Far too many Americans will go to the lake, cook out, drink beer and have a long weekend and never give a thought to the reason for this day. My aunt Cora and uncle Joe did not do those things from 1942 until the day they died. Their son Norman, my first cousin, was at Bataan and he did not finish the infamous "death march". His body was never recovered. My aunt Cora said I resembled Norman and every time I visited her and uncle Joe, she would excuse herself and go into another room for several minutes and return red eyed. This always broke my heart. I was a little over one year old when he was lost but I remember some time later, maybe three years or so when the family was formally notified that he had died somewhere on Luzon. All the grown people were crying and it took a few years for me to fully realize who he was and the impact on the family. This same scenario was played out thousands and thousands of times during World War II. I grew up and have had a wonderful life due to all the men and women who died to preserve our way of life so this weekend, I will have a cold beer this weekend and salute Norman and the hundreds of thousands who made the final sacrifice. Many years later I had the privilege of serving in the U.S. Navy aboard three different ships which were built and saw duty in that conflict and I burst with pride to have done so. I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial day and remember what it means.


Chuck

No, there really aren't.

The Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS USM II not only costs $11,500, it's also almost 18" long (without the coffee-can-size lens hood), 6.5" in diameter with a front element around 150mm (so it uses 52mm rear drop in filters) and weighs in at a rather hefty 8.5 lb. Most folks would use it most of the time on a good, sturdy tripod (add another 7 to 9 lb. and $1000 to $1500 for that), but a hefty monopod might serve for shorter duration.

About the lightest lens that reaches 600mm is $1500 Tamron 150-600mm G2, which is over 10 inches long (retracted and w/o hood), uses a 95mm diameter filter and weighs about 4.5 lb.

Canon 100-400mm IS USM II is a little bit smaller and lighter, but only gets to 400mm. It's sharper, faster focusing, very close focusing and better built... but costs $2000 and still weighs in about 3.5 lb. (about 7.5" long retracted and w/o hood, a little under 4" diameter). If your camera is "f/8 capable" (7DII, 5DIII or later, 80D, 1D-series), it is usable and will still be able to autofocus with a 1.4X teleconverter to make for a 140-560mm combo.

A little lighter still at about 2.75 lb., the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM is also very sharp and fast focusing. At about $1150, it's 3.5" diameter and about 10" long (built-in hood retracted). The only problem is that this lens doesn't have image stabilization... so you might also need to carry a tripod or at least a monopod. It can be used with a quality 1.4X teleconverter, too... but the 560mm combo also would need to be on an f/8 camera... and will be challenging to hold steady (i.e.... an even greater need for a tripod or at least a monopod).

About the same weight at around 2.65 lb., the Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM does have image stabilization and is my "go to" handheld, long lens. I also often use it with 1.4X teleconverter, to make for a 420mm f/5.6 with stabilization. Image quality with the TC is only slightly compromised.... not as sharp as the 400/5.6 without TC. But for handheld shooting (or monopod, which I sometimes use with it) I'd rather have IS. I use the Canon 1.4X II with it (not the latest and greatest III). I do not use it with a 2X, due to too much loss of image quality plus the limitations of an effective f/8 combo. On an APS-C camera, a 300mm lens or 420mm lens/TC combo makes for a pretty darned long lens!

There are some "mirror" or catadioptric lenses in the 500mm and 600mm range that are reasonably small and lightweight. Nearly all have fixed f/8 or f/11 aperture and are manual focus only. I've used a number of "cat" lenses over the years and think the Tamron SP 500mm f/8 is one of the best. It's an Adaptall-2 lens, with interchangeable lens mount (EOS/EF Adaptall and many other system mounts are widely available, made in China and relatively inexpensive, even though the Tamron Adaptall lenses were discontinued in the 1990s). This lens can be found used for around $200. If you buy a Tamron 500mm that way, look for one that still has the originally included tripod mounting ring and lens hood, as those items are difficult to replace if they've been removed and lost. There's no image stabilization on any mirror lens and it can be difficult to hold such long focal length, lightweight lenses steady. I mostly used my Tamron 500mm on at least a monopod and feel the tripod ring, in particular, is absolutely essential. (The lens also came with a set of 30.5mm filters including at least one neutral density to "stop down" the lens... but if the filters aren't included, it's not a problem to find and buy them. It also has 82mm front filter thread that can be used instead, if wanted.)

Once again, these cat lenses are manual focus only... and at f/8 your viewfinder will be dimmed down, making is a bit more difficult. Live View and Exposure Simulation might be useful, but that's mostly limited to stationary/cooperative subjects.

Hope this helps!

Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York. This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost. The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day. The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as “Sinko de Mayo”.