SLR Gear Review: Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS USM Super Telephoto Lens

SLRGear.com has a review of the gigantic Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS USM telephoto lens. Reviewer Andrew Alexander says this lens will test everything you know about photography: it demands the sturdiest of tripods, a strict shooting technique, and a camera that can benefit from its excellent optics.

“It’s a sharp lens,” Andrew says of the mammoth lens, “but not tack-sharp: approximately 2 blur units between Æ’/5.6 and Æ’/11, and between 2-3 blur units at Æ’/16 or Æ’/22. At Æ’/32 it becomes a bit soft and slightly uneven, at around 5 blur units.”

The Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS USM lens sports a price tag of $12,000, definitely stratospheric, “but for some shots, there is no other way to get this combination of focal length and aperture,” the review said. There is of course the cheaper Sigma 800mm ƒ/5.6 EX DG HSM APO at about $6,000.

[Via: SLRGear.com]