I started reading your post about the brightness of the light, and thought “I oughta post about how it blinds me when—” oh crud, he beat me to it! 🙂
I hate when that happens 😉 It’s usually when I’ve written a “book” with quotes, citations and photos…. and the guy who beat me said everything that mattered in like 12 words. The nerve of some people 😉
Yeah, you’re point is exactly the lesson I learned quickly as a photographer. Good optics cost real money, but are almost always worth it! Sometimes the proposition is tough, though. I look at Canon’s 500mm f/4 IS lens that costs $10,000 and don’t know if I should laugh (because it’s so expensive) or cry (because I want one!). It also serves a good lesson in scale of optics. My Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS is just under half the magnification, but costs 1/10th the price!
I know. I look at those lenses at pro football games and such and think about what those things cost (especially when the photog gets run over by a tight end!). And it isn’t just the magnification, it’s the speed. In your case, yeah, it’s 300mm longer, but it’s still an f4! Yikes! But to catch those mid air collisions you need that speed or every shot is just a blur. I never could figure out how they managed to get the guy in focus, while moving, with the aperture wide open like that. I finally guessed that they just motor shoot 100 frames and randomly adjust the focus hoping one of the 100 is a good shot.
I found it much cheaper to wait for things to stop moving 😉 I did years ago 😉
The description in the link is actually kind of funny. I’ve never seen a site try so hard to dissuade you from buying their product!
No kidding! I loved the ‘this absolutely should not be your primary loupe’ bit. 😉 Really? Kinda seems like it depends on your application. But it is a USGS site. Probably afraid people would miss the forest for the trees 😉
Ken
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