80-400 Nikkor

[Dennis_in_VA]

Is anybody here using the 80-400 f/4.5-5.6 Nikkor?
I have a D-200 that came with an 18-70 f/ 3.5-4.5 Nikkor and I want to get a bigger lens. Is this lens worth having? I am shooting anything outdoors (insects, flowers, animals, city lights, etc.). Any and ALL comments welcome here. Thanks.

 

[Len Backus]

Dennis

The sheep photos in the Len's Nature Photo Of The Week forum were all taken with that lens. It is very sharp, a little slow to focus compared to some but I never found that to be a significant disadvantage.

 

[Dennis_in_VA]

Len, other than a clear/skylight filter for protection, are there any other filters that you would recommend for outdoor photography?
What brand of filters do you find give you the best results?

I just looked at your Sheep photo's and MAN they are nice, but you have them as being taken with an 80-200, not an 80-400.

 

[Len Backus]

I used a polarizer filter for about half of my shots the last few days in Rocky Mountain National Park for scenics.

A split neutral density filter is essential for shooting high contrast scenes such as a mountain scene with sky. A recent alternate for this need is to shoot 5 different exposures (digital only) and then blend them in the computer to reduce the excess contrast.

I'll be posting an example of this digital blending technique later this week in my "Photo of the Week" forum.

 

[Len Backus]

Here is the example of "blending exposures" mentioned above.

Rocky Mountain Sunset