dSLR Dad

If the 120-300mm f/2.8 EX was called the “Big-ma”, is this the “Tank-ma”

It’s big. Over Twenty-Eight inches long by nine inches in diameter big! It’s the only lens that could make an attached Canon EOS 1D Mark III or Nikon D3 look small.

It’s heavy. Thirty-four and a half pounds heavy! Let’s put that in perspective. It’s heavier than Three of Canon’s EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM Super Telephoto Lenses.

It’s long at 200-500mm (500-1000mm with the included 2X f5.6 “attachment”) and it keeps a monster f/2.8 aperture all the way to 500mm. But I wouldn’t call it fast. How fast can an f/2.8 lens be when it has to turn glass that’s nine inches in diameter? Oh wait, that’s right, it has it’s own battery to power the zooming and AutoFocus operations.

It has an it’s own built-in LCD panel to display focusing distances and focal lengths. Why? Because it’s so huge you can’t see around it to tell how far away that Grizzly bear really is. But with a minimum focus distance of up to 196.9 inches, I guess you’ll know when to play dead.

It’s painted military green and comes with it’s own dedicated hard case for travel. Good luck getting that past the TSA on your next flight to Washington, D.C..

Price? Do you really have to ask?  At under $25,000, you could always choose a Honda Civic as your new rolling camera case.

An ultra telephoto zoom lens offering a fast aperture ofF2.8 at the 500mm focal length and F5.6 at the 1000mm.
APO 200-500mm F2.8/400-1000mm F5.6 EX DG

2008.2.1 - The Sigma Corporation is please to announce the new APO 200-500mm F2.8/400-1000mm F5.6 EX DG Lens.

This ultra telephoto zoom lens offers a fast aperture of F2.8 at the 500mm focal length and F5.6 at the 1000mm. It covers widely used focal lengths from 200mm to 500mm and has a large aperture of F2.8 throughout the entire zoom range. This lens can be used to create amazing image expression with various types of photography such as astrophotography, portraits, wildlife, sports. SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass and three ELD (Extraordinary Low Dispersion) glass elements provide excellent correction for all type of aberrations. The super multi-layer coating reduces flare and ghosting and provides high image quality from the extremely large aperture. The lens hood, designed exclusively for this lens, blocks out extraneous light. A 72mm filter can be inserted at the rear of the lens, and a circular polarizing filter can be used in situ thanks to the ingenious internal rotation mechanism. The dedicated Li-ion battery BP-21 is used to power the zooming and AF operation. This battery is built in the lens barrel. For the convenience of the photographer, focusing distances and focal lengths can be viewed on the lens` built-in LCD panel.

FEATURES:

• The ultra telephoto zoom lens that offers a fast aperture of F2.8 at the 500mm and F5.6 at the 1000mm focal length
• The dedicated “Attachment” ensures autofocusing at the 1000mm focal length.
• SLD and three ELD glass elements provide high image quality from the maximum large aperture
• Supplied with Ø72mm filter holder at the rear

THE SPECIFICATIONS (Sigma mount):

• Lens Construction : 13 groups 17 elements
• Angle of view : 12.3°-5°
• Number of blades : 9pcs
• Minimum aperture : F22
• Minimum Focusing Distance : 200-500cm/78.7-196.9in.
• Maximum Magnification : 1:7.7
• Filter Size : Ø72mm (Rear)
• Dimensions : Ø236.5mm×726mm / 9.3in.×28.6in(Hood included).
• Weight : 15,700g / 553.7oz.
• Available in Sigma, Canon and Nikon mounts.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 at 11:18 pm and is filed under Camera Lens, News, humor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.