Was a funny day. I've got one of those crappy 70-300G lenses. Cost £45 from Nikon UK and there's a bloody good reason for that! :)

Must have fired about 200-300 frames trying to get one in flight. I ended up with about 299 shots which where oof, badly framed and generally fit only to be laughed at. To say that lens is slow to focus is one of the outstanding understatements of our time!

Have to say, I cheated quite a bit with this shot. The bokeh on the lens is horrible. I mean REALLY horrible. Compounded by the fact that you have to step down to about F11 to get any decent sharpness from it you can see the problems mounting. Anyway, I copied the layer then added a gausian blur to the background and finally masked out the bird and rock it's standing on.

This was shot on a tripod. There was a whole bunch of togs all squashed together on about 3m square rock shooting at this dude and a few others round about him. Every time the bird so much as blinked you'd get deafened by the chorus of mirror slaps :)

Fancy buying the lens? I'll give you £45 to take it off my hands! :) Damn... Just remembered, it's DX... you must be gutted! ;)]]> Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:06:15 +0100 https://www.verdantvista.com/image?266 Well you still nailed the shot. If you still want to shoot puffins after that experience I would suggest the Treshnish Isles. You can book the whole trip to start in Oban.

You then get picked up in Mull and driven across the island to a small boat that takes you out to Lunga then on to Staffa. It's a great day out and not as busy as other puffin tog hangouts. It's also possible to get great shots with a standard zoom as they are so close and approachable. Take care not to trample on their burrows though!

www.turusmara.com]]> Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:50:56 +0100 https://www.verdantvista.com/image?266 Cool thanks. I will bookmark and try to remember this for next year - probably getting a bit late in the season now.

May still have to invest in an AF-S lens first :)]]> Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:16:24 +0100 https://www.verdantvista.com/image?266 A 70-300 AFS VR woul be a good investment and much cheaper than the new 70-200 VR.

I think the trip to the Treshnish Isles is booked through MacBraynes as a package in Oban rather than directly with Turus Mara. That way you pay one return fare from Oban. Put it in your diary for next year. You won't regret it.

You also get to visit Fingle's Cave, see basking sharks if you are lucky and other wildlife on route.

A group of mates and I went last year and had a great day. Some good pics and then a late but very enjoyable night in Oban.]]> Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:30:25 +0100 https://www.verdantvista.com/image?266 Got a 300 F4 AFS for sale wink wink :-)]]> Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:43:23 +0100 https://www.verdantvista.com/image?266 Ye that was the one I was looking at. Just need to find some money. I got quoted £240 back in 2007. Just checked and one joker on fleabay wants £400 for it! How much am I kicking myself now! :)

My buddy has the 70-200 (VR I) and it's a stonking bit of glass it's a bit too rich for my blood! :(

Especially given the 10-20 is pretty much welded to my camera anyway :)]]> Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:55:53 +0100 https://www.verdantvista.com/image?266 £430 is the going rate new. I've heard it's still a bit soft at the longer end but it is AFS and VR.

I have the 70-200 (VR) and it's nice but I would not buy it now. I got it new for £1,100 many years ago and love it but I would not pay £2K for the new version.]]> Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:05:41 +0100 https://www.verdantvista.com/image?266 It can't be any worse than the G. It's so bad that after accidentally dropping it, I was saved by the fact it couldn't actually get worse!

It is insane what's happened to prices. Just hope they come back down again.]]> Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:09:27 +0100 https://www.verdantvista.com/image?266 My favorite bird in the world!!!!!!!!!!! These guys have such awesome personalities.]]> Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:06:32 +0100