But there's another good thing about this lens: its not a DX lens - its image circle is large enough for a full frame (35mm) sensor (and film). On the APS-C sensor you get the sweet spot effect due to the smaller sensor size (and you get even more tele, of course - the 70-300mm's field of view is like that of a hefty 105-450mm telezoom on APS-C).
Today (well, Saturday, which is already yesterday as of typing this) I headed for the beautiful moor near Ibm in Austria to practice some real world usage with the new lens (instead of shooting the book shelf at home:-) together with the dog.
Small pine in the moor near Ibm in January • Fuji S5pro, AF-S VR Nikkor 70-300mm @ 300mm
To my own displeasure we soon scared off a nearby rabbit while the dog was on the leash, and since I was distracted (trying to get a good viewing angle on a group of birches) I let go the handle of the leash in the moment of surprise when the rabbit jumped off only 5 meters away and the dog started to go after it (hey... she's a dog... thats what dogs do). Its one of these "flexible" leashes that roll in and out of a small plastic housing.
So, I ran after the dog, trying to step on the handle - not so much because I wanted to catch the dog (she would come back anyway because she doesn't stand a chance against the rabbit) but because I feared that the leash might get entangled in some bushes somewhere in the middle of the moor.
The camera was strapped around my neck, and since the moor is frozen through at the moment I could actually keep pace with the dog... but then it happened... in slow motion... first I thought "oops, am I going to stumble or what?" the next thought was "damn, I AM going to stumble... and fall!"
Somewhere in mid air I grabbed the camera with my right hand and, landing elbows-first in the moor grass that somewhat mildered the effects of gravity, hit the flash shoe with my upper lip. OUCH. A nasty L-shaped bruise under my nose. It was bleeding, and it HURT. Darnit.
After I regained my breath and temper (I couldn't find very friendly names for the dog at that moment) I started searching the dog and then called my girlfriend for help. Together we found the dog - yes, of course the leash was entangled in some bushes... the little rascal was hopelessly trapped and yelped for help. Guess what, she was quite happy to see us. :-]
The sun was already gone by then, a slight fog crept across the meadows, and I needed to test the cameras function after my crash landing, of course... and I can celebrate shutter release number 3000 since I got the camera in summer.
Hope you enjoyed the story. :-P
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