New Lens

Every now and then, I'm capable of doing pretty strange things. This ranks pretty high up there. Jeanne has been telling me that she has volunteered me to be the official photographer for Trek in June. So, I've been thinking about how to make the best pictures in a setting like that, and kept thinking I needed a good telephoto lens. The Nikkor 80-400 was attractive but expensive. A couple days ago it struck me that I should look on Craig's List to see if anyone was selling one. It's a little unusual to see them for sale. On any given day on eBay there might be one for sale. I don't look at Craig's List very often, so it was a strange thought. But, I looked. Steve Poole in Anapolis, Md., was selling his lens that he got as a Christmas gift (he got it from his mother and she'd "kill (him) if she knew (he) was selling it"), and for a really good price. The reason was, he owns a D40 and the autofocus on the 80-400 doesn't work on his camera. It all sounded reasonable.

You remember about the sleep over. So, I told Emily and Lenee they needed to come with me for a ride (it was ok with them, they watched dvd's the whole way down and back). Steve had agreed to meet me in Timonium, about an hour's drive. We agreed on a spot and as I approached, we contacted each other by cell phone. He told me he was waiting in a parking lot in a Lincoln. A Lincoln? Suddenly, I had visions of some drug dealer/pawner/con guy. It was comforting that he was almost an hour away from his home turf, so it didn't seem like some sort of ambush could have been arranged spur of the moment. We had only agreed on the spot a couple hours before. Well, as I approached his "Lincoln" I remembered he told me he was a taxi driver. The Lincoln was a taxi! He seemed like a normal taxi driver (a little different kind of guy) who effortlessly repeated his story. It seemed real. I brought my camera to test the lens before buying. The above photos are of Steve, in the parking lot, from about 15-20 ft with my SB800 flash. The top picture is at 80mm and the bottom at 400mm, with no other changes. Nice zoom, huh?