Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/800 sec, f/2, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Quiet Contemplation
Kyoto Imperial Palace Park (“Kyoto Gosho”, 京都御所)
I popped over to the Imperial Palace Park (“Kyoto Gosho”, 京都御所) yesterday for some blossom Joie de Vivre kind of shots of folks enjoying the many blossoms... mostly peach and cherry these days. It's the same place I took a bunch of blossom closeups seen two weeks ago in “The Buds and Blossoms are Just Peachy”, but this time the lens was the very special the Nikkor 300mm f/2.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/800 sec, f/2, ISO 160 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nondescript Nice Mood
It was quite crowded, but nevertheless still quite pleasant.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 140 — map & image data — nearby photos
Puppy
taking his owner for a walk
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Peach in Full Bloom
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Peach in Full Bloom
with a little funky joy added in Lightroom
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Not Sure I Like This Bokeh
The bokeh with this lens can be great (such as here), but the bright branches in the background of the shot above seem pretty harsh to me.
She had just taken a drink of water, and then noticed that her shirt was suddenly wet. At that age, she probably doesn't notice any relationship between the two events. Cute.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Family Portrait
I like this kind of shot, but it's tough at 300mm because you have to be so far away and can't have anyone in between. Patience is required in large amounts with this lens in this environment.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 cropped — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 125 — map & image data — nearby photos
Odd
I think these are cherry (on a tree across from the colorful peach), but normally the blososms come out first, then eventually as they start to fall off the leaves come out, but in this case the leaves are well formed before the blossoms are even fully out. It's a strange year. Cherry blossoms in general are very early this year in Kyoto.
Some more pleasant scenes...
The guy above was about the only person in kimono the whole time, quite a bit different than the lovely scenes last year. In this I was disappointed.
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 160 — map & image data — nearby photos
Picking His Way Through
Nikon D4 + Nikkor 300mm f/2 — 1/1600 sec, f/2, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Ahh, the Feeling of Grass Between My Toes...”
“... reminds me of when I was young(er)”
300 f/2 FTW!
Some excellent shots. Seems like a while since we were treated to the 300/2. I agree with Damien above.
And here in Munich is still snowing 🙁
I really like all the pictures, the almost tilt-shift effect you can achieve with such a lens is amazing.
I was surprised to see some purple fringing on the umbrella held by the lady in the picture above the picture of the guy in kimono.
There is apparently a special kind of chromatic aeration with ultra-wide telephoto lenses that puts heavy green or purple fringing on things just behind or in front of the plane of focus. I don’t quite understand the details, other than that I should focus better. —Jeffrey
I was just surprised to see the axial chromatic aberration because I read an article long ago on your monster lens (sorry, it’s in Italian http://www.marcocavina.com/articoli_fotografici/Nikkor_300mm_f2/00_pag.htm) describing how the lens was designed to avoid chromatic aberration.
Aberration or not, the pictures are stunning and it’s a pleasure to see good photographs taken by that masterpiece of optical engineering.