$13,000 Lens Review: Taking the Sony 500mm f/4.0G for a Spin

It’s not one of Canon or Nikon’s 800mm behemoths, but Sony’s 500mm f/4G comes close… if not in focal length, then at least in price. At $13,000 it is the most expensive and longest prime Sony makes, and photographer John Sison got his hands on one to review.

The vast majority of you reading this will never drop 13 grand on a lens—heck, I know I won’t—but that doesn’t mean we’re not all curious to see how something like this performs in real life. Which is why Sison’s review is so interesting.

In addition to shooting it on the A99 Mark II, he also slaps it onto a Sony A7r Mark II and extends the reach up to 1000mm using a Sony 2x teleconverter. Basically, he covers every situation in which you might want to use this lens, and shows you what 500mm worth of reach and f/4 worth of light means to the sports and wildlife photographer.

A lot of the video is just going over the features of the lens and how to use it, but John’s overall verdict for this lens performance can be summed up in once sentence:

If I were a professional photographer, and needed a long telephoto lens, AND was rich, I’d definitely have this lens on my list.

Yeah… that “rich” part is crucial. Check out the full review up top, and if you happen to use this lens at home, share your experience in the comments. Is that performance and reach really worth the price and weight? Asking for a friend…

(via Sony Alpha Rumors)