A Very Good Day of Photography

Nikon Z5ii, 300mm f4D on FTZII

Yesterday was a very good day of photography. I got out early enough to catch a sunrise (and pre-dawn mist) at Smoke Lake in Algonquin Park, one of my favourite places to shoot sunrises, and spent the day meandering through the park and then the Algonquin Highlands southeast of it, finishing up at Silent Lake Provincial Park before heading home through some backroads just before sunset. That's the sixth of my seven photo outings from my goals. Just one more this year and I'm done.

In other news, I broke 66% on my Like to Posts ratio on Fred Miranda, netting the first goal of the year done. At this rate if I keep up my posting there I should break 67% and possibly even 68% by year's end. The downside is the Nikon forum is the least active in Liking photography posts so once I exhaust the archives of old Sony and Canon shots, the rate of increase will drop. 

On the camera side, the Z5II is now at 1400 shots, exceeding in 1 month what I shot with the A7IV in 6 months. The Z7, which I also shot with a bit yesterday (mostly for the sunrise shots) is now up around 1100 shots and closing in on the 1350 or so shots I took with the A7IV. I expect shooting to taper off after October as we get into the dull portion of late fall which is always a photographic doldrum for me. I'll be happy if I finish the year with 1500 or so shots on the Z7 and 2500 on the Z5ii, bringing me over 5000 shots for the year and 4000 or so towards my 10,000 with one system goal (which I will not come close to making in 2025 barring a miracle). 

I also got a new lens this week, lucking into a nearly-mint AF-S 300mm f4 D ED for a crazy low price. It's got the AF-S squeak which is why it was so cheap, but otherwise looks essentially unused, likely having sat in a closet for years after purchase which is also one of the causes of AF-S Squeak. Even if the motor fails, I still got an otherwise mint 300 for less than a similar-condition copy of the AI-S version goes for. Had lots of fun shooting it yesterday, it's very sharp, has great close focus performance and stupid fast AF which matches up well to how I like to shoot when hiking. Lots of critter pics and also nature close-ups from yesterday.