Backcountry Tour on Unnamed Peak.

[zerodog]

This time I went for the big gun. The 80-200 AFS. I have a love hate relationship with this lens on my 300s. On one hand, this lens has produced some of my all time favorite images on this body. On the other hand, it is just too damn long most of the time on the DX body. On the FX, it feels just right. I guess I am just more comfortable closer to the action.

These were with the 300s. And I was feeling the DX blues while shooting. But in the end, as usual it came through for me. That thing just produces sharp images with awesome bokeh. I might even have to take it again.

We missed the light by about 1 hour. The sun dipped behind the mountain and we lost it for the ride down. But finally I got some blue sky! All in all it was a great afternoon out. Mild temps and awesome snow.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6. Almost awesome. Wish I had the nose of the board in the shot. And seems a tiny bit off on focus.


7. My buddy Kevin lookin good.

[NoKnees]

Your buddy Kevin needs to get a splitty!

Nice series... Totally, and completely jealous... No real snow in Tahoe since New Years weekend... Sad..

As for the photos... Yes, that lens can produce some nice results in good hands, as you have shown. 3 and 5 are my fav's, with the 6 being pretty close.. Guess it was probably a victim of being too close to the action?

Definitely a heavier lens than I've taken into the backcountry up to this point at least.. Side-country, resort, or motorized access, sure, but self powered, definitely a noticeable addition to the equipment load.

Man, I miss the snow......

[Photo-John]

Nice stuff! I like 3 and 5 as well. Snow doggies are awesome! Where is Unnamed Peak? Did you only take the 80-200 or did you have a wider zoom as well? I take a 70-200 out a lot but I always take a shorter lens, too. It's just too hard to predict what you're going to need. That's one of the reasons the 18-200mm zooms are so good for this kind of stuff.

I went touring on Saturday with a splitboard friend and I took the D7000 with the 18-105mm kit lens and the Sigma 70-200mm OS. I used the 70-200 for one set of photos and the 18-105 the other two sets I shot. Here's one photo I took with the 70-200. This was at Beartrap in BCC.

[zerodog]

I like to only take 1 lens mounted. Then it forces me to deal with it and spot the shots I want with that setup. It is more for practice than anything. Yeah the 18-200 would be a good option for touring with the 300s. It would make me lazy though. In the end I still wanted some 80-200 type shots. No other lens I have used looks the same as that one. It is my favorite at f2.8 of all of my lenses. The bokeh, at least to my eye, is supreme.

Nice shot there in the tight aspens John. Sunday was the day to be out for sure. It was perfect weather. If I told you where it was I would have to kill you. But it is probably my favorite quick tour area. I will have to take you up there sometime.

[Photo-John]

Yeah the 18-200 would be a good option for touring with the 300s. It would make me lazy though.

Don't worry about being lazy. Worry about maximizing your good photo opportunities!