Adam Trahan: AF-S Nikkor 16-35 f4 ED VR N G FX

AF-S Nikkor 16-35 f4 ED VR N G FX

s/n: 226166

Wide zooms are my favorite. I have used the AF-S Nikkor 17-35 f2.8 D, AF-S Nikkor 18-35 f3.5-4.5 G ED FX and the AF-S Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 ED N G FX. I also enjoy wide angle prime lenses too. I had rented the AF-S Nikkor 16-35 some time ago to shoot my son’s band and goofed around with it for a while realizing it was the wrong lens. Now that I look back on it, the experience served its purpose yet it was still the wrong choice. I’ve learned quite a bit since then and now that I own one and I use it for what it really works well at, I’m glad I experimented.

As I’ve said before, I’m an amateur. I do not claim that title as an excuse. I’ve learned over the years that it takes quite a long time to master anything. Photography is so much fun for me, it’s a passion for sure and I don’t need to muck up my view with claims of expertise. I enjoy my pictures, I take them for myself and share them with you. It’s what I see, what I do. I have fun pecking away at my iPad adding my pictures ant home and on the road. It’s a whole process but the reason why I’m writing my pages is to track my progress. I make my site for me, for fun and I share it with you.

To get to the point, I’ve owned and used quite a bit of quality lenses. The manual focus AI-S primes and zooms like the Nikkor 15mm f3.5 AIS, the Nikkor 20mm f2.8 AIS and the Nikkor 28-50mm f3.5 AIS all have been great experiences. I’ve owned and used great auto focus wide angle lenses like the AF-S Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 ED N G FX, AF-S Nikkor 17-35 f2.8 D, AF-S Nikkor 18-35 f3.5-4.5 G ED FX, and the AF Nikkor 20-35mm f2.8 D. I’ve learned about wide angle lenses by using them. I’ve earned hard lessons, hard headed lessons not being classically educated on photography. But why would I get rid of most of these lenses? I’ve taken some of my favorite pictures with them.

Well, why do you buy a new car? A new camera? It’s not the lens, it’s me, my experience. I know this is a good lens. I’ve used one and so have a lot of talented photographers. I want to see what I can do with it.

I own books by Galen Rowell, Ansel Adams and John Shaw, but I mostly thumb through those books dreaming of the images in them. Yes, I read however when I’m in the painted desert or the petrified forest or deep in a desert mountain valley, those books are not in my mind. My camera is in hand and what’s in front of me. All that’s left is my experience. Yes, I’ve been using a camera for a long time but more so for utility, only the last couple of years seriously. Now I have a theme, archeology, landscapes, I know what I want to do. More than likely, my best images are yet to come, they will be done with this lens as I now own only one wide zoom to focus my attention on. I’ve trimmed my kit to this single wide zoom. The 14-24 is in that genre yet the bulbous front lens does not allow the use of filters. The 16-35 is it.

I have trimmed my lens kit down to just a few lenses that cover the spectrum from 16mm through 500mm. Quality lenses with a couple of really nice primes. My favorite wide prime being the AF Nikkor 18mm f2.8 D. This isn’t about prime vs. zoom, this is about my choice of a wide zoom. The AF-S Nikkor 16-35 f4 ED VR N G FX and these are my notes. If you have read this far, leave a comment below about your experiences. I would enjoy reading them.