Over the weekend I rented a Nikon 300mm f/2.8 VR II. Fun to play with and incredibly irritating. The fun comes from, well, I don’t know about you but I don’t own any $6000 lenses… The irritation came from shoving the new equipment learning curve into 2 days. Now that’s it has been returned and I have spent some time digging around on the interwebs I think I have figured out some of my issues. Next time, I guess, more play and less….what the hell?
I am sort of at that photography point where you decide to stay put or start saving. It has been the usual progression: P&S, high-end P&S, entry level DSLR, mid-range DSLR with kit lens, get tired of kit lens, buy mid-range lens, etc. The problem is, with Nikon anyway, that there is this huge jump… you can get nice glass for 1K, really nice glass starts at 4-5K. No in between. Since I have been having that itch, I decided to rent the sort of first step in bigger birding glass.
This lens is tack-sharp without the teleconverter. Pretty darn sharp with the teleconverter, too. I had some issues with sharpness, but I think that was more due to the fact that a) my monopod is completely inadequate for a lens of this size and b) it was windy this weekend and that lens is so big it’s like a sail!
The following 3 with 2x teleconverter
On monopod
Handheld
Oh and FYI….nesting herons will totally try to poop on your head.
A little to the right, lady
No teleconverter
Just manhandling this this thing was a challenge. It’s like panning while holding a newborn at arm’s length. There were a lot of these…
And from accidentally hitting the focus ring and starting the hunting again….these…
That kills me. Would have been such a great shot! Egret With Crawfish just becomes POS. Boo.
And even having 600mm isn’t enough for good shots of the owls. 
This is an equally crappy photo, but it kills me. Not sure if this is mom or dad, but the leaning up against the tree is so funny. California owl. Even our birds of prey are all casual. 
I suppose the best thing that came out of the weekend was my realization that I have absolutely no desire to own one of these. I could certainly find uses for it, but unless one of those lottery tickets that I don’t buy hits some numbers, no need what so ever. I won’t even lust over it anymore. Honeymoon is over. When I see those people hiking with the 400mm+ lenses I won’t think I wish I had one, I will think I'm happy that I can carry my camera AND my coffee.
Priorities.
