I’ve alluded to it here and written about it a little on New England Mamas but today, I am going to tell you all about my new love: my Tamron telephoto lens.
For Christmas, my wonderful family (husband, son, mom and brother) gave me the Canon Digital Rebel xTi that I craved. It came with a very acceptable 18-55mm lens, and I’ve been enjoying messing around with the camera since the holidays.
My brother also recently got his first DSLR, a Nikon. We’ve always geeked out about stuff together — from Star Trek in the 60s til now and Web 2.0, so we’ve been talking cameras a lot lately. He even contributes here from time to time. He got a telephoto lens about 6 weeks ago, and from the moment I saw his, I was jonesing for my own. But trying to be fiscally responsible and all.
Then we went to San Diego on vacation. And while I wished for more proximity while watching the pandas,
it was at the beach watching Doug play in the surf that I realized I didn’t just want a telephoto lens, I absolutely needed one.
Because I am just WAY too far away.
I had to go north on business mid-week during the vacation, but when I got back, God bless my husband, he found a photo shop near Balboa Park in the Yellow Pages (remember those), George’s Camera, and we went there to talk telephoto.
While I am a big believer in online shopping, I am sooo glad we went to a good photo store for this purchase. They showed me a number of mid-price options, including official Canon lenses, but the Tamron prevailed. And not just on price, though at less than $200, it was much less expensive than either of the Canon options. What sold me? The macro function. I had it on the lens on my old Pentax film SLR, and I really like being able to shoot close-ups of flowers.
Like this one I shot on Coronado Island:
Or this one at the San Diego Wild Animal Park:
So now I can get close up on David and Douglas, when they are not paying attention to me with the camera, as well as get close-up shots of birds and animals.
Doug, Coronado
Doug and Dave, La Jolla
Doug and Dave, at the William Heath Davis House in the Gaslamp District
San Diego Wild Animal Park – Cheetah
Elephants
A one-day old giraffe and his mother
And seals, La Jolla
Worth every cent.
[tags] Tamron, telephoto lens, San Diego, La Jolla, seals, San Diego Wild Animal Park, panda, cheetah, elephant [/tags]