Mother of all lenses

[arash_hazeghi]

Can't beat this one

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...ns-Review.aspx

[Alfred Forns]

Good looking lens Arash ... and available :) One was listed in B&H not long ago ... might still be !!!

[arash_hazeghi]

Al,
In fact this review has been done with the B&H lens, they asked this guy to review the lens and put it up on the net...$120K? Thanks I rather buy a sports car + 500 and 600 f/4 IS :eek: and I will still have some cash left :D

[Alfred Forns]

..... or maybe with a future hardware update it will have wheels :) ... will do well in eBay !!

[Kerry Perkins]

Cool! Now I can shoot all those awesome birds in Florida from the comfort of my California living room. :D

[Harold Davis]

would make a heck of a tool for a spy or P.I.

[Bruce Enns]

Here is another insane lens for those of you who haven't yet seen it...

http://www.juzaphoto.com/eng/article...amples_raw.htm

looks like a frigging bazooka...this one is only $35,000, and you can actually buy a new one!!

Cheers!
Bruce

[Roger Clark]

The funny thing is that once you get into this size range lenses become very thick and their performance drops (more aberrations) as the weight sky-rockets. But conversely, mirror optical systems get large enough that one can field the light cone easier so they are the preferred system for large optics. The weight is much less and aberrations can be better controlled. All large astronomical telescopes are reflector designs. Cost is much less. There are also off-axis designs so you don't have the doughnut effect. For example, a good quality 1000 mm f/4 reflector can be had for under $1200 (with the central obstruction). Someone just needs to add an autofocus system to some of these telescope systems. In practice, a different design would be better for an autofocus wildlife design, but I'm sure systems in the 100 mm f/4 and larger range could be made for under a few thousand $. (I do have experience in making mirrors and I have published optical design analyses in Applied Optics, a scientific journal.) I think the hardest thing to accomplish is overcoming the perception of photographers that mirror "lenses" are low quality.

[Pao Dolina]

I did a point to point comparison between the 800 vs 1200 and this is what I came up with

400mm more FL for 12 times the cost. As the review mentioned it's a great marketing tool.