A new lens…

You know from following the blog that I have been real impressed with the Nikon D3300 camera I bought specifically for adventure motorcycle touring.   I have a Nikon D810 and its performance is incredible, but I needed something smaller (and less expensive) for tearing around in Colombia, Baja, and the other cool places I get to visit.   That’s why I went with the D3300.

I’ve been using the standard lens that comes with the D3300.  It’s an 18-55mm zoom, and it is surprisingly good.  I really like the vibration reduction feature, too, because the photos tend to be a lot sharper even when shooting from my RX3 going 60 or 70 mph.

The D3300 uses an approach that has the lens focusing motor in the lens (instead of in the camera).   That’s great, but what it meant to me was that some of the older lenses I had (which relied on the camera having the focus motor in the camera body) would no longer autofocus.  One of those older lenses was the Tokina 12-24 mm lens, which is a super wide-angle number that I really like.   Hey, no problem, I thought.  I’ll just manually focus and everything will be okay.  I took the 12-24 mm Tokina with me to Colombia and I scored a few great shots manually focusing it, like this one below just outside of Barichara, with the bikes on a sheer cliff overlooking the valley below…

I love that photo (so much so that I’m using it on the cover of Moto Colombia, which is progressing very well).

But, the issue is this:  I’ve been spoiled.  I like that autofocus capability, and I blew a few shots with the 12-24 lens because I was too used to the camera autofocusing.   I just assumed the thing was focused (I forgot to manually focus a few times) because that’s what I’m used to.

Tokina came out with an 11-16 lens about a year ago that replaced their excellent 12-24, and the new lens has the focusing motor in the lens.   It autofocuses on the D3300.  It went on sale recently, and that did it for me.  I pulled the trigger and UPS dropped the lens off at my front door a couple of days ago.  Here’s what it looks like on my D3300 (the photo below is from my iPhone)…

With that gigondo Tokina lens and the Nikon flash unit, the little D3300 almost looks lost. It sure works well with the new lens, though.   Here’s a shot I grabbed (with the lens at 11mm!) in the service area just a few minutes ago…

We’ve had nonstop rain here for the last day or so, but the sun put in an appearance and the San Gabriels just behind the plant are magnificent.   They are capped with snow right now, and I may get out to grab a photo or two of those a little later.

That’s it for now, folks.  Ride safe, stay dry, and stay tuned!