The most expensive of all Sony lenses will be available on April 23th at BHphoto (Click here). Don’t know how many of our SAR readers will buy that $12,999.99 lens! I will certainly save that money for something else 🙂
UDPATE: A reader showed us a much cheaper alternative: The [shoplink 11531 ebay]Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX APO (Click here)[/shoplink].
66 Responses
good thing it is “only” $13,000. Wasn’t it suppose to be 13,000 euros which is about $17,000?
hopefully they come out with more lenses now.
Remember that it is 13,000 euros after VAT, which taxes around 20%. That price means that it actually costs around 10,800 euros, which is in line with the US price.
Thanks, didn’t know how that worked.
Would anyone like to donate one to me?
if you would donate a kidney in exchange lol
Thanks to SAR admin for the info but no thanks to Sony.
LOL 🙂
It’s definitely more glass and metal than in a Leica Noctilux for about the same price. 😉
Compatible with Steady Shot Inside? WTF does that mean? That IS in camera works with this lens.
Really Sony? Is that one of the selling points for this lens? 😀
Um, you never shot any photos using 500mm, didn’t you? Steady Shot Inside was selling point from the beginning so why change something now? In the other hand Sony screwing with us by saying that ssi will reduce cost of their lenses.
I think what Mar is getting at is that SSI isn’t a unique selling point for a lens, so it is pointless mentioning it. It’s not like you are going to mount this lens on a Nikon…
Being the owner of a Sigma 50-500 mm OS lens, I can assure you that it is. I sometimes (too often) forget to disable either the in-body or in-lens IS, which naturally leads to blurred pictures.
It would, of course, be nice to have in-lens IS on a supertele, but it would absolutely have to disable the in-body IS automatically to prevent the two systems from cancelling each other out.
yup, it’S disapointing imho.
They sell a 13k USD lens without its own IS ,
“SSI compatible” is really not a feature: Any lens attached to a Sony Alpha is “SSI compatible” if it has no own stabilization . If it has one then you can decide for the system you prefer by yourself : Use body built in SSS _or_ use the optical IS built into the lens (in this case it’s easier to aim since the liveview is stabilized) . Obviously it you can’t use both at the same time.
I think i saw a good comparison chart of IS systems (in body vs in lens and using both) at kurtmungers site.
Yes but in same Kurt’s test it was also showing that two steady shot system is not successful if they try to work together.
But yes, lens is too expensive it should be around 8K
exactly , use one _or_ the other if body and lens have IS.
But a lens without it’s own IS (like the new Sony 500mm) is ALWAYS SSI compatible 🙂 no need to psoition that as a USP or feature, especially not for the crowd this lens is targeting (PROs)
Well it is unique compared to Canon and Nikon, the people interested in such a lens might not necessarily come from using Sony lenses, just think of Sports Photographers.
What I don’t understand that Sony hasn’t introduced the SSS/SSI or whatever they will call it next, to their video department. It might give them a huge advantage over Panasonic and Ikegami just think of the Prices of Stabilized B4 lenses.
I’d rather buy a full frame Nikon AND 500mm for the same price…
this lens does not look as good as the prototype with orange and silver.
http://www.letsgodigital.org/images/artikelen/55/sony_alpha_lens.jpg
I agree.
Yeah, but it looks like Sony has chickened out of making their pro telephotos silver/orange now.
In any case, I think the Minolta 600/4 makes a much more compelling case financially, assuming one doesn’t need weather sealing.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sigma-500mm-f-4-5-EX-APO-Lens-Minolta-Alpha-500-f4-5-AF-/330687604458?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item4cfe8466ea
Brand new in box
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mint-in-box-Minolta-High-Speed-AF-APO-600mm-f-4-32-w-filter-set-sony-600-F4-/280817812105?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item41620bc289
Agreed.
Thankfully didnt sell mine when I had a tempting offer on it
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/380704-USA/Sigma_184205_500mm_f_4_5_EX_DG.html
I prefer the off-white for heat resistance.
totally agree
-removed-
the hood has the orange accent. possible this has one too??
You still might get the Cinnabar (not orange) ring on the lens hood. That’s where it is on the silver lens too.
Besides, the “silver” lens is the same off-white as the other high-end lenses, not the aluminium finish of the 70-400 mm.
?
“?”?
Amazing len but no money buy, LOL !
I need to ask Bill Gate for a loan to purchase Sony 500mm lenses…:)
Given the excessive price for the rather mediocre 300 F2.8, this is predictable. However, they are both way off the chart! Sony, are you nuts???
In what respects is the 300/2.8SSM rather mediocre?
+1
Not sure why you think the 300 f2.8 is mediocre but I think you need to revisit your assessment of it. It is a super lens!!!
Too pricey IMO. The new Canon 500/4 which has IS II is $10,500 and the Nikon with VR II is $8,400. I doubt it will be much (if any) better optically than these two and the Sony doesn’t offer in-lens stabilization. So what extra is Sony offering to account for the higher price tag?
must be the made to order cost, instead of making whatever number that minimizes production run costs.
No way to know if the Sony will be better or worse than the Nikon or Canon models until it arrives.
Also no way of knowing if the price on the Canon or Nikon might not be raised soon with the yen/dollar problems recently.
Wait and see just how good this lens is before any judgements can be made as to it’s value – and again – real possibility of higher prices coming from Canikon.
Maybe announced price is a result of flood in Taiwan?
The flood was in Thailand but it has nothing to do with this lens. The lens is said to be made to order in Japan. Handcrafted by the Japanese. So you pay the premium for the expensive Japanese wage. As if you’re buying Rolls Royce.
Lol’d. No, thanks. I’d rather stick with my samyang mf 500/8
You can Buy a House in some countries for much less
You can buy a house in certain area in the US for much less.
You can buy entire countries for less!
Actually the countries should pay You to take them, considering their debt 🙂
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_debt#By_country
You could buy Greece at the moment!
@SonyA77
…and still have change for a decent used car and a week in Disneyland
supposed this lens is rented 100 days per year
with one day rental fee 20 dollars, a rental shop has to rent this lens more than 6 years to cover initial expense
Then change it to $100 and speed up this process.
and don’t drop it.
it will not be rented for $20 a day. Keep dreaming.
It’ll cost more than that for the accompanying body guard…
20$ more like 200$ per day if not even more 😉
What the hell makes you think it’d be rented for $20 a day??? Have you ever rented a NICE LENS before?
Maybe the lens doesn’t exist and they’ve announced a release date and price because Sony know no-one will ever ask for one. 🙂
This is great news, but who cares about the lens (it seems not many of us here!) what matters is this is showing how serious Sony is about the pro market, it simply makes no sense financially to develop test and release a $12,999 without releasing some great new FF bodies which could end up with one of the best focussing systems in existence (if they use an SLT variant) It at least shows they give a s**t about us and they are looking to attract proi togs from other systems!:) Let’s hope they can at least issue a press release about up and coming FF’s soon, it’s the perfect time as there is a lot of system switching going on in Pro circles right now (I’m sure Andrea as a lot if information to post also!)
Otherwise I’m concerned they’ll miss the boat with Nikon already announcing and Canon announcing 1/2 with the 2nd expected soon. Come on Sony, do it already!
Sony can’t win really, people say they can’t betaken seriously until they have such lenses to attract pros, but equally the kinds of people who need this kind of lens is going to want a better af system than what the a900/850 offers.
At this point it’s just a marketing tool really
When will the other G lenses be upgraded with moist and dust sealing ?
And when will they finally release some info about the upcoming full frames ?
I’m in Sony camp at the moment, but the FF cameras recently released or anounced by Canikon are hard to ignore… And I can wait, but not if there is no info or roadmap !?
I really like this lens, but it has to come down to 7000-8000 USD, in order for anyone to buy it.
eBay 😀
I think $10K is a fair price
For a Nikon full frame PLUS Nikon 500mm f4 VR, yup, it is! 😀
I can’t wait to see the soccer moms with their a55 cameras and this lens, haha.
I hope you all realize that 99% Iof Sony users will not buy this lens. It is made for professionals, something Sony has very few of.
I think I figured out the rationale for the pricing..
Its just to make sure nobody purchased this lens..
Why? Because Sony hasnt really made it.
Why would anybody buy it when you can buy the same (and longer) image stabilied lenses from the competition with a high end body and still have some money left