One of the things I love about writing the blog is the great interaction with you guys.  A little while ago I mentioned that I was desperately wanting an old Nikkor 25-50 zoom lens, they are pretty rare and hard to find.  My buddy John Gompf from New Jersey shot me an email with one he found on eBay, so I ordered it, and it came while I was at NECC, it’s near mint and I love it!  John had even made an offrer to see how low the seller would go, and so I knew I could save a little on it!  I bring the whole thing up for two reasons, first and most importantly, I really enjoy the old friendships renewed and the new ones mad, that have been a result of the pilgrim’s chronicles. It’s really fun to kick ideas back and forth with all of you and share spiritual insight.  When I was at NECC, last week, I had a half dozen people approached me and tell me they read the chronicles and it was meaningful to them.  It thrills me to know that God’s will is being done, and pray that He gets all the credit!

 

The second thing is that, like you, I’m a photoholic.  I just love my addiction to all things photography, what a great profession and hobby!  Since my experiment  with manual lenses I’ve wanted to get another 25-50 Nikkor zoom and test it.  I will do so at Oshkosh and I think I know what I will be reporting.  The history of the 25-050 is an unusual one.  It was the second “extreme” wide angle zoom Nikon ever made, you  have to remember in the 70’s 25mm was extreme for a zoom!  As our engineers always do, they attempted to make a near perfect optic, and they came very close.  For it’s time,  the 25-50 was a very expensive lens, and consequently, it never was a big seller.  A few years later it was sold out, at a bargain price, and only then did a number of people get their hands on a lens they could not have afforded otherwise. The lens became an instant classic and legend.  The interesting thing is the lens while very sharp is not what I would call legendaraly sharp, like says the 55mm Micro Nikkor. What made the lens so incredible was  that it was so well designed that it had virtually no CA (chromatic aberration)!  As a result the images from this lens have a color purity and, “look”,  that are out of this world.  Now, every lens sample is ever so slightly different, but I hope to discover that I got one of the very good ones!  Tests this week will tell the tale!

 

Thanks to all of you, out there,  many of whom I will never meet, or know, for coming here and letting me visit with you via a blog.  I know that God has inspired me to do this, and I pray He is reaching out to each of you and meeting your needs with “His” inspiration.

 

In Him,

 

the pilgrim

Got in at 1:30 a.m. from Amherst.   Atlanta was it’s usual train wreck in summer, high winds and thunderstorms delayed my flight for four hours!  I could scream and kick and cry, but then it’s over, I’m home for a few days, and then it’s off to the next assignment, what’s new!  I had a great time at NECC, so many wonderful friends to visit with and meeting and getting to know a bunch more.  It was really nice to meet our new TSR Alex, the meet Kris Bosworth’s husband (just married), spend time with Bob Watts, and what a joy to have time again with Bill Durrence, a very good, old friend, he’s not old, well actually we both are, but the friendship is a long one!  I enjoyed presenting to the folks and Saturday night Joe (McNally) proved once again why he is one of the very best in the business, what a great shooter, entertainer and guy!   The bigger the stage the more impressive he is, he had over a thousand in  the audience!  I really enjoyed seeing Wayne Bennett, as always, and it was terrific to meet Mike Moats, finally, what a great guy, and really talented close-up artist.  All in all it was a great trip.

 

For the next few days it’s catch up on reports, organize for a week at Oshkosh, America’s biggest air show, and spend time with my bride!  I will be running a continuation of the manual focus lens test at Oshkosh, and hoping to post a lot of aerial stuff for you next week.

 

Today’s Principle from Charles Stanley’s 30 Life Principles;

 

5. God does not require us to understand His will, just obey it, even if it seems unreasonable. 

 

 

One of the hardest things for  me to do,  personally, is follow God’s direction and will when I don’t understand it.  I’m sure we all struggle with that, but Charles is right, we are not called to understand allHis ways, just be obedient to His will.  The good news is that in my entore walk with Him, I have never once taken the wrong path when I follwed His will and was obedient, not once!  So if I lean on my own understandign, I may miss His greatest blessings!

 

the pilgrim

It’s Sunday evening and I’m still out of town.  When I’m out “there”, anywhere, the search for the perfect cheeseburger, continues!  One of the attendees of the conference told me about a place near my returning airport that has a great reputation for their cheeseburgers, so, I had to find out!  In fairness I have to say they were unique, and the huge piece of Cheddar/American cheese that smothers the burger was some of the best cheese I’ve ever eaten!  The burger however was pretty pedestrian, not bad, but not something that would rate a high ranking.  On the strength of the cheese alone I would have given it a 3.3.

 

So the  search goes on, but I really do appreciate people sharing with me places they love, it leads to some top burger picks!

 

However they are a dairy store and their ice cream sundays, were something to write home about!!!

 

the pilgrim

At the New England Camera Council Meeting I’ve been attending, I got to see and briefly test a new lens that, before the test I had little interest in, now I am very interested.  The lens is Nikon’s latest Super Zoom, a 18-300 AF-S VR DX F3.5 – 5.6.  On a DX camera, which it was designed for, it is a whopping 28-450 Equivalent.   It is well built and feels substantial without being too heavy or burdensome.  Of course that would not matter if the lens was not sharp.  My test revealed that it appears to be another shocker, maybe even sharper than the 28-300 FX lens which has become a favorite.  If that were not enough, it focuses very close even at 300 so it is essentially almost a 450 mm Micro!  Once again it is tack sharp too!  The two images at the top show it at the 18mm setting and then extended to the 300mm setting.  The thought of traveling with a 10-24 or 12-24 and an 18-300 (15mm to 450mm equivalent) is pretty exciting, if I get a consignment lens, I will do a full test.  Here are a couple of shots below that were done to just check it out, pretty impressive lens!  Oh yes it will sell for just sub $1,000.

 

 

Then Wayne Bennett shot this image of me handheld!!!

 

 

Interesting,

God Bless,

 

the pilgrim