Nikon N8008s, Tokina 35-300
Matrix metered, Polaroid 200 asa

Sittin' on the dock of the bay. Oops, where did that dock go? Just some old pilings jutting out of the sand on Delaware Bay. I like the composition but the focus is just too soft for my liking. Don't like the light falloff at the edges either. I plan on returning and shooting it with a prime and then comparing the results. Better check the tide tables too as these are pretty well submerged at high tide.

Another oops, I grabbed the 200 instead of the 100 asa. Polaroid seems to be a pretty good film ( I read elsewhere it is re-branded Fuji - does anybody know who really makes this film) and I can buy it locally at a very good price. Maybe I'll just stick with Kodak and Fuji, I know who makes their film. Then again, I'm not sure if it makes enough of a difference at my skill level and in my shooting style. Don't agree too quickly here :-)

Now this lens has been a disappointment though. I read some good recommendations for it so I thought I would give it a try. The large zoom range would be good for me since I am slightly handicapped with a bad knee and hip. In the past I always used sneaker zoom, i.e., I used my feet for framing, but now I am less inclined to walk and climb to get a shot. I mostly had 20 plus year-old primes and I was under the impression that zoom lenses had improved a great deal. This lens uses super low dispersion glass and features a flare cutting baffle inside and seems to be very well made. Unfortunately it has a real problem with vignetting as can be seen in the photo above and below. No, its not the lens hood either.

Not only is it noticeable in the trees but take a look at the sky in the upper right hand corner. This was a uniformly overcast day and the trees on the shoreline looked pretty much the same everywhere. This was shot at the maximum focal length of 300mm. I had expected to see this at the wide angle end but not at the zoom end. Oh well, that's life. I think I just expected too much of this lens. I do love the focal length range for photographing my daughter's field hockey games as I can cover the action across the whole field.

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