Nikon 80-400 Day 3: Singapore Zoological Gardens

Third day out. It was raining on my way to the Zoo, but happily when I arrived, it stopped, and only clouds remain. I'd try to get to the White Tigers exhibit before 10, as I *thought* the website said the feeding was at 10am (I was planning to leave the zoo by noon), unfortunately a plaque there stated it was at 2.20pm. Oh well. I did my lens testing on the various denizens, went out for lunch, then went back in.

I think by now I'm already getting used to the heft of the lens, and getting acquainted with the tight zoom ring. I went directly to the White Tiger exhibit and probably shot off 200 shots in under half and hour lol. I have *alot* of very similar white tiger shots; since I was having relatively low light levels in the morning (I was so jealous of the dude with the huge Canon lens + monopod + flash extender lol), I took many shots, hoping that some would be sharp. That paid off!

AF performance, is slow as always, but again, it generally held the lock pretty well. There were only a few times it had to focus all over the place (mainly in really dark areas, like the wolf's den area. )

Anyways for the last day, I'll show you some 100% crops of my shots. GASP! It's pixel peeping time folks! I would like to caution that the lighting today for the Komodo Dragon and Otter ain't optimal; in fact I think due to the reflections, I think perhaps there is some flare in the otter shot. Ah well doesn't bother me. Let's go:


White Tigers... So... Cuddly...


100% Crop, 330mm, 1/250 - Not as sharp as I like, but given the conditions, I think it's pretty good! There was waist level rail that I used as support.


Komodo Dragon. Somehow, I think it's not THAT cuddly.



100% Crop, 400mm, 1/400, fully handheld. I think if I had support I'd probably get a sharper image. I also have _alot_ of komodo shots, but I just wanted a quick random example of how the lens performs at the extremities.


Otter, however using the 70-300VR. While cuddly, they are also damp :(


100% Crop. 300mm, 1/250. I think I was bracing against some support..

Ah well. I returned the lens after this shoot. I'm gonna miss the extra range, but not the handling... Sob! I think the bokeh is pretty delicious for a zoom, but for example the twin tiger shot above, I wish I had the ability to really stop down to get both of the furballs in focus. Sigh.

Oh, btw. Was using the 70-300 today, and it felt... really cheap :P Guess that is what happens when you pit a pro level lens versus a consumer zoom! I'm just glad that for nikon glass, the image quality is still pretty good on the consumer stuff.