Check this one out "Canon 1200/5.6L USM"

[Midnight Mover]

Ok guys, lets all pitch in. I saw this ad at B&H and it looks like a good deal. We could all share it at the various aviation events or just check out our neighbors house from a mile away

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/find/newsLetter/Mother-of-All-L-Lenses.jsp

[Josh]

Ok guys, lets all pitch in. I saw this ad at B&H and it looks like a good deal. We could all share it at the various aviation events or just check out our neighbors house from a mile away

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/find/newsLetter/Mother-of-All-L-Lenses.jsp

Ahh yees the 1200mm, whelp, it's only $100,000. That's only about $7,142.85 between all 14 of us. So which one of us will knock-off the banks?

Don't think it has image stabilization either... Not that it really matters at that range.

[Midnight Mover]

I can drive

[Josh]

I can drive

Riight, I'll bring the "equipment" then. We can use Damon's Malibu for our get-away too.

[Midnight Mover]

cool

[Josh]

Riight, I'll bring the "equipment" then. We can use Damon's Malibu for our get-away too.

...tho someone will probably need to distract him somehow so we can get the keys.

[Midnight Mover]

Yes but think of all those great telephoto shots, and don't forget if you add that 2x Extender it will get you to a 2400mm

[Midnight Mover]

I think Damon will agree it is worth it

[phantomphan1974]

I think Damon will agree it is worth it

YES, I would like to get some pilot nose hair shots from the cockpit.   Except she still handles like a 60's car.

[aim9xray]

Hmmm.  Be careful what you wish for...a short story to illustrate.

Many (many, many) moons ago, I had a part-time job as a lab assistant in the college photo lab. That meant that I could check out lenses and cameras with a little more leeway than the regular students.  In the back of the cabinet was this leatherette case shaped like a binocular case - but quite a bit larger.  When told it contained a 600mm lens I reserved it for the Edwards Open House that weekend.  Boy, what an improvement over my puny 135mm telephoto this would be!

After tramping the ramp for a while and shooting the statics, my buddy and I settled on a spot and we proceeded to set up.  I opened the case and found that some assembly was required.  First, I pulled out the 10-inch rear half of the lens and removed the caps.  Then I removed the 12-inch front half, from the case and pulled off its caps.  The next step was to screw the halves together, and add the 8-inch long sunshade.  By this time I felt like I was a hitman assembling my sniper rifle.  Last to go on were the two pegs that screwed into the focus ring so you had something to grip onto and overcome the friction.  Then, the whole thing went on to the tripod.  Lastly, I screwed the Pentax Spotmatic camera on to the whole assembly.  I was ready...

Wow!  From the crowd line, the weeds were a whole lot closer...

Then then wind kicked up.  Hats were flying by faster than the performers.  We abandoned our spot after most everyone else.  The deciding factor was that I kept finding sand in my pockets. (and camera bag, hair, mouth, ears, etc.)  We struck our position and moved East, closer to Hangar 1600. I collapsed the tripod and slung it and the lens with camera over my shoulder, trying to protect the lens.  We found a new perch which was a little more protected.

For a while the wind let up and the Vulcan launched - cool!  It was the first time I had seen one fly.  Focus, focus, frame, wait, wait - wadaya mean it's too close?!  I could only get 3/4 of aircraft! And of course, he's backlit with wraparound camo - in a dusty sky.  Oh - gotta change rolls - done.  He's coming in to land behind the weeds, but we can still see the tail, looking like a shark fin in the distance.  Done.

Now the sun was low, and they were kicking us out.  "But wait - we have to disassemble our Stinger launcher (just kidding)".  Five more minutes to disassemble and store, ignoring that gritty feel in the screw threads.

Several days later, recovering from the sunburn / sand blasting, I hand processed my color and B&W negs.  They were ... disappointing.  The best I could say would be - Avro Vulcan shaped silhouettes.  Partial silhouettes.  And really low contrast at that. For all that effort?

Never again! 

Well, until a few years later when I bought a 500/f8 Tamron Cat lens and took it to El Toro.  But that's a different story.

- Craig

[Josh]

Sounds about right. Truely I would use the lens for... Other things... Base spotting type stuff. I would never take a 1200 to a show.

[Midnight Mover]

Sounds about right. Truely I would use the lens for... Other things... Base spotting type stuff. I would never take a 1200 to a show.

I agree, the best use of this type of lens would be a shuttle launch or something of that nature