Super Telephoto Dream lenses

[BudEWiser]

To start this thread I'll post reviews of a couple of the lenses that make voyeurs like me cream their pants.
First up, the longest fixed focal leingth lens that Canon has ever produced. For the price of a house, you can snap pics of people a half mile away or more.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/newsLetter/Canon-EF-1200mm.jsp

The Sigma 300-800 zoom lens. At f/5.6 you aren't likely to be hand holding this monster any time soon, but it is sure to get you in close for those long distance, hail mary shots.
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/sigma-300-800.shtml

The Sigma 200-500 f/2.8 is a beast in it's own right (it's jut massive) but its not all that long. But throw the 2x teleconverter on it, and you have yourself a 400-1000 f/5.6. Would be great for long distance "wild life" shots
http://www.juzaphoto.com/article.php?l=en&article=62

The Canon Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L is the only one of this bunch I've ever had mounted to my camera and took test shots with, and is the cheapest of the bunch. It is nice for city wild life but isn't concealed all that easily. People will tell you that mounting a 1.4x teleconverter will make it so you can't shoot this one hand held, but I had absolutely no problems doing so at a zoo.
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-400mm-f-5.6-L-USM-Lens-Review.aspx
The people on the other side of the exhibits came out crystal clear, so for medium distance shots, it's a winner. Plus the white color instantly says you are a professional, and why would a professional be doing any thing at all that could be immoral?

 

[aquamarine]

While I have a few lenses that I would really appreciate purchasing (or even renting for extended periods of time), the work that I do RARELY if ever calls for such a long-telephoto lens. I can guarantee you that if I was given any of those lenses, I would take it but use it PERHAPS 2 or 3 times. Maybe a little more just for the novelty of being able to.

I shoot in a studio style setting where I control the light and as such, I need good prime lenses that are used for close to medium-range. While it might be fun to zoom in and watch the cells divide on one of my girls' faces, it's just not feasible. The longest zoom lens I own is a Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 which is more than enough zoom for me. On a few occasions I had considered picking up a 1.4 or 2.0X multiplier but for me and what I do, it's not worth the extra $150.

Speaking of medium-range lenses, here's some samples of what I've shot with my 70-200.

And the lens, her-self on my old D90 (which is nothing more than a back-up camera at this point)

 

[BudEWiser]

I agree, it's nice to fantasize about having those lenses but their usefulness in everyday situations is limited. I do photography as a hobby, so any money sunk into it is basically money tossed to the wind.
The longest lenses I own are a pair of 70-300 lenses. One for my Sony and one for my Canon. I also have a 1.4x teleconverter I sometimes use on the Canon. The CA gets so bad on these cheap lenses it's difficult to shoot high contrast scenes and get a usable picture. Usually birds or some nice macro shots with little contrast. I tried getting a swan on a lake, and every shot looked like it had a purple ghost following her around.

Those are some great shots! Fireworks are something that took me 4 years to finally figure out. Low light + long lenses are always the most difficult shots to get.

The one I would consider going into debt to get is that huge Sigma. It's always been my dream to go to the jungle and photograph the birds and other wildlife.

 

[Sento-kun]

on the topic of fireworks/telephoto lenses, here's at 300mm.

 

[aquamarine]

Not a fan of the first one due to how fuzzy and blurry it is but I really like the second (red) one there. It looks almost as if it could be something akin to a star exploding.