Camera stuff

Drooling over digital cameras and lenses and making my wish list for when I win the lottery (or when YOU do). For non-photo geeks this will be boring but I was almost giddy over some of the things I saw and had to tell someone so I figured I’d post it here.

My plan is to get a Canon 20D within a year or two (or whatever the equivalent is at the time). The 20D is a 8.2 megapixel, capable of 5 shots per second that retails for $1,400 or $1,500 (body only). It is the dividing line between pros and amateurs, one big step up from the Canon Rebel or Nikon D70’s we were familiar with in j-school. Wealthy amateurs may use a 20D while many pros (photojournalists, wedding photographers etc) use them. Above that you jump all the way to the Canon 1D currently ranging up to 16 megapix and selling for $11,000 (body only).

The absurd part is when you get into lenses. Nikon made (discontinued) the worlds widest-angle lens, a 6mm f/2.8 fisheye which has a 220 degree angle of view – note normal human field of vision is 180 degrees to the far edge of your peripheral vision. While I couldn’t find a reliable price on these I found similar lesser lenses running up to $4,500 (US).

In terms of fast lenses (which allow quick shutter speed in lower light etc) Canon makes the fastest widely available, the EF 50mm f/1.0, a full stop faster than a f/1.4. The most extreme though is the rare, discontinued Zeiss 210mm N-Mirotar with three-stage electronic image intensifier and an effective lens speed of f/0.03—more than 11 stops faster than a f/1.4 lens!

These can get a bit expensive, on an online discussion board a professional photographer said his lenses alone were valued at $57,000 for insurance purposes.

The funny ones where the extreme zooms. For comparison I’m usually more than happy with my 70-300mm lens and I can’t imagine ever needing anything longer than 400 or maybe 500mm. A 500mm lens would give you a close-up of someone’s face across a football field or a shot of a hungry lion from a safe distance.

The longest zoom lens ever is the Nikon 1200-1700mm f/5.6 which is almost 3 feet long, while the Canon 1200mm f5.6L is slightly longer, weighs 36 pounds and cost $138,000 before they were discontinued. I really can’t imagine what a 1700mm lens could be used for except spying on Iraqi military bases or taking pictures of people on the moon.

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ps. I thought I am more camera-naive than am I until I look closer at writing on otherwise professional website, example direct example (understand?):

"Not even professional in their own capacity because pros usually have the ability to adjust ability themself reverting any unfavorable photographic situations (added the fact, most successful pros with conventional wisdom in the profession are usually also smart in financial)."

Reminds me of Engrish.com, funny stuff, new link at bottom of "fun" list at right.