Call a Sherpa: Sigma's 200-500mm lens

LAS VEGAS--When it comes to SLR cameras, there are big lenses with a long focal length, there are fast lenses with a wide aperture to gather lots of light, and flexible lenses with a wide zoom range.

Sigma's massive 200-500mm zoom

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET Networks)

Squeezing all three into the same lens is tough, but Tokyo-based lens maker Sigma has done just that with a model with a 200-500mm zoom range. It's got a wide aperture, F/2.8, for taking higher-speed shots.

But there's a catch: the lens weighs 40 kilograms, or about 88 pounds.

The company is showing off a prototype here at the Photo Marketing Association trade show.

The mammoth lens, about three feet long, is a prototype but will go on sale, said Yousuke Yamazaki, a mechanical designer for Sigma. The lens has two motors, one for zoom and one for focusing. It also has a digital display that indicates the focal distance setting.

[whizkid454]

Holy crap!

How big are these lenses gonna get? Too big so they don't fit in a car? ;)

[make_or_break]

You just KNOW

That [i]some[/i] staff photographer over at Sports Illustrated is just drooling over this lens. This is ONE puppy that will HIT BACK when that wayward linebacker comes crashing into the sidelines and the row of photographers when trying to tackle that too fast running back.

[japanga]

A Homeland Security/ FBI Surveillance wish list