Supertele for under $400?

Well, sort of.

http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=1-600-602-900-8811

There's no doubt that the superteles and the Sigmonster can do many things that a medium sized telescope (1500mm and f10, in this case) cannot, but there's equally little doubt that many of us have no intention of spending $5000-$7500 buying a big powerful lens like the 400/2.8, 500/4, 600/4 or 300-800/5.6 just to "dabble" in very long focal length photography.

For those that do wish to dabble without coughing up a mountain of cash, a "small" telescope can be quite a bit of fun, without costing an arm and a leg. Of course, this one is just an optical tube so you're going to need a beefy tripod to mount it on, and you're also going to have to pay a little more for the necessary adapters to adapt it to your camera (something in the neighborhood of $50, depending on exactly what you get). And, of course, it's a prime with no IS and manual focus only. Like I said, the big cash for the superteles or Sigmonster does buy you some things that a telescope can't do. But this is pretty cheap for a modern, decent telescope with about the same aperture as the 600/4.

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Lee Jay
(see profile for equipment)