I had two motivators for visiting the Sacramento Zoo recently. 1. I was gone for almost a month and hadn’t seen the new baby giraffe now named Cheyenne and, 2. I wanted to test out a new lens. With my Nikon, I had an 18-200mm lens which was a perfect walk-around lens. Unfortunately, Fujifilm doesn’t make a lens with that type of zoom. Recently Tamron came out with an 18-300mm lens for Fuji and Sony. So I bought the Fuji mount. The only drawback is its lack of an aperture ring on the lens. I was told that I could assign that function to the front dial and use the top dial to change the aperture.

When I purchased the lens, I was told that Fuji would make the switch automatically and when I put my Fuji lens back on it would revert back. I played with it while at the zoo and didn’t quite do it correctly. I ended up with sharp but noisy images. Thank heavens for Topaz!

The zoo didn’t disappoint. The cheetah was walking around; not running.

The red panda was walking the branches instead of sleeping.

The giraffes were being giraffes. Have you ever seen a two-headed, six-legged giraffe? We did get to see Cheyenne, but she was behind a fence and quickly went back inside with her mother.

The river otters were in their hammock.

And the lions were preparing for a nap.

One of the Okapi was out eating.

I almost forgot the alligator.

So, this was my morning at the zoo with friends Marlene, Laura and Ray. It’s good to be home and doing photography with friends.

27 thoughts on “Testing a new lens: The Sacramento Zoo”

  2. Hey you bought it, do you like it? I love mine, though the front dial button I have always used for aperture, it was that way on my Nikon too, so it is what I am used to, so has been no problem for me.

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    1. Right now, my camera is set to shoot manual and I’m having trouble getting the ISO on the front button. I think it’s the way I have it set for manual. I’m going to take it to the camera store and have them help me. I’ve got to be able to go from Tamron to Fuji easily.

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  6. I like zoos – the bustle of people, the animals and their antics. Also a great place for playing with new cameras. We are planning a bit of a different trip for us in the fall and I am playing with cameras and lenses, combos or one piece jobs, to decide what to take so I can travel light. Your new lens seems to be doing you well – lovely pictures.

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    1. Thanks N! I’m hoping I can work out this noise issue with the new lens soon. I shot the entire trip last month with my 18-55mm lens. It was okay since it was mostly landscapes. I did take the 55-200 lens with me but didn’t use it. These days, I take as little as possible even for a day trip.

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      1. I hope you can work out the lens problems, too. I wonder if there is a software issue that you might need to apply to camera or lens?

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