Two different lenses shooting Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden

If magically I could have any lens on the camera at any moment, I would be switching lenses all the time. If I could do this in the blink of an eye, I would. They would probably all be prime lenses, but often this isn’t very practical.

Since magically switching lenses with a blink of an eye isn’t possible, I decided to take my Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 Art lens mounted on my Nikon Z6 and then keep the Nikon 28-300mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 on my Nikon D5 as I went through the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden which is just north of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden [NIKON D5, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 4500, 1/500, ƒ/5.6, (35mm = 300)]

I think you sometimes will need to read the specs to tell the difference. When shooting the 28-300mm @ 300mm, the compression creates a shallow depth of field even at ƒ/5.6.

[NIKON Z 6, AF 35mm f/1.4G, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 400, 1/500, ƒ/1.4, (35mm = 35)]

Sometimes the shallow depth of field is almost too shallow. So I would shoot some at different apertures and then pick.

[NIKON Z 6, AF 35mm f/1.4G, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 1600, 1/500, ƒ/5, (35mm = 35)]
Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden [NIKON Z 6, AF 35mm f/1.4G, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 640, 1/500, ƒ/1.4, (35mm = 35)]

I think I like some from both lenses for different reasons. What do you think?

[NIKON D5, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 3600, 1/500, ƒ/5.6, (35mm = 300)]
Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden [NIKON Z 6, AF 35mm f/1.4G, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 280, 1/500, ƒ/1.4, (35mm = 35)]
Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden [NIKON Z 6, AF 35mm f/1.4G, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 280, 1/500, ƒ/1.4, (35mm = 35)]
Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden [NIKON D5, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 5000, 1/500, ƒ/5.6, (35mm = 300)]

I think that the ƒ/1.4 is a really smooth and silky BOKEH, but the 300mm @ ƒ/5.6 isn’t bad if you didn’t have that one lens.

The more I travel, the more I think if you have to be weight conscious, the Nikon 28-300mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 is an excellent lens.