How It's Made

[Goshawk]

The Canon 500mm f/4 L IS USM is the holy grail for most wildlife, nature & bird photographers. It's a beast of a lens, with a price to match... £6,000 GBP (£7k+ for the newer mk2)

The images from this thing are stunning, i've always wanted to own one but not quite managed it yet....i'll keep on dreaming. Anyway, i came across a video on youtube showing the manufacturing process for this legendary chunk of glass, here it is...

[sunshine51]

Goshawk...

Great info/post on the Canon lens. I know a couple photogs who

have this and they have only great things to say about it.

Alas...I'm a Nikon kinda guy and have the 400mm f/2.8G ED

VR II AF-S SWM...it works for me and was a bit less pricey

than the 600mm at either f4 or 2.8. Have too much $$$

involved over the years in Nikon kit to jump ship.

That said...I reckon Canon has the best focal lengths of all

35mm camera/lens combinations...such as their 200-400

f4!

[Goshawk]

I'm a Nikon kinda guy and have the 400mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S SWM.

respect...

another beast of a lens, do you use a TC on it?

[itchybum]

I saw something similar to that in a Sigma...anyone know if they are any good ?

[sunshine51]

I'm a Nikon kinda guy and have the 400mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S SWM.

respect...

another beast of a lens, do you use a TC on it?

When needed I have Nikons 2x TC. Don't really like to use it that much however...

shooting rhino's is tricky even at 800mm! When in Africa that is. Here it pretty

much lives in the dry box most of the time. I have tried birding a few times but

am really no good at it...mind you I still try though.

[sunshine51]

I saw something similar to that in a Sigma...anyone know if they are any good ?

Sigma make an excellent lens. Some people will disagree with that

but in my books they're good. I own a Sig 24-70 f2.8 and it pretty

much lives on one of my D800's. It was cheaper by a few $$ than

Nikon's 24-70 and is just as sharp even at the edges. I used to

have one of the first Sig 70-200 f2.8 IF APO zooms back in late

1998 and loved it with the only diss about it being the black paint

started to come off after a fair bit of usage. Sigma has that fixed

now. Way back in the early 80's I had Sig's 2000mm f8 reflex.

Huge monster and it worked flawlessly when needed which was

rarely...but it was half the price of Nikon's 2Kmm lens.

Sigma now make a 200-500 f2.8 zoom that has received high

praise...but it comes at a price...$29K. That's correct...

$29,000.00. Reduced from $32,000.00 so Sig can sell more?

Here's a link on that lens...

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/product/200-500mm-f28-apo-ex-dg

And here's Sigma's lens web page...have a look...

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/lenses/telephoto?technologies=All&field_camera_system_tid=All&field_zooms_tid=All&items_per_page=12&sort_bef_combine=&sort_order=&sort_by=

Sure...Sig isn't Canon or Nikon...but they make a great lens at decent

prices.

Hope this helps you IB...

[itchybum]

Thanks.

I saw the advert for 2 sigma lenses that looked the same as the cannon one in OP (white with the handle)...but not sure what sizes they were, it was a fleeting glance on the back of an inflight travel mag from memory.

I am looking for something for my cannon, but not too expensive for surfing photos....any recommendations ?

Edited October 7, 2013 by itchybum

[sunshine51]

Here's a couple pix of that Sig 200-500mm f2.8.

See what $29K will buy...hah!

[Tywais]

I saw something similar to that in a Sigma...anyone know if they are any good ?

Sure...Sig isn't Canon or Nikon...but they make a great lens at decent

prices.

Many years ago when my main camera was a Nikon F4 film and had quite a few lenses for it. Several were Sigma with maybe a Tamran thrown in as I couldn't really afford top lenses. They did a good job for me. My last purchase was a 600mm Catadioptric lens (Sigma) which was quite nice.

[samuijimmy]

Wow!

When I was up in BKK a couple of weeks ago there was a camera shop in MBK or Siam Centre with some huge lenses... Canon if i remember... a little out of my price range though!

[sunshine51]

Thanks.

I saw the advert for 2 sigma lenses that looked the same as the cannon one in OP (white with the handle)...but not sure what sizes they were, it was a fleeting glance on the back of an inflight travel mag from memory.

I am looking for something for my cannon, but not too expensive for surfing photos....any recommendations ?

As my answer concerns your budget...PM me ok.

[sunshine51]

I saw something similar to that in a Sigma...anyone know if they are any good ?

Sure...Sig isn't Canon or Nikon...but they make a great lens at decent

prices.

Many years ago when my main camera was a Nikon F4 film and had quite a few lenses for it. Several were Sigma with maybe a Tamran thrown in as I couldn't really afford top lenses. They did a good job for me. My last purchase was a 600mm Catadioptric lens (Sigma) which was quite nice.

Ahhhhhh...the venerable F4...what a great piece of kit Tywais! I still have one

of my old F4s's...kinda seen better days, more brass showing through than

black and a few dents...but...it still works as advertised. Has been used in

the past as a hammer...hah! Catadioptric...thanks. I was trying to remember

that word when reflex popped into me head instead. Yes...Sigma's ARE

good if one cannot afford the top $$$ for Canon or Nikon.

Keep shooting & Cheers

[itchybum]

Thanks.

I saw the advert for 2 sigma lenses that looked the same as the cannon one in OP (white with the handle)...but not sure what sizes they were, it was a fleeting glance on the back of an inflight travel mag from memory.

I am looking for something for my cannon, but not too expensive for surfing photos....any recommendations ?

As my answer concerns your budget...PM me ok.

Hi, no problem to discuss here if you ok with it.

My budget is as little as possible....but I kinda think I would not like to spend more on a lens than the camera....so circa up to 20/25k baht.....if possible.....in fact even that amount sends shivers up me spine as I am not a great photographer, so cannot really justify the big spends and get the value out of it.

[Shurup]

Here's a good review site,

http://www.photozone.de/reviews

it's not complete, with all the world's lenses, but it will give you some ideas. What I like about this site is they don't stretch their reviews over 10+ pages long.

DP Review

http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews

is another good one but their reviews are too long for my liking.

Itchybum, a good lens (in general) the one that has no zoom (fixed focal) or a very short zoom. Those universal 18-250 or similar are handicap of the lens, you sacrifice the quality overs versatility.

I'd recommend getting a few fix focal lenses, something in wide, normal and tele range, and swap them as needed. If you got a canon camera, I'd recommend this one:

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/415-canon_50_18_ff

It's an amazing lens for what it costs, ignore it's "cheap" look.

[itchybum]

how about this one...

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/581-sigma120400f4556eosff

[Curt1591]

I picked up a Sigma 17~70 2.8~4 for less than half the price of the Canon 17~55 2.8. I have had no problems and have been quite pleased with the images.

Sure, I lose a stop at around 35 mm. But I get a bit more magnification and it's MACRO to boot!

[Shurup]

IB, the lens in your link is made to compete with this one from Canon:

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/609-canon100400f4556ff

And between the 2, Canon is a clear winner. When you look at the review, the MTF resolution is what counts, most of everything else can be corrected with software, but not the lens sharpness.

[sunshine51]

how about this one...

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/581-sigma120400f4556eosff

IB...If this lens fit's your budget then by all means grab it.

I like the rotating ring for zooming vice the push pull of

other lenses...like the Canon jobber. I reckon you'll be

happy with the Sig. BTW...with most newer DSLR's one

doesn't really need f2.8 lenses anymore...f4 is fine and

fast enough. Besides...they're a tad bit lighter in weight

than f2.8 lenses. Good hunting & good luck.

[Shurup]

how about this one...

http://www.photozone.de/canon_eos_ff/581-sigma120400f4556eosff

IB...If this lens fit's your budget then by all means grab it.

I like the rotating ring for zooming vice the push pull of

other lenses...like the Canon jobber. I reckon you'll be

happy with the Sig. BTW...with most newer DSLR's one

doesn't really need f2.8 lenses anymore...f4 is fine and

fast enough. Besides...they're a tad bit lighter in weight

than f2.8 lenses. Good hunting & good luck.

I personally will not get this one, I'd be disappointed with soft, a little out of focus-kind of images.

I also love my f2.8 24-70 sigma (and f1.8 50mm canon) for the fact that I don't like using flash for the night shots, I love the natural light colors I can capture.

[sunshine51]

@ Shurup...

Respectfully here....What you choose & what IB chooses in the end is his choice.

At most camera shops one can try the lens out on their camera...in the shop...

and make that all important final decision...regardless if they buy Sig, Canon,

Nikon whatever. Personally I would never buy any lens and never have, on

specs alone, no mater what the $$$ amount involved is. If by chance the camera

shop won't let me have a go with the lens I politely leave the shop & take my

business elsewhere. Afer all...it is my money.

Yeah...I also like my Sig 24-70 f2.8 and could have easily bought Nikon's

same-same at the time. Off the spec sheets on various websites the Sig

received mixed reviews...some said crap...some said good. I had a play

at my favourite camera shop with the Nikon & the Sig on my D7K & one

of my D800's...the Sig won...on both cameras. It's a great FX lens and

I kinda like the extra oomph it has on DX at the long end. Great value

for the $$$ and I reckon in real life shooting...it beat's Nikon's by a fair

margin. Yeah...it surprised me too!

Keep Shooting & Cheers....