The photo examples are excellent. Well done.

I tried your experiment, but all of the cans were out of focus. Also, they were beer cans. Empty ones. And I couldn't find my camera.

But the article is great!

Those beer cans are tricky subjects.

If anyone has questions about anything in these articles, please feel free to ask.

Can you break up all the mambo jumbo information on a lens description? Do they follow some kind of standard order when giving that information away? What does it all mean?

For instance:
Nikon Zoom Telephoto AF VR Zoom Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8D G-AFS ED-IF Autofocus Lens (Vibration Reduction) - Black

Can you, please, brake it up?

AF= autofocus
VR= vibration reduction...is like Canon's Image stabilization. This allows you to take shots in lower light conditions while not having to deal with camera shake.
70-200mm= the focal range of a zoom lens.
f/2.8= the max aperture the lens is capable of. By only stating one aperture, they are saying that you can keep the lens at f/2.8 at 70mm or 200mm. If the lens has two f-stops (f/3.5-5.6 for example) the max aperture at 70mm would be 3.5 but if you zoom out to 200mm the max aperture drops to 5.6. The lens isn't capable of staying at a constant max aperture. Your less expensive lenses will be like this.
The AFS, D, G, ED and IF....I have no idea. They're probably lens designations or evolutions or camera mounts...

My main concern is to make sure what I am buying is really what I want to buy, and that it'll work with my camera.
So among all those letters, and capabilities, and performance descriptions, how do I know that the lens will really work with my camera ?

To the best of my knowledge (I'm not a Nikon guy) all Nikon/Nikkor lenses will work with all Nikon camera bodies.
Canon is a different story.
What camera body do you have?

I've got a D80, which is much more camera than I'll ever need, I'm the first to admit it. I thought only some lenses where compatible with some particular bodies, even for Nikon. I'm probably wrong.

If they are anything like Canon, and I'm sure they are, they most likely have some lenses that are specifically designed for the bodies with a 1.6x sensor. The good thing is that you're almost always going to be safe with the better, faster lenses. That lens will work with your D80, no problem.

Cool, thanks for your help.
BTW, you've got a very nice website. My favorite picture is the one with the Owl, with a close second being the girl with the lollipop.
I'm sure I'll be taking pictures like those in the next two weeks.

Here ya go:
Compatible lenses for the D80 are:
1) Type G or D AF NIKKOR: All functions supported
2) DX AF NIKKOR: All functions supported except FX-format (36x24)/5:4 (30x24) image size
3) AF NIKKOR other than type G or D*2: All functions supported except 3D Color Matrix Metering II
4) AI-P NIKKOR: All functions supported except autofocus and 3D Color Matrix Metering II

Practice, Practice, Practice.
Thanks, btw. The website isn't done though. I've only been working it for about a year now. One day it'll be done in time to start a new design.

Nice article, NH!
Excellent use of the bike and can example shots to illustrate the differences in apertures.
I'm off to check out the shutter speed article now...

Thanks, Taz!