A 12 pound addition

Sean, a friend of Todd's, works for the San Diego Union Tribute as a staff photographer. Before the Olympics the paper had told him that they weren't going to be buying any new camera bodies or lenses, so he decided it was time to buy new gear himself. That included at least 2 digital bodies and 4 "L" lenses. (Basically, he bought my dream setup.)
Shortly after he returned from the Olympics the UT decided they would, after all, buy basically the exact same set of gear Sean had just spent several grand on. Given the choice to use (and put wear on) his gear or the papers... well, let's just say that his gear didn't see much use after the Olympics.

A while back he decided his stuff had spent enough time gathering dust in his garage so he mentioned to Todd that he was looking to sell it all off. Todd wanted to get the 2 bodies, but he told me Sean was going to be selling off 4 very nice lenses. Now I hadn't really been looking to get any new lenses, but figured it wouldn't hurt to see what he wanted for them. After all, they are very nice lenses. Todd also mentioned this to Dave, another friend of ours (that I work with). Dave was very, very interested in two of the lenses. Unfortunately it was the two that I was also most interested in (24-70L and 70-200 IS L). I didn't really expect to end up buying anything so I patiently waited for prices. Dave is, well, not known for his patience. :) Watching Dave over the next couple months while we waited for prices was most amusing! I guess Sean was busy. ;)

When we finally got prices Dave decided he did want to get the two lenses he was interested in. Which basically meant I was out of luck. Which was a bummer because the prices were much better than I expected. But then as I took a second, then third, then forth, look at the list of prices I began to spend more time looking at the 4th lens - the 400mm F2.8 IS L, weighing in at 11/70 lbs! One I had originally written off as an unreasonable purchase for an amateur. I knew I eventually wanted to get one of the truly big lenses, but I didn't think I'd actually do it for several more years. But with a little used one available at a steal of a price, I managed to convince myself (and then Lisa) that I should get it! I picked it up on Sunday and now have NO excuse not to be out in the field very frequently.

Here is the beast, along with what I formerly called my "large" lens.

Canon 400mm F2.8 IS L with Canon 400mm F5.6 L above

I am extremely excited to have this lens for our trip to the Carolinas. Contrary to Lisa's previous post I don't plan to spend the entire time birding. Instead I'm going to try to spend the whole time taking pictures of birds! Ok, so that really doesn't change anything from her perspective - it's bugs either way! ;)