New Lens

When I bought my fabulous (not so) new (anymore) camera, it came with one lens.  I bought another lens, that allowed me to zoom in more.  I loved the flexibility both lenses gave to me.  Most of the time, around the house, I left the wide angle lens on the camera.  It allowed me to take pictures from much closer, without having to step back, or make the subject back up.  But, when travelling, or playing outside, I would often switch to the bigger, longer lens so I could get closer to subject  without actually being *closer* to the subject.  I had started to get annoyed with it occasionally, and in one of my insomniac nights decided that it was about time for me to invest in a single lens that could take both the wider angles as well as the more zoomed in shots.  I looked around on Amazon (where I purchased my original camera and lenses) and found a 2 things: I could get one lens for an affordable price, but it would cause me to loose a little on both sides.  I couldn't zoom in as far, nor could I zoom in as much.  OR I could spend $1000 and get exactly what I wanted.   Well, neither seemed like a great option. 

While my parents were out visiting during Kelsey's birthday, my dad suggested that I look used.  And, since he was going to be flying out to UT that weekend, he would be happy to look or pick one up for me.  Low and behold, I found a used lens that would supposedly work with my camera, that had the focal length I wanted (a tiny bit more than what I currently had) and I could afford it.  Yay!!!

After a week or so of travelling, and then forgetting it was it the glovebox, I finally got it out and attached it to my camera.  

Wide angle

Close up.  From the exact same place in my kitchen!  Score!!!

And it still gave me great clarity (when I had the settings right).

Last week, for spring break, we went to my parents house, and I made a conscience effort to exclusively use my new lens, to get used to it, and make sure I liked it.  Some things I found out:

1) The lens is slightly heavier than either of my other lenses

2) To focus or zoom in, I have to twist it the opposite direction of my previous lenses

3) It does exactly what I want it to do, in that it allows me to take multiple zoom pictures without having to switch my lens.

In short, I am pretty happy with it.  The heaviness and the twisting are things I am fairly certain I will get used to in time.  And it should work out great for my upcoming trip to Washington, DC with all the 5th graders!  Yay!