Can optical glass be made lighter, or are we stuck forever with 5-20 lb. Tele Lenses? (Page 3): Wrong kind of sand.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

foathog wrote:

Have you been to the Sahara Desert recently?? LOL

Wrong kind of sand.

https://www.google.com/search?q=we+are+running+uor+of+sand&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS716US717&oq=we+are+running+uor+of+sand&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.5783j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

Can we say polycarbonate.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

ChrisT wrote:

Perhaps, the housings could be made of some superlight material to compensate for the weight of the glass ....

Simple answer, if they could, they would.

Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

ChrisT wrote:

Thanks for making that correction, Peg ... I'd thought to do it, but, I figured I'd better let someone else handle it ...

ED glass is the same weight and quality as fluorite glass, or - no?

Yeah, that's fine; happy to correct the spelling. I make plenty of typos myself, but I at least try to get the important words correctly. When someone introduces the concept of fluorite lenses into the thread, they should at least know how to spell the word fluorite.

In any case, to answer your question; ED glass is probably heavier than fluorite glass and while it dramatically reduces chromatic aberration, it is not at the level of fluorite glass in that respect. This is why Nikon introduced Super ED glass, which gets closer to fluorite, but I do not know how close that is.

Perhaps someone else, who knows how to spell fluorite, could enlighten us further.

Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

jerryc41 wrote:

Wrong kind of sand.

https://www.google.com/search?q=we+are+running+uor+of+sand&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS716US717&oq=we+are+running+uor+of+sand&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.5783j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

We're always running out of something, until we're not.

EmilMiller Loc: Miramar, FL

Nikon sells a Phase Fresnel compact 300mm f4.0, advertised as the world's lightest 300mm telephoto lens at 26.6 oz, although it's $1,900.00. They have also filed patents on 200/2.0, 300/2.8, 500/4.0 and 600/4.0 telephotos constructed with fluorite glass to reduce the weight. In addition, fluorite lenses also allow incredibly high infrared and ultraviolet zone transmission rates. They also hugely lessen the chromatic aberrations that are a bane of long focal lengths by blocking the secondary spectrum.

Have a really big wallet.

leftj Loc: Texas

Gene51 wrote:

Perhaps you can start looking up the answers to yo... (show quote)

You should probably just stay off UHH. Then you will save yourself the annoyance. The answers to most questions raised on UHH can be found through individual research however UHH is a social media site where people like to get candid answers and opinions from fellow UHHers.

twoods

High-end optic companies have found a formula to produce a high quality plastic that has very good optical quality when compared to glass. I would suspect this will be rolling out in hunting optics like anscopes and binoculars first (next 5 years probably) and eventually find its way into the camera world soon after.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Bill_de wrote:

He can't argue with Google.

At least when asked Chris did post a few pictures. They are four years old, but he did show us he does/did take pictures.

--

Not a day goes by, when I don't shoot new pics, Bill ...

Someone had specifically requested I post some of my dog pics, so I did ....

I am not particularly thrilled with the idea of posting pics, here - unless they are specifically to address some issue ...

But the naysayers - were getting to me ...

So, now - you all know - I do shoot pics ...

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Pegasus wrote:

Yeah, that's fine; happy to correct the spelling. ... (show quote)

Sounds like a deal, Peg ...

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

EmilMiller wrote:

Nikon sells a Phase Fresnel compact 300mm f4.0, ad... (show quote)

Thanks for that contribution to this thread, Emil ...

Lots of good info there ....

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

leftj wrote:

You should probably just stay off UHH. Then you will save yourself the annoyance. The answers to most questions raised on UHH can be found through individual research however UHH is a social media site where people like to get candid answers and opinions from fellow UHHers.

Yes, they do, Lefti ...

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

twoods wrote:

High-end optic companies have found a formula to produce a high quality plastic that has very good optical quality when compared to glass. I would suspect this will be rolling out in hunting optics like anscopes and binoculars first (next 5 years probably) and eventually find its way into the camera world soon after.

I suspect it already has ...

I have one or two LCD protectors made of plastic, which might as well be real glass ...

Thanks for your contribution, T ...

Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast

twoods wrote:

High-end optic companies have found a formula to produce a high quality plastic that has very good optical quality when compared to glass. I would suspect this will be rolling out in hunting optics like anscopes and binoculars first (next 5 years probably) and eventually find its way into the camera world soon after.

I'm not sure what an anscope is, but I do know that for riflescopes the future is more to do with digital than pure optics. Riflescopes are not heavy, especially the ones used for hunting. If we're talking long range competition rifles such as the ones I use, the weight of the riflescope is still minimal compared to the rifle itself. In this domain, ED glass is paramount, as is light transmission and IQ.

I could see binoculars as a target for plastic lenses, and also spotting scopes; the smaller ones used by hunters, some birders, not the bigger ones used by competitors and serious birders.

But then again, who knows? Maybe the plastic will be just great. I've been wearing glasses for 50+ years and they have gotten very light and strong. Polycarbs in a titanium frame are my current ones; they weight next to nothing.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

wmurnahan wrote:

Can we say polycarbonate.

polycarbonate ....