Canon 800mm f/5.6

Which from the look of this photograph, I should as well.

Canon's new800mm f/5.6L IS USMwon't be everyone's cup of tea. At US $12,000 it's out of the price range of most photographers, even those that might be able to make use of it for their work. But since it's the longest / fastest super-telephoto currently available from Canon (their awesome 1,200mm has been discontinued for a while) it's worth at least knowing what this lens is about.
The photograph above gives you an idea of scale. It weights just under 10lbs (4.5 kg) and is 18 inches long without its included lens shade. Unlike it's smaller (?) sister, the 600mm f/4, the 800mm is in fact hand-holdable for a while. The 600mm, which is two pounds heavier and quite a bit larger in diameter simply isn't hand-holdable for more than a few seconds at a time. (Seemy comparisonfrom a few years ago of the Canon 500mm vs 600mmfor more on this).
Landing Zone. Muskoka, Ontario. August, 2008
Canon 1Ds MKIII with 800mm f/5.6L @ ISO 800
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