froman interest in a long lens I could carry along with my 4x5 kit, and a big, heavy 400mm f/4 lens would, even if I could budget it, not fit that bill, as my 4x5 kit already weighs nearly 40 pounds.

Since my Nikon body is a manual focus body, I have not tried the autofocus, so I cannot comment on its performance. I can only say that I have gotten good results using this lens to photograph birds, and that it is best used on a tripod, especially at the long end.

With those caveats in mind, I would recommend this lens to anyone looking for a lightweight supertele lens on a budget.

(legalese)

Hybrid Hawk

Also under the care of the Northern Virginia Raptor Conservancy, this hybrid escaped from the falconer who presumably bred it. Being a hybrid, the conservancy cannot release it back into the wild, so they are taking care of it. I do not remember whether this hawk was male or female, unfortunately.

Hawks at Meadowlark

A peregrine falcon with a broken wing, rescued by the Northern Virginia Raptor Conservancy.

My review of Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens with Case and Lens Hood - USA

Originally submitted at Adorama

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens with Case and Lens Hood - USA

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens with Case and Lens Hood - USACanon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens with Case and Lens Hood - USA

Excellent wide-angle lens

By Tamerlin from Silver Spring, MD on 2/12/2007

 

4 out of 5

Pros: Easily Mounted, Easily Accessible Controls, Strong Construction, Clear Glass

Describe Yourself: Hobbyist/Enthusiast

Best Uses: Travel, Photojournalism, Fun

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

I used this lens for close to two years, with no complaints whatsoever. I stopped using it when I gave it to my mother, who still uses it quite a bit.

The image quality is pristine, as is usually the case for Canon's L lenses, and the autofocus is similary quiet and responsive. It does not have any visible barrel distortions that I have seen, but I have also not used it on a full-frame camera, only on a Digital Rebel. In spite of the crop factor, it is still wide enough to be a bit of a challenge to compose with, but when it works, it works well.

For the money, this is an excellent lens.

(legalese)

Meadowlark Photo Expo

I attended the Meadowlark Photography expo last weekend. It was considerably larger than I had anticipated, and there was quite a bit going on -- too much to fit all of it in.

The juried photo gallery was spectacular. Kudos to the photographers who contributed; I only wish that we could have seen larger versions of some of them.

The show sponsors included Nikon, Canon, Tamron, REI, and even Carl Zeiss. Due to time limits, I wasn't able to try out the Zeiss 25mm Distagon, but I think I'll be getting one for my Nikon FM3a as my wide-angle lens for that format. It can focus close enough (under 6cm) to double as a macro lens, and it's hard to go wrong with Zeiss for image quality. I did have a chance to try out the 200-500mm Tamron zoom when I did the hawk photoegraphy session with the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia. I will be picking up the film tonight, and hopefully there will be some images worth posting from that shoot. I was not able to make it for the owl session, because there simply wasn't enough time.

The bird handlers deserve a lot of gratitude for standing out in the cold for so long, telling us about the birds and trying to get them to pose for us.

For me the highlights of the show were the presentations by Chuck Veach and Tony Sweet. Their enthusiasm is infectous, and their photography is amazing.