Photographic toys

Here’s a picture of the equipment that Matt brought me, alongside a few other items I’ve picked up in the last month.:)

From left to right:

1. Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Lens
2. Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens
3. B+W 77mm Circular Polarizer Filter
4. Hoya 52MM Circular Polarizing Filter
5. Hoya Pro1 Digital 77mm UV Filter
6. Hoya 52MM UV Filter
7. Nikon SB-600 Speedlight Flash
8. Nikon D300 with Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM Lens

In addition to the above, there’s also been a dry cabinet to keep all the optical equipment in a fungus-inhibiting environment, and a Tamrac Adventure 7 camera bag.

As remarked in an earlier post, the Sigma 10-20mm lens is incredibly fun to use. And despite review notes elsewhere that the lens build quality isn’t impressive, the lens feels sturdy enough for me. It’s not as though I’ll be tossing the lens around anyway. The SB-600 speedlight has worked well too over the limited flash shots I’ve taken. Interestingly, at default settings and bounce, the flash output using the D300 + SB-600 is far less harsh than my old Konica-Minolta 5D + 3600HS flash unit. I haven’t played around with the 55-200mm lens, but there’ll be opportunity soon enough at my institution’s family day at the Singapore Zoo next month.

With the above, I’ve pretty much gotten everything I need or want, except perhaps a bounce card, a 50mm prime lens, and a ball tripod; all of which are fortunately going to be a lot less expensive than the items above.:)