The Eel Speaks

 

_DSC4854, originally uploaded by jjvornov.

During the week of the 4th of July, there’s always some family travel. I had my D80 with the 24mm, now my standard lens for the camera. While the lens is a great match for the way I see, it’s limiting when taking travel snapshots. As I was taking images, I thought about how useful Nikon’s 18-200mm VR lens would be for a family trip. Perhaps I really only need VR on the telephoto end, since I can hand hold down to 1/30th of a second with no real loss of sharpness for this kind of image. A fast lens and good handholding technique are probably equivalent to the slower VR lens in light gathering capability.

The 24mm and a VR telephoto might be a good walking around duo for these kind of family trips, the telephoto being useful for visual isolation when positioning isn’t possible. There’s also the flattering rendering of a tele compared to a 24mm when shooting portraits.