New Book by Alan Rabinowitz : Life in the Valley of Death: The Fight to Save Tigers in a Land of Guns, Gold, and Greed

In forests reviled as the valley of death, Rabinowitz finds new life for himself, for communities haunted by poverty and violence, and for the tigers he vowed to protect.

I have written about Alan Rabinowitz on & often. He continues to inspire me personally. I have been inspired after seeing a National Geographic documentary on Alan’s life, his cause & his mission to save the wild. Although he has taken a back seat following his health condition, he still leads the exploration group of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Alan’s expeditions & his stories have brought the grim truth of survival. His fact finding missions led The New York Times call him the Indiana Jones of wildlife science!

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New Nikon Tele VR Lenses - affordability vs quality vs weight

From: Photoduniya.com

Note:
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We are now integrated with our website, photoduniya.com. We have moved over to http://www.photoduniya.com/photography-blog/. Although we shall keep this blog up and running, most of the future posts will be on the Photoduniya Blog.

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Nikon had announced the launch of the Telephoto VR lenses late last year. The Nikon 600 mm f/4 AF-VR (estimated street price USD 9,500) and the Nikon 500 mm f/4 AF-VR (estimated street price USD 7,900) were announced late last year by Nikon and are yet to hit the market. It had always been a question as to whether one needs a VR with these long lenses for an additional price of between USD 500 to USD 700 and an increased weight of the lens. But looking into the way Nikon is trying to get into the Canon sports market, probably the thought is that many of these “nature” & “field” lenses would now be used in the sports arena easily.

 

Having said that, the 2 other lenses that automatically come into the discussion are the Nikon 400 mm f/2.8 AF (street price of USD 7,000) and the Sigma 500 mm f/4.5 AF (street price of USD 4,200). Nikon would definitely discontinue the non-VR versions of all the lenses that are already made with VR. The Nikon 500 mm f/4 (non-VR) had been a favorite of most of the nature photographers and had performed superbly for ages would be gone in a few months of time.

 

Personally, since I do not do sports, I have not much use of the VR in these tele lenses. That leaves the proposition for the Sigma 500 mm f/4.5 AF extremely enticing, especially if I weigh the positive price and the weight factors to the only negative brand factor. But a difference of USD 4,000 does a lot of justification for a small time photographer like me! The reviews had been excellent over years together. And apart from the Service related cribbing that many people reported as a pain point with Sigma, there have been no complaints on the quality or the operations of this lens.

 

The other brand lens that appears very enticing at least from the price point of view now is the Nikon 200 - 400 mm f/4 G-AFS which comes with a VR for a price of USD 5,100. I have recently sold my very favorite Nikon FM 3A and probably would not have much need of the “D” versions anyway. The Nikon F5 and the Nikon D200 works superbly with the Nikon 200 - 400 mm f/4 G-AFS VR. The zooming ability of this lens, for my needs, out-weighs the benefits of the 500 mm prime.

 

I have thought of the Sigmonster (Sigma 300 - 800 mm f/5.6) for over a year now. It is probably an excellent value for the money (for a price of USD 7,000) but since I have started doing a lot of streets now, I have to finally get this lens off my mind for good!

Nikon D3 launched - Full Frame 12.1 MP CMOS

After years of speculation, the much awaited Nikon D3 comes to being today. Although the company officially released the test drive, the Nikon D3 will be available in stores by November 2007 (per the company estimates).

 

Here’s a brief of what the D3 has to offer:

 

Here is the link to the detailed specifications on the Nikon’s website.

San Francisco street candid - rock and roll & street artists

Update: San Francisco Street Artists (0507-001) on Photoduniya.com

 

The Ferocious Few rocked and rolled as usual on the corner of Powell entertaining a huge crowd of passers by and the tourists.

 

Francisco Fernandez the lead guitarist, song writer and singer, comes into his own with his rock and roll, while his partner, adept with the drums and percussion, keeps with the beats equally well.

 

The Ferocious Few @ photoduniya.com

 Ferocious Few @ photoduniya.com

 

I did almost seven hundred shots this evening of Cici, Chelsea & Whitney, Jonathan, Ming Xiong and off course the Ferocious Few. Over a period of time I shall update the projects section on photoduniya.com.



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