Re: OT: Longest lens name

[Herb Chong]

i think that the actual owners of such lenses are split about evenly between 
the people who have to have it to make a living and can objectively justify 
the cost of such a lens based on ROI, and the ones who are passionate enough 
about that kind of photography to be able to make it fit into their budgets. 
i'd bet most of the people on photo tours to such places as you went to in 
Alaska are avid amateurs, not working pros, and have equivalent lenses.

i know that i have many more images to come out of my A* 400/2.8, only a 
small fraction of which are going to be publishable. on a pure ROI basis, i 
can't be sure i'll ever make back the $5K i paid for the lens. OTOH, i know 
because i paid a lot, i am going to work at using it a lot to try and get 
the kind of shots that i've seen in the birding books and magazines. the 
ones i have gotten to date are good enough to say that i know i will get the 
ones i want in the future. for the birding work that i have started doing, 
the FA* 600/4 would better fit the bill, but i feel that the *istD's 
performance isn't up to what i need. 6 megapixels is enough, although 
certainly i would like more. it's AF performance, frame rate, and buffer 
size when shooting RAW that limit things. that's the main reason why instead 
of budgeting for a FA* 600/4, i'm budgeting for a Canon body and lens 
system.

Herb....
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kenneth Waller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <pentax-discuss@pdml.net>
Sent: Friday, April 01, 2005 9:29 AM
Subject: Re: OT: Longest lens name


I'm not sure anyone, except those making a living using them, could 
objectively justify lenses in these price ranges. But  I have to say it 
doesn't take much success with one to make it seem worthwhile. I wanted a 
600 for years, but couldn't "justify" it & made do with alternatives, none 
of which I was very happy with. Well a few years ago I was able to 
purchase a new 600 FA at substantial discount (still very expensive tho). 
During my last trip to Alaska I was able to witness many "rare" 
photographic opportunities & this time I had the equipment to do them 
justice.  You know what, because of this experience, if I never take 
another image with the 600 I'll still be glad that I got it.