Nikon 70-300 zoom and a bronze axe

After Sue’s routine arthritis appointment at Southland Hospital this morning the sat-nav took us to Park Cameras for an appointment with a Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G AF-S VR IF-ED. After shooting a few frames with it I was impressed with the difference the Vibration Reduction (VR) feature makes and persuaded myself that I definitely needed it! I have bought it as a reasonably priced 300mm lens which is very well reviewed by buyers on all the sites I checked. It should improve my bird photography during the long winter ahead. The 180mm Sigma is great for closer work but most birds stay too far away when you are on a walk-about on the beach.

After lunch I attempted to beat the forecast rain and headed for the Bluebird Café by the Ferring Rife. Luckily a kestrel presented itself above the green by the beach so I was able to test my new prize before the rains started.

The kestrel was small in the frame but when blown up shows an amazing amount of detail and clarity with VR on (top photo).

I was also impressed by the detail of a ship on the horizon when blown up.

A week after our last club dig I went through my rubbish box from the trip and washed and dried the unidentified lumps of metal.

I recognised a broken Bronze Age axe head. The size, shape and weight match up well to other examples on the PAS database so I have catalogued it. Length: 47.5 mm  Width: 50 mm  Thickness: 9 mm  Weight: 71.14 g