AF VR Nikkor 80-400 f4.5-5.6 D

AF VR Nikkor 80-400 f4.5 - 5.6 D

s/n: 472634

I sold the AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 G ED VR FX. It was a great lens for sure but sort of too good. It was staying on my D780. It had low end and it had legs! It shot wide and long, 300mm long. On the wide end, I have lenses that I prefer, the AF-S Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 G ED FX in particular or the AF Nikkor 20-35mm f2.8 D. Even the AF-S Nikkor 28-70mm f2.8 D, I want what I want on the low end, so I shook things up.

I sold nearly all my gelded lens.

Spoiler alert for me, I purchased a DEFOCUS 105mm F2 D.

Huh?

Anyway, why purchase a 80-400? 

It has an aperture ring, VR and it’s a sturdy lens. I need a longer landscape lens for hunting distant petroglyphs. I also want to try some birding and well, I’m going to photograph the Tovrea Castle. I can’t get very close, but with a 400mm lens, with VR I can. 

I didn’t set out to buy this particular lens. It presented itself to me on a Marketplace in social media. It was relatively inexpensive compared to auction house and national online camera stores. Pretty quickly I committed to it. We worked out the logistics and a few days later, it’s in my hands. 

I use combination of baby wipes, Q-tips with a little lighter fluid and Maguiers plastic polish to buff out the tiny scratch on the focus distance window. The cleaning and inspection went well. I first mounted it on the F6 and it quickly sought focus. On the D780, same thing. 

It’s going to be a great lens to use hand held but man, it’s heavy. I’m going to get a LowePro Toploader for it to carry in the field. The extra 100mm is a big deal, the weight isn’t. 

The four above images are the first four from this lens after cleaning and mounting on my D780. I simply went outside and took quick shots to check out detail and acquisition. I will add in a few images once I take it on an assignment.

Resources

Ken Rockwell: Nikon 80-400mm VR FX AF-D f/4.5-5.6

Steve Danielsson's Nikon AF VR Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED Test Review

NIKKOR - The Thousand and One Nights No.35

Nikonians: Nikkor AF 80-400mm/4.5-5.6ED VR Review

camera | lens | film | flash

Death

It sounds so final.

Frightening.

Taboo, you just don’t talk much about it.

Why would I want to?

Because it is a part of life and everyone will experience it. 

No one will escape it.

There have been three or four times in my life that I was close to it, really close. Twice I accepted it, once I fought it. Once was way up in the sky all by myself. I was losing control of my hang glider and I was very cold. I began to cry, sobbing because I was not going to die quickly but it was going to be a violent spinning out of the sky impacting the ground miles away from anyone. Obviously I didn’t die, but it was an event that happened and it was not over quickly, it was an hour long battle to live.

A few years before I was on the West shore of O’ahu surfing big waves by myself. I couldn’t make it out of the tube and was forced deep. I could hear rocks banging around on the bottom and I did not know which way was up. At the surface, the foam was thick and I couldn’t get a breath before being mowed down by the next wave. I began to get warm and I relaxed. I knew I was drowning and this was the only thing I knew to do, relax and go with it. All of a sudden, I found myself at the surface. Big breath, no wave, pull in the long leash and paddle, in.

The next one was Covid, I had it early. I couldn’t breath, my heart racing, my skin, anything that touched my skin was pins and needles. I tried to sleep but was so miserable. I closed my eyes one night and thought I would rather die than to live in so much pain. But I did not die, I woke up. I started walking the next day and began to get better.

The last time was a few years ago. I had a read on an X-ray that indicated a possibility of incurable aggressive cancer. For about three days my mind spun. 

The thing that gave me peace was that everyone dies. The choice for me was what I was going to do with the time I had left?

Work.

Help others.

Helping others makes me happy and it made sense to me. It kept my mind off of feeling sorry for myself.

The CT and exam came back negative. That one hit home.

Death is just a part of life. The only way we can escape it is by living right. Living right would be to live with integrity. Being honest with yourself, your family and everyone around you. Not wasting your time, being productive the best you can be.

I’m going to eat ice cream, bacon and eat what I want, in moderation. Everything in moderation. I’m going to practice controlling my thoughts. No hatred of anything or anyone. I’ll practice getting better at my interests. I love taking pictures, writing, cataloging my thoughts, my pictures, my life. I often look back at what I’ve done.

In this case, this web site is a year old! Feels like a lot longer. That’s a desired effect.

I never wish my time away…

But what happens to us when we die?

I don’t know, I’m too busy living.

Bento Box

My Bento (lunch box) given to me by a friend in Japan

I enjoy Japanese culture. My first visit to Japan was in 1985. I was in the Army, a combat medic in the infantry. This was a period of peace. There were no global conflicts. The Vietnam war was over. The quick US invasion of Grenada was over. It was a relatively peaceful time and my trip to Japan was a joint training exercise with the Japanese ground forces. I stayed at a Marine base at the base of Mt. Fuji for about a month. We did the things that the infantry do, we went to the range and honed our skills in targeting with fully automatic weapons. Practicing our land navigation skills and receiving a brief about our time off. We were told that we would see Japanese protesters along the perimeter fence, they would hold signs and chant anti-American armed forces things. We were told that would stop about five p.m. and we could leave the base at six. There were several Japanese bars, restaurants and Izakaya within walking distance.

You will be sharing those places with the protesters…

And it was true. 

Japanese people are some of the best people on our planet. Politics are ills of a necessary evil, the government. We are people, friends of the Japanese people. We were off work and it is time to enjoy a beer, maybe a little food and talk about our interests. We are not the enemy. We are people first.

I learn about humanity and the human condition from Japanese culture. We are people first, citizens next and protesting peacefully is absolutely necessary. Speaking of being people first, if someone is a supporter of the current in power administration of the United States government, they are not people I want to share my time with. They can fuck off. My time is far too valuable to spend with people that do not support diversity and law.

This being said, later, I travelled to Japan two more times as a fisherman. I meet with old and young Japanese fishermen. We traveled to the mountain streams to enjoy a little trout fishing here and there. I travelled from one group to another sharing stories of my own culture and drinking, celebrating life with my friends. Rarely did we talk politics but when we did, the government was always referred to as necessary, usually not good and not well run. Mostly we spoke of each others time growing up, our families and what it was like living in each others country.

Japanese culture is interesting. It is central to the human condition. In busy areas, people are polite, if someone drops something, people help pick it up. Because everyone is helpful, the seemingly chaotic crowded streets are not so random but contain order. Everybody everywhere is doing something different but everyone contributes to the whole by operating with a simple set of orderly politeness.

It is an amazing thing to participate in and understand.

My bento box was presented to me as a gift. I use it for leftovers from dinner for lunch the next day. It is made of wood and natural cloth. The joints are pinned with wood, there is no metal and the lacquer covers the entirety of the wood.

It is a traditional Japanese item used everyday and every time I use it I am reminded of just how cool the Japanese people are and how they look at humanity.

The Arizona Biltmore

The Arizona Biltmore

Nikon D780  ~ AF Nikkor 20-35mm f2.8 D 

I’ve always wanted to photograph the grounds. As a young teenager, my friends father, Tommy Reed had an orchestra. I would help him set up his father’s equipment in the ballroom. I just remember the place being so opulent, beautiful.

This is the first time I’ve been there with a camera. I’m definitely gonna go back, but if anything, I’m gonna go back and have a drink, this place is super cool. I live in Phoenix, I want to stay here for the weekend. If not anything but to have dinner, relax by the pool and just live for a moment in luxury.

FrankLloydWright.com Though the extent of Wright’s involvement with this project remains unclear, the Arizona Biltmore Hotel and Cottage complex is generally recognized as a collaboration between Wright and Albert Chase McArthur, a former draftsman in Wright’s Oak Park studio.

It is amazingly aesthetic, magnificently luxurious, the staff are accepting and nice. I pulled up to the guest check in with my Forester, “Hi, I’m here to take a few photos…” and the gentleman pointed a few car lengths away, “Park there” and I grabbed my stuff. “Keys please” and I asked him for a tab, “ Your taking pictures, you don’t need a receipt.” We laughed and I tossed him my keys.

The Arizona Biltmore

                           

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