For action, sports and wildlife photography, you often can’t get as close as you’d like. A supertelephoto lens enables you to cover the distance and bridge the gap. As featured back in December’s Big Test (issue 157), there are plenty of super-tele zooms to choose from, with focal lengths that stretch to 400mm, 500mm or 600mm at the long end. With prices starting at £699/$699, some of them make good budget buys, such as the Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM | C and Tamron 100-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di VC USD, so why would you want to spend up to 20 times as much on a super-tele prime lens?
In a word, the answer is ‘quality’. Top-flight super-tele primes are built to last a lifetime and withstand being put through their paces on a regular basis by the most demanding professional photographers, time after time. These primes are also typically designed to deliver the very finest image quality and the best overall performance. That’s a moot point if you don’t happen to have a huge wodge of cash lying around, to blow on a lens. However, there’s a lot to be said for hiring a highperformance lens for special occasions, as and when you need it, rather than owning one outright. And some of the lenses in this issue’s Big Test are relatively affordable.