Nikon 20-35 f/2.8

LR never has a profile for this lens.  Now that I can't even use it it is not a concern any more.  Ha.

Nikon AF Nikkor 20-35

It's on its way to KEH repair via USPS Priority.

KEH has this flat rate repair for some time but this is the first time I ever use them.  There is no guarantee that it can be fixed.  If parts need to be replaced and they don't have it then I am just paying for a round trip for nothing.

KEH charges $320 for Zoom repair plus $12 for shipping.  Assuming it can be fixed without additional charges, I would be out of about $350.  At the time of this writing, NJ has a version on craigslist that's $400 and it is like pristine with the hard to find lens shade too.  If it's in NYC, I may have a second thought.  Most of the versions on eBay sell around $500 or so.  When I paid for my version about five or six years ago, it was more than $600.  I bought it so I could take some event pictures for the cycling dinner fundraising.  It wasn't a pay gig.  Do I even have a pay gig?  Back then I didn't have a full frame camera so the lens was like a 30-55, my kit lens 17-80 was somewhat unreliable or I just found some excuse to get the 20-35 f/2.8.  It was a good lens.  The only time it failed me was during a Chinese year shooting the parade.  It was freezing, most likely below 32F.  So all the time it was pretty much stuck at f/2.8.  If I knew back then it was sticky blade, I would have just taken it out and gave the aperture lever a workout or simply shoot wide open f/2.8.  That was the only time the lens kind of failed.  I never had sticky aperture blades before until then.

Then I got a donation from my friend the Nikkor 16-35 f/4.  Its color rendition is different I believe and the f/4 is not a problem given the ISO performance of modern DSLR.  Alas, when shooting indoor the f/2.8 still have the upper hand in both areas: the viewfinder is a tad brighter and you can shoot at slightly higher shutter speed.

I can't stand it being a paper weight.

UPDATE: 1/24/2019
1/22/2019 KEH says it needs the part that is no longer available.  So sending back paperweight.  Oh well.  I tried and people tried.

Nikkor 20-35

This lens has to be retired for the time being.  I simply don't want to spend the money on repairing it.  I didn't bother to make the trip to the shop to let them check it out.  I predict it's anywhere from $200 to $400 to repair it.

I will stick with my Nikon 16-35 f/4 for now.

Nikkor AF-S 24-85 f/3.5~4.5 G

This was my first AF lens, bought long after I got my Nikon F5.  For a long time I just used MF lenses on my Nikon F5 adamantly.

I only used this lens occasionally and for a short period of time as I seldom took pictures and I discovered "pro" lenses.  I bought it from Canoga camera out in California.  I still remember the time I did my research on buying an AF lens and the moment and whereabouts when I placed the order, weird.  Back then I shot film and I was happy with the lens granted my point of reference was 4x6 prints and I must be in awe how the AF-S worked.

Now I "have to" revisit this lens again.  My pro grade 20-35 suffered from a fall and is out of commission.  I don't think I ever shot any digital using this 24-85.  I wonder if I shoot at f/8 or f/11, does it even matter?  When the lighting situation is difficult I think a f/2.8 helps or if you dig the f/2.8 or larger aperture rendition.  In terms of build, for me, as long as the mount is metal I am kind of OK with the rest.  All lenses broke from fall and impact, plastic or metal.  Sometimes I believe a lens shade helps alleviate the impact better than any metal construction.  That being said, I appreciate any well made lenses that last for decades.

Believe it or not, this lens together with its dedicated lens shade were Made in Japan.  The LC-67 lens cap was Made in Thailand.

Both Ken Rockwell and Moose Peterson raved about this lens if you ever need any affirmation of your purchase.  It's very interesting to read how Moose marvelled the lens cap LC-67 as I guess back then the squeeze-in lens cap was a rarity and the LC-67 was quite possibly among the firsts if not the first to use this squeeze-in mechanism.

2017 USA Cyclocross National Championships

I was shooting without a press pass for this event.  I don't know much about biking or cyclocross.  I haven't had any meaningful ownership of any bicycle since high school.

I didn't go shoot all week I only went for the last two days, Saturday and Sunday.  I put myself up in the nearby Hilton otherwise known to the public as Super8.  I ordered room service from a nearby Michelin 4-star restaurant for dinner while going through my pictures and uploading them to Instagram.  Before I knew it, a Rolls Royce rolled up and dropped off my dinner.

For this event, I decided to go wider than my usual 20-35 or 16-35.  I went for the Nikkor 16mm f/2.8 fisheye from my library in Adorama Rental.  I was committed to it for the simple reason that I paid for it might as well used it to the fullest.  To fill the frame of the fisheye lens is to go really close and that's what I did and tried to do all day every day.  The above were shot using the fisheye lens.  My other setup was the usual 70-200 f/2.8, charity of my dear friend.

Weeks before the event I tried to get some press credential.  I even followed up when I didn't hear anything.  I even emailed and texted the parties involved.  The first one left his job and the second one never replied my text or would have none of my bull shit; a reflection of what a photographer I am.  Anyway I still proceeded to book my Hilton even I didn't get no press pass.  I guess I simply spectate if I am not allowed to take pictures.  Packing is always challenging; should I bring my 600mm or 800mm?  Should I use my F-stop Ajna or the biggest Shinn?  In the end, I settled for a small no-brand backpack my kids got from scouting but considered too uncool to use.  For me that's just true normcore I couldn't pass up.  Though I have to say before this, I had never ever shoot wearing a backpack, a slingback messenger bag yes but never a backpack.  I actively use two camera setups and I actually don't need to carry a bag for equipment in the field because the two camera setups are always in use and won't stay in the bag anyway.

It always takes me longer than I thought no matter I knew it would take longer than I thought to last minute pack my stuff to the car the morning I leave the house.

Google tells me I need some 2 hours to get there.  I am happy with the morning traffic.  When I got to the venue I was pointed to go to the parking lot some where across some highway.  It was a minor miracle I was able to find the parking lot without GPS or not driving back to the highway inadvertently.

It took me forever to take my gear out and to get everything I need ready.  The car was parked not too close to the course so I didn't imagine myself coming back to the car to pick up something I forgot; I would only come back to the car to drive away when the day was done.  I needed to make sure I had everything I needed for the shoot as if it's very important like I was paid to do it or like my career was on the line.  "If you don't take money, they can't tell you what to do, kid."

Nikon D810 with Nikkor 16mm f/2.8 fisheye.  Nikon D700 with the Nikon 70-200 f/2.8.  Sunpak 160J, PC sync cable, power cable with power pack.  Junior bracket.  Nikkor 16-35 f/4 carried as a spare in my backpack--or simply for weight training or back breaking purpose.  I also carried my rocket blower which turned out to be useful when the almost blizzard like snow came later in the day.  And yes the two rain covers too.

Snow came in the afternoon and it never relented.  Bad weather kind of makes good pictures for me.

I didn't set up my flash when I left the parking lot so it was a bit of a hassle to set it up there in the course amid all the actions.  I ended up hand holding the 120J (just as planned) without using the bracket as the days prior I noticed the bracket could get into the fisheye angle of view, ever slightly.  Anyway while I was shooting, see the above pictures,  I noticed I dropped the knurled knot and the flash anti twist plate--even I wasn't attaching the flash to the bracket, I had the knob went through the plate and screwed onto the flash shoe.  During the shooting frenzy, the knob must have come unscrewed and fell on the ground together with the leaves and falling snow.  Talking about finding a needle in the haystack.  I almost gave up searching in between shots.  Luckily I or my foot found the knurled knob and then the tiny anti hot shoe twist plate.  I felt very lucky.  I don't know what I am going to do without the knob and the plate, they are my life.

It got ridiculously cold and snowy as the day went on.  I took a breather buying lunch from one of the food trucks.

to be continued . . .

I was glad I remembered to bring the two rain covers from home and more importantly carried them in the field.  I needed them.  The cover was long enough to accommodate a long lens.  However it turned out too long and unwieldy for the 16mm fisheye.  Sometimes the cover was too loose and got into the picture view.  In the end I just removed the cover all together for the 16mm lens.  Both camera and lens performed almost flawlessly under sub zero temperature, wind and snow.  My fingers aren't all that lucky.  Skin fell off after a week and they are still numb.

I guess some observations merit and merit sharing.

I am in general a cheap person.  I use the camera strap that comes with the camera.  I don't have any fancy straps or carrying system.  When the camera is hanging from my neck I feel safe and secured.  The constant neck pain reminded me the camera setups were in place where they needed to be.  My hands can be free if I want to without dropping the camera.  Of course there are drawbacks.  When I shoot vertical which is actually infrequent with my D700 and grip, too often the strap got into the viewfinder which can be annoying and shot stopping (the rain cover made it 10 times worse).  With my D810 and 16mm fisheye I simply did not shoot vertical.  Also I do not have a grip for my D810 so that kind of discouraged me to shoot vertical anyway.

I did use my rocket blower to blow away the snowflakes which came down non stop and got accumulated on my viewfinder and whatnot.  I grabbed my rocket blower to blow the flakes away.  It didn't look too professional but it worked.  I guess it beats blowing with my breath as my breath would most likely fog up the viewfinder, even I guess, momentarily.

The junior races might not be as exciting as the U23 or the elites' but in terms of licensing potential it's better or equally good or I mean bad?  I am speaking from experience here.  So don't write off the junior races if licensing your shots is what you have in mind--I try to be pedantic here, I don't sell my pictures I license them.

It was a challenge, a real struggle to carry two camera setups a backpack and weigh 200 pounds to use the potty.  I just felt lucky without dropping anything.  I hope I never need to make the decision to retrieve or not to retrieve . . .

The day's program came to an end and I was happy to drive to check-in my Hilton which was just some 10 or 15 minutes away in snowy road condition.

The place was better than expected.  The bed was nicely made, the bathroom was all clean and with ample supply of towels.  The WiFi was sufficiently fast at least for download, the upload was slow just as what I would expect from cable.  I ordered from a neighborhood Michelin 4-star restaurant.  Unlike New York, there was no such thing as free delivery but I still need to order a certain amount to be worth their trouble.  About an hour later, my phone rang and I was ready to pick up my delivery.  I gave a hefty tips for the Rolls Royce chauffeured delivery.  I only ate half of my dinner and put the half in the fridge.  The bathroom vent made some weird noise non stop and the TV remote worked haphazardly.  The TV remote was designed in such a way one can't easily change the battery.  Anyway I wasn't a big TV watcher plus I was too busy Light Rooming my pictures.

I had breakfast in the Hilton.  It was quite an experience.  There was this dude, sort of in bike attire presumably a cyclocross racer who just casually grabbed a napkin and blew his nose and put the used napkin now full of booger and snot into the stir up waste basket right next to the coffee urns and other Hilton breakfast delicacies.  A woman was rightfully appalled and took it upon herself to empty it to the trash bin which was just about ten feet away.  Then he was at it again.  I was disgusted by his lack of manner and utter oblivious to decorum.  After all we were staying in a Hilton.

The second day wasn't as exciting as the first.  Good or better weather did not help my pictures.  The highlight was I met Nick a real photographer and videographer.  I meant to meet Nick when I was at the UCI Cyclocross at Rockland Community College.  The first day highlight was I bumped into Coach David and his family; DJ, one of the Star Track riders was in the race and Matt's girlfriend was racing as well.

I almost left before the elite race began as I was tired, cold and worried about driving back to New York.  I had four slices of white bread I got from breakfast for lunch.  Plus a hotdog I got from SRAM.  I honestly don't know what SRAM does.  For all I know, they make hotdogs.  After the elite race started came the third highlight of the 2-day event.  I bumped into track sheriff Karl from Kissena.  We had a good chat.  Karl was all smile, happily shooting a real camera with real black and white film.  I was instantly diminished, my toy cameras and all.  It took me some time to recover to begin shooting again.

Without a press pass wasn't a big issue except when it was.  I did get asked to leave the course once though.  With the press vest one can I assume get inside the course when the winner rides across the finish line.  Without the vest I got the excuse of not getting the position I needed to get the shot.

It was a once in a lifetime experience for me.  I figure if it's held somewhere else I wouldn't bother or have the resources to go.

Event Photographer Experience

My experience as a "photographer" or "event photographer."  My fourth time doing the same event different venue though.

Nikon D810, though it has 36MP but when I convert the NEFs I usually downsize them to 4000 pixels on the long side make them 12MP just like the D700 files!  I need the mega pixels just in case--the truth is that "just in case" never happened.

Nikkor 20-35 f/2.8, this lens was iffy when it is cold or very cold.  It failed me on two occasions.  The aperture blades got stuck and pictures overexposed.  Now that I know, I can always just shoot at f/2.8 circumstances allow.  The Nikkor 16-35 f/4 is reliable but since f/4 is not as bright it's really not so great when you are taking pictures in a dark venue like most dinner parties I am in.

Sunpak 120J with sync cable to the camera PC socket and battery pack.  I have it set at the "red" automatic to take the guess work out of it.  My setting is 1/60 and f/8 which should give me ample depth of field and fast enough shutter speed to avoid blurry pictures (given the relatively short flash duration, wide angle coverage, and not so close-up shots).  The battery pack is great when you want to have fast recycle time and long lasting battery life.  It's a bit of a hassle to shoulder carry the pack that I have to put up with.

Custom Bracket Junior (old version).  Like most other good brackets, it's is very good except one thing; it twists on the body.  This one doesn't come with a D-ring so I have to use a quarter to tighten screw to the tripod mount.  And that night I just didn't have a quarter with me.  When I asked the wait staff they didn't have one either.  They probably didn't trust me with a quarter.  So one lent me a Swiss army kind of knife with a very small blade, I was afraid I would break the blade so I handled it with extreme care.  Thank you man!  The bracket not only just twisted but came very loose in the middle of the shoot.  You certainly don't want to drop your flash or even worse your camera.  The sync cable and the power cable can be unwieldy and sometimes you pick up the camera and forget about the battery pack which may just end up dropping on the floor.

AF-S.  Normally AF-S is set for focus priority by default.  Though I use AF-C most of the time when I am shooting cycling or any other sports.  I switched to AF-S so I can recompose and lock focus.  In some instances, the camera had trouble locking focus because the subject was too dark or lacked contrast.  So I changed the AF-S to release priority so the shutter would fire even focus is not locked.  (This would give me trouble later on.)  I don't want my subject to wait or I look like an idiot when the shutter doesn't fire--the focus even not locked should be good enough or actually spot on even it's not locked, I hope.

Half way through the shoot, video time.  Initially I planned to shoot with my iPhone but then I don't need too many equipment hanging around my shoulder or my neck.  So I used my D810 for video as well.  And that's trouble.  In the middle of the video shoot, I decided that I wanted to change the lens AF to M so I can manually focus.  What a brilliant idea.  After video, I switched the camera settings from B back to A or whatever I thought shooting stills should be.  And I thought I had everything under control.  And of course I didn't.  In the middle of eating, drinking and people asked me to take pictures, I totally forgot about switching the lens back to AF.  So for the rest of the evening I was shooting with no focusing, not AF not manual just no focusing.  The last manual focus distance was left at some 20 feet away.  But "lucky" me most, actually all of the shots were wide angle, 7 to 10 feet away (at the same time, if not, I guess I would have noticed it already), and I was shooting at f/8.  The f/8 saved me plus before the video I had most of my shots already.  So the out of focus shots weren't that plenty and weren't obvious enough.  Still it's a mistake that I shouldn't have made.

If I used the Nikkor 16-35 f/4, it wouldn't happen as there is no need to switch to manual focus, you can simply grab the focusing ring to focus manually (* this is not entirely true, I want to manual focus in video not letting the lens to find focus so for the Nikkor 16-35 I still might have switched the lens to fully manual when shooting video).

If I left AF-S in focus priority, the default, it wouldn't happen as I wouldn't be able to fire the shutter if the focus can't be locked.  Alas, I changed it to AF-S release priority so shutter fire even when focus is not locked.

Lesson learned.  Always double and triple check your settings.

Big Camera

I should have written it last year.  Or maybe I have already?  Last year was actually worse with stronger wind and all.

When I am shooting in the cold, finger numbing, frost biting cold, close to 0 F cold.  I want to have a big freaking camera with big freaking controls.

Last year I thought I was going to lose my fingers when I was out shooting in the cold for hours.

Today I put on two layers of gloves.  And I wish my D700 was bigger.  I can barely feel my shutter release button.

Today I had a change of shooting MO, instead of going for my 80-200 or 70-200, I opted for the 16-35, went wide and wild.  It definitely is different.  I want to travel light so I brought the SB-600 instead of the relatively massive Sunpak 120J and power pack.  Of course everything is a trade-off.  With the powerpack, the Sunpak can shoot fast without any major lag in recycle time especially all I need is 1/8 of the power.  Not so with the SB-600.  The battery powered SB-600 can't quite keep up with the continuous shooting.  To be fair I don't think the Sunpak can either if it's powered by AA batteries.  I am glad I brought my Nikkor 16-35 f/4 instead of the 20-35 f/2.8 as the aperture blades of the latter would most likely to stick given the Antarctica like temperature.

Hai-Tien Chorus Live at the Flushing Public Library on Main Street

This was shot with my D7000 at 24fps 1/50 and f/3.5.  I suppose I should have or could have shot it at f/4.  I thought people in general like their video bright.  I put the camera on my trusty tripod and ball head.  Not the best for video but hey what's the best anyway?

For stills, I use the D700.  I brought my two Sunpak 120J with two light stands and radio transmitter and receivers--I tend to overdo things.  In the end, I just used one 120J for a handful of shots in the end, powered by the power pack.  It was a minor struggle as I had to juggle with the camera and flash settings.  I guess one always has to struggle when shooting events and there is little time for preparation or prior experience.

The video is just straight out of the camera.  The 20 minutes recording time is not too bad, it's an inconvenience but not a show stopper.  Again, I accept that and work around it.  I don't have one single song that lasts long than that hard limit.  Even I didn't know the program details prior but it wasn't too bad.

The 20-35 is wide so I have no problem taking in the whole stage.  On the other hand, the 70-200 is too long especially on a DX body for this purpose.  The 70-200 was with my D700 for stills.  I did use the 16-35 for the group shot in the end and some super wide shots close the stage shots.  The only drawback of shooting the 20-35 is that there is no way I can zoom close to the performers if I want to.  The 24-70 would help.  Perhaps it's an advantage not to zoom so there is no distraction.  You just put a camera in front of the even and let it unfold, my kind of video taking or story telling.

PDN PhotoPlus Expo 2015 Write-up

I don't remember since when the name became what it is today.  I think it used to be shorter.

I wonder what would happen if one day Nikon or Canon decide not to be part of the expo.  They are the tent poles of the event.  Sony actually might be just having as big a presence as Nikon or Canon, especially in the last two years.  Fuji sticks around.  And I don't think Kodak bothers to show up anymore.  Leica got a respectable show booth and gets a bit bigger every year.  It is somewhat comparable to their brand allure.  I am surprised to find Hasselblad but their presence seems a disservice to the brand.  But it is what it is.

Nikon basically provides the most generous display of merchandize for users to play with.

I hand tested or played with the new 24-70 as well as the 200-500.  The 200-500 is slightly outside my comfort zone.  And I wonder how useful it would be for me practically speaking--I am not practical so it doesn't bother me even it's totally impractical.  The thing is big but not too unwieldy to hand hold.  And actually with VR, I think you can acquire pretty sharp images all and all even at 500mm.  The price tag in relation to all things Nikkor is practically free--I know it sounds obscene but if you look at the pro lens price tag, they are sure around $2500.  The 24-70 is a 24-70 and I am not particularly turned on by it.  I guess everybody shoots differently.  My lens combination has always been the 20-35 and 80-200 or 16-35 and 70-200 or some variations of them since last year.  I find them most useful for my liking.  Most of the time I carry one camera and if I feel a bit insecure then I carry two.  I don't know how the 200-500 would fit into my shooting MO.  If the lighting condition is sub optimal you may need a better camera body that can give you better ISO performance than what I have now.  Talking about camera, I am again impressed with the D4s.  I shot mostly between the D4s and the D810 at the expo.  And I have to say I like the image on the D4s' LCD screen better.  It is by no means scientific or objective at all as I hardly go through the settings of each camera.  The exposure and the color seem better on the D4s: no blown highlight and color is vivid and saturated, again on the LCD.  Silly as it sounds I am really sold on the D4s.  I read somewhere the sensor on the D810 is actually better, so what do I know?  My next camera upgrade hopefully is a D4s or a D810.  Maybe my next single digit D camera is the D5 or D5s so it dovetails with my Nikon F5 from the film day.  I can keep dreaming, eh?  Camera choice for me is really a personal choice, it goes beyond specification and rationality.

I probably regret not having my D700 sensor cleaned at $40.  Oh well.  Just don't shoot at f/16.

Watermark

Finally I sat myself down to do some watermark script using ImageMagic.  Again it was some hack job, I didn't know what I was doing, just to make it work.  Being a no talent self important least necessary photographer, some watermarking is absolutely essential for my ego.  I don't know why I waited all these years to actually watermark my images.

Almost all of my images were taken at ISO800.  I found this ISO very much usable or usable without involving any Photoshop wizardry which I have none and in turn I can save on my flash power.  High ISO upto 800 doesn't cost me anything.  I loaded my SB-600 with fresh batteries before going to the event.  I think after some three hundred shots in iTTL, the recycling time became a bit of a problem if I were to shoot consecutively in less than 3 seconds.  The SB-600 performed admirably.  This was the only time I shot the entire event in iTTL, almost exclusively.  Not to miss any shot, I took the fresh batteries from the Metz I brought with me but didn't use, and put them into my SB-600.

... to be continued.

I used a CB min bracket, SC-17 cable for my SB-600, my usual setup.  There isn't really any empirical evidence that the lighting is better this way but I just feel like this is a cooler way to shoot on camera flash.  So psychologically it works for me.

And I don't put any, in my mind, silly dome to cover the flash head to make the light softer.  And I certainly didn't bounce my flash as the ceiling was like 50 feet above.  I just don't understand why some people chose to tilt their flashhead when the ceiling was 50 feet above.  There are so many things I don't understand.  The flashhead as it was, in my bare naked eye, didn't produce any hotspot on the face.  Though I must say I in most cases, tuned down the the camera and flash exposure and power to minus -0.7.  I always prefer under to over exposure.

Random Photography Thoughts

Any new photo gears may or may not help you take better pictures.  But most likely they will re-kindle your passion somewhat even if you're not exactly a gear head.

I don't think I ever suffer for my craft of photography except in monetary term.  But recently there were a couple of times that came close or actually qualified as suffering.  New York City was in frozen mode for the past few weeks or months.  It seems like the longest winter ever.  I was out taking pictures in the open for an hour or two.  Not only my fingers felt numb but they were also hurting badly.  I wore some thin gloves so I had better feel with the controls of the camera or so I thought.  I don't know if I had ever felt this kind of numbing pain when I was out skiing/snowboarding.   The pain was real and I thought how many fingers am I going to lose for my stupid photo expedition in the cold.  Luckily the number is none.

I pride myself surviving the cold and came back with pictures I am not ashamed of.  Surprisingly the Nikon D7000 and AF-D 80-200 f/2.8 worked well in the arctic cold.  One thing I discovered was some of my pictures had unnecessary high shutter speed and hence ISO.  I was shooting mostly shutter priority, manual with ISO auto max out at 6400, so essentially I am shooting auto.  I might even have picked aperture priority.  Anyway the point I am trying to make is my fingers are numb and all of a sudden the thumb wheel got turned inadvertently by my gloved fingers.  I honestly don't think it was an electronic malfunction on the part of the camera due to the cold.  This makes the case of big camera where the controls are bigger and not so cramped even with gloved hands.  Even the lowly D7000 can withstand cold below 10F for at least two three hours.

Another thing I experienced in the cold was over exposure.  One time when I was out shooting in the cold, I found my pictures at least over exposed by 2 or 3 stops with my AF-D 20-35 f/2.8, something I can tell right away looking at the camera LCD.  Initially I thought it must be the camera--because it just came back from Melville!  But later the following day I had second thought.  I think it could be the AF-D 20-35 f/2.8.  Though I must say I couldn't conclusively say that one way or another but my hunch is the cold make the aperture blades stick.  That's one theory I tend to believe.  I never had issues before or after with the AF-D 20-35 f/2.8 except that one time.  During that time, I dialed back the exposure compensation and kept chimping, essentially ruining the entire shooting experience.  If only I knew it--meaning the lens aperture, I would have chosen to shoot with f/2.8 the biggest aperture to avoid any opening and closing of the aperture.

Nikon HB-8 Hood

This is as expensive as it's hard to find. I guess it's not hard to find if you are willing to pay up for a hood. I have a "for" Nikon hood which is just another way of saying, hey it's is not a genuine Nikon hood but it works, kind of or hopefully. When I bought my used Nikon 20-35, it comes with the or a hood. I thought it's a Nikon hood as it doesn't say non-manufactured like it says with other stuff. Oh well it turns out it's a "for" Nikon hood. It's not tight and quite easily comes off. Imagine you play to be some professional and then the hood comes off, how embarrassing. I wonder if it's because of its used condition or because the nature of it being a twist click on and being plastic. Some of my hoods or shades are metal, threaded or spring loaded threaded and they are pretty secured. Of course there are always some exceptions. I have one hood (HK-2) for the 24mm which is a crazy a-screw-tight-on-the-side type. And the screw broke pretty much right away. Sure I bought it used. Fortunately the vendor gave me a refund. I think the HB-8 hood is almost a necessity for the 20-35 unless you are into ghost and flare. A genuine used HB-8 is selling for almost $30. Ouch!

Alex Rider

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 20-35 f/2.8, SB-600, mini-SB bracket, flash sync cable.

Random Shot

Shot at f/2.8 using my Nikon 20-35 f/2.8.  The autofocus, despite not AF-S, seems to be quite robust.