The end of the day

Tamagawa river between Tamagawadaikoen and Shinmaruko, Tokyo/Kanagawa, Japan. Taken with the D300 and Tamron 200-500mm@500mm.

So far, the latest firmware update has made the camera a different beast concerning autofocus. It isn't perfect, but finally I can feel confident using any autofocus mode under certain conditions. It also focuses much more quickly, even with the Tamron 200-500. Birds in flight are now much, much easier to get. It's almost like having a new camera. Knock on wood.

Horai Park karugamo/D300 focus

The herons and egrets on the Tamagawa River have become a bit more difficult to find and approach over the last month---caring for young ones perhaps. Horai Park in Denenchofu does have a resident population of spot-billed ducks, lots of turtles and an occasional out-of-place grey heron. Only the karugamo---spot-bills were there last Sunday, but the light was good and I could get close enough to spend an hour or more taking photos. My wife complained, "They're just ducks."

My D300 still has occasional focusing hiccups. When I switch focus to auto area focus, it will hang and refuse to focus for 2-3 attempts. I have had to switch it back to dynamic or single point, focus it, and then switch back and it works. I don't know if this is a problem with the camera, or if it is with the subject. It doesn't happen all the time and I have not been able to determine any patterns. It most often occurs with the Tamron 200-500 lens. Otherwise, I have had no further failures to focus like I did a few months ago.

Winter afternoon on the Tama River