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Nikon D7200 and Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 55-300mm f4.5-5.6G ED VR

I have checked out the incredibly cheap tele-zoom lense Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 55-300mm f4.5-5.6G ED VR. I was looking for a reasonably priced and lightweight zoom glas for taking bird pictures in the park and in the woods. Unfortunately I had to return this product since the quality concerning sharpness on the long end did not quite please me. Although it was really close. I did not expect much and the lense is really light with a good vibration reduction and an ok focusing performance. Finishing and manual handling however were not acceptable for me, though of course the overall price of around 200€ has to come from somewhere.

Nevertheless I was able to take some good pictures, like this nuthatch (Kleiber) at the Rheinpark in Cologne, Germany.

Nuthatch (Kleiber) | Nikon D7200 with Nikon Nikkor AF-S 55-300mm f4.5-5.6G ED VR 300mm f5.6 1/800s ISO 720

Or this hawk (Habicht) in the Johannes-Giesbert-Park in Cologne. Here the reduced quality at 300mm becomes obvious, because it is zoomed to almost 100%. Wide aperture was not a good idea, thow – not only the lense to be blamed, here.

Hawk (Habicht) | Nikon D7200 and Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 55-300mm F4.5-5.6G ED VR | 300mm f1:5.6 1/500s ISO 250
Hawk (Habicht) | Nikon D7200 and Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 55-300mm F4.5-5.6G ED VR | 300mm f1:5.6 1/500s ISO 160

This robin is probably the best picture I took, because I could stop down on the aperture. Makes a great difference, as I learned after a while.

Robin (Rotkehlchen) | Nikon D7200 and Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 55-300mm F4.5-5.6G ED VR | 300mm f1:9 1/250s ISO 100
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New binoculars: Nikon Sportstar ex 10×25

For localizing birds in parks, in the woods, in the zoo, for hiking and trekking tours. I was looking for a moderately prized lightweight pair. The overall quality is absolutely satisfying! The only little thing that annoys me is that the spacer for the eyes (if you are not using glasses) are so loose that I have to check if they are extended and not pushed backwards. Every time. I already thought about fixating them with glue.

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OpenDAFF license changed to Apache License Version 2.0

After discussion with the inventor of OpenDAFF, I have changed the license to the less restrictive Apache License Version 2.0, which also allows the use of the OpenDAFF library in commercial products.

See: http://www.opendaff.org

I am going to license all my code base with this license as it is very user friendly and might allow for further development at a company even after leaving the academic environment. This way, commercial partners and the academic institutions can both benefit.