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  This subject is featured in Issue #4 of The Luminous Landscape Video Journal.
Big Lens‚ Big Issues
Pentax's600mm f/4lens weighs 13lbs. It's 14.5" long and has a front element diameter of 170mm. This is abiglens. Together with aPentax 67 IIbody the combo weighs in at nearly 17lbs. Why would anyone subject themselves to this, and how on earth does oneusesuch a lens? 

The simple answer to the first part of the question is a desire for exceptionalimage quality. The answer to the second part is, to use the right support equipment when dealing with the challenges of weight, bulk and stability. But, to tell the story properly let's start at the beginning.
Be advised though‚ this is a long and involved dissertation, (big lens‚ big story). Also, this page has a lot of illustrations and therefore will load slowly. But if this particular lens, or the issue of big fast lenses and how to use them interests you, then this is the article that you've been looking for.
The Ne...

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Michael Reichmann is the founder of the Luminous Landscape. Michael passed away in May 2016. Since its inception in 1999 LuLa has become the world's largest site devoted to the art, craft, and technology of photography. Each month more than one million people from every country on the globe visit LuLa.
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