For the past few years, I’ve had what my wife calls a “nose-hair lens.” It is a massive zoom lens that I’ve used for many football, soccer, baseball and softball assignments.
I like the extra range it provided over other photographers because it enabled me to capture images others miss out on. But it wasn’t as sharp as I would have liked. (That means the focus was a little off.) It wasn’t enough to impact my newspaper images, but it did cause me to look past many bird and airshow images.
As I set my goals for the new year, I decided to upgrade this lens to something better. I took a chance earlier this week and bid on a new lens on eBay that was going for considerably less than this lens had sold for in the past.
Yes, I did my homework. It was being sold by a reputable physical camera shop I had heard of before. Some bidders must have been away from their computers because of the holiday season.
The new-to-me lens arrived this afternoon. Just looking at things in the backyard, I like what I see in the photos, but I can’t wait to take it out later and put it through its paces.
More to come…