The stuff dreams are made of...

When I bought the tokina back in February, I'd never have thought of another big ticket purchase for the rest of the year. However, life is unpredictable... or should I say my lust is uncontrollable. This is "hopefully" the final addition to my arsenal.

Every photojournalist has 3 main lens - known as the trinity. For Nikon FX format, they are: 17-35mm, 24-70mm and 70-200mm VR. They are the bread and butter of any working pro, and cover 99% of the situations. Previously, I only had 12-24mm (~18-36) and 18-70mm (~28-105). What's more, they are all significantly slower at f4 or f4.5. I had to resort to the MF AIS 80-200mm f/4 for any range shooting/portraits. This is a serious handicap. I needed a tele zoom desperately.

To make matters worse, my uncle whom is getting married in Nov has requested me to shoot his wedding. My evaluation of previous assignments revealed that I had been seriously lacking close-up expression shots, which only a tele could provide. I initially thought of renting a pro lens (80-200mm f/2.8) just for the occasion. It costs $30 a day... which would add up to $180 for the assignment (including some overseas shoot). Not really worth if you ask me.

Buying a tele would be a better solution. My choice was between 55-200mm VR, 70-300mm VR, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 and nikon 80-200mm f/2.8. I almost purchased the 55-200, as it is the ideal travel zoom for amateurs, being light and pretty sharp with VR. However, being slow at f/5.6, I was afraid i couldn't get any sharp action without resorting to pumping ISO. Ditto the 70-300. This leaves the sigma and the nikon. Sigma is cheaper, and supposedly faster focusing. If i get a sharp copy, it would be well worth. But being 3rd party, there might be compatibility issues. It also doesn't hold its value as well.

I began trolling the net for any good bargains of used sigma/nikon, when this deal struck me. This baby costs only $1000! A new one retails for 1.6k... which means I could probably buy and sell and still make money! It's insane! Condition wise, there are a couple of user marks, but purely cosmetic. Optics are excellent... sharp as a tack. Focusing was surprisingly fast and accurate for a motor drive lens. In case you are wondering, this lens is easily as fast as the kit 18-70mm.

This is the first pro-caliber lens I own. Made of aluminum alloy (maybe stainless steel?), it is solid and heavy at 1.3kg. It would probably take some time to get used to the weight, but hey, i'm still young! In case you're still unclear, this is the legendary Nikkor AFD 80-200mm F2.8 ED. Hehehe.

MAF food

I decided to mark my mid autumn festival with a food shot of the signature delicacy - Moocakes. The setup was lame... I had no square white plates in the kitchen, so i used tissue paper instead. Absorbs oil from the mooncake too... and disposable as well.

Time of our lives

The world spins around you,
A kaleidoscope of Emotions.
Best of friends re-unite,
Reliving the time of our lives.

Thus is the spirit of the MAF

Let there be lights!

This might well be a revolution in my photographic life. First, the "discovery" of the SU-400 remote flash mode hidden withing my SB800. I now have 2 lights, the first being on camera, and a second, the flash. This allows me to side/back light me subject, with the on camera for fill. However, the built in flash is still very much restricted as it is.. well.. built in. Direction is still flat

And then, after digging out my old Emoblitz 328, I guess I hit the gold. This little $50 gadget has a built in slave trigger, allowing it to be triggered remotely! Now i can have lights on different axis of the subject, creating eye popping imagery I'd never dream before. One catch though: The emoblitz has no manual mode. I gaffer the thyristor to let it fire at full power, varying only the distance to subject.

The only things I lack now are hands. I'd probably go hunt down for cheap light stands and umbrellas.

Iridescence spotted

While this is not totally uncommon, it is rare to spot one so big and obvious. I resorted to handheld HDR to capture the full range of colours present.

A day without f/2.8

I've always been tempted to get myself the tamron 17-50mm f/2.8, given its affordable price and exceptional performance. Yesterday made this temptation even more so. I was practically struggling to get sharp enough photographs, working in dim lighting and high ceilinged indoor conditions. Pushing my iso to the top, i still have plenty of blur shots, from motion and noise reduction. My sb800 worked hard as well, trying in vain to light up an auditorium. This is a pretty pitiful situation.

Until iso6400 is readily available and usable, i would get one of those f/2.8s... probably in the near future.