337mm APO for US$4500!

[gregbradley]

How's about this?

http://photorumors.com/2012/01/23/now-this-is-a-lens/

Its 200lbs but.

Also not sure you can buy it outside of US but maybe.

Could be a winner for astrophotography if you have a beefy mount.

I saw it listed on ebay for US$4500 as well. There may be more than one.

Greg.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

a 12 1/2" Apo
VERY cheap!

[pgc hunter]

They accidentally reduced the number of zeros in that price tag by a factor of 10

[Paul Haese]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

How's about this?

http://photorumors.com/2012/01/23/now-this-is-a-lens/

Its 200lbs but.

Also not sure you can buy it outside of US but maybe.

Could be a winner for astrophotography if you have a beefy mount.

I saw it listed on ebay for US$4500 as well. There may be more than one.

Greg.

You might need a huge sensor to go with it. Most likely this was attached to a large format film back.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Here's where it was last mounted on.

[Paul Haese]

It was the most beautiful aircraft ever designed. Elegant and with high speed.

[Hans Tucker (Hans)]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

It was the most beautiful aircraft ever designed. Elegant and with high speed.

Ditto.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

You might need a huge sensor to go with it. Most likely this was attached to a large format film back.

It will work with any sized sensor as long as it is smaller than the sensor it was designed for (and that shouldn't be hard, we ALL have smaller sensors than it was designed for )

With the sensor sizes we use, Vignetting is a thing of the past!

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

It was the most beautiful aircraft ever designed. Elegant and with high speed.

I've been lucky enough to have stood on the deck of the Intrepid (docked as the New York Air and Space Museum ) and ran my hands over the (quite sharp) leading edges of an SR-71....would loved to have flown one...

For those interested there is a book called "Sled Driver" by Brian Shul that covers the history of this magnificent aircraft.

Cool lens BTW

[mswhin63 (Malcolm)]

Loved that aircraft when I was a kid, found out recently it was taken away because the expansion and contraction caused it to leak fuel ever trip.

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by mswhin63

Loved that aircraft when I was a kid, found out recently it was taken away because the expansion and contraction caused it to leak fuel ever trip.

Yes, full of fuel on the ground, it did leak like a sieve, but that was not the reason for its retirement.

I'd put that down to nerds wanting to play with UAV's

[clive milne]

Errm... I am reluctant to point this out, but a 36" (910mm) focal length lens with a focal ratio of f/4 must by definition have an effective aperture of 9 inches (228mm)
I am guessing that 337mm mentioned in the advert is the diameter of the mechanical housing, not the clear aperture. The caveat to this is if there is an internal field stop for
the purpose of controlling vignetting, in which case the front element may in fact be 337mm, but in any event... it is effectively a 9" lens... period.

But you guys knew that, right?

[traveller (Bo)]

Yep, the plane is usually fuled quarter full. Then it takes off, do a couple of rapid climbs and dives to warm up the plane and close the gaps before heading to a refueling tanker to take on more fuel. I think it was also the first of not the only plane made predominately of titanium.
But back to that lump of glass, what a thing of beauty. Typically cold war vintage, built like a tank.
Bo

[Karls48 (Karl)]

Originally Posted by clive milne

Errm... I am reluctant to point this out, but a 36" (910mm) focal length lens with a focal ratio of f/4 must by definition have an effective aperture of 9 inches (228mm)
I am guessing that 337mm mentioned in the advert is the diameter of the mechanical housing, not the clear aperture. The caveat to this is if there is an internal field stop for
the purpose of controlling vignetting, in which case the front element may in fact be 337mm, but in any event... it is effectively a 9" lens... period.

But you guys knew that, right?

Regardless - I wish I have one like that. The beauty of the retractor (among of all other things) is that you can leave it covered by rubbish bag and trampoline on the pier in your backyard and unless you live in tropics or sandblast the lens, it will be just as good in twenty years time as it was when you first got it.

[netwolf]

That plane is just so cool, I dont recall how much time i spent as a young kid gathering pictures of it from every book i could get my hand on.
And then there was that movie with a kid flying on of these, DARYL. Data Analyising Robotic Youth Lifeform. I wish they would give the ability for the public to pay for rides on that plane. I would sure like to just get close to one and take a look at her.

What was that about a big telescope... give me the SR-71 any day. I think if it were not for that plane i would have never gone to uni or done engineering. Well that plane, Startrek, Dr Who, Beyond 2000.....

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Interesting how there is 2 seperate conversations going on in this one thread

One about the original topic, the camera lens,
the other about the Blackbird!

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by ballaratdragons

Interesting how there is 2 seperate conversations going on in this one thread

One about the original topic, the camera lens,
the other about the Blackbird!

Seems I've got a knack for going off topic. Sorry.

[gregbradley]

I like the SR71's basic defence - accelerate and outrun the missiles!

The engines sound unique as well as part turbofan, part ram jet and the limiting factor
for the speed of the jet is the temperature the air intake of the engines can take!

Greg.

[koputai (Jason)]

Many years ago 'Australian Aviation' published a transcript of an SR-71 pilot talking to air traffic control.

The pilot had asked permission to fly at level 1100 (110,000 ft), whereupon the ATC officer, not realising the ability of the aircraft she was talking to, had retorted "Sure, go ahead if you think you can do it".

The SR-71 pilot then replied "(SR-71 name) descending to flight level 1100"

Silence from ATC.

Cheers,
Jason.

[gregbradley]

Looks like the official record is about 90,000 feet and around 2190mph speed;

http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/srrcd~1.htm

Greg.