Nikon

Nikon has just announced a new, 800mm super-zoom is in the works, declaring it their longest ever AF lens — but it's not the longest Nikkor ever made, not by a longshot. Nikon recently updated their Recollections website with information about the Zoom-Nikkor 1200-1700mm f/5.6-8P IF-ED from the early 90s, which held the record for the longest ever 35mm zoom for some time.

It's not uncommon for camera manufacturers to drop interesting and extravagant pieces of gear in the run up to the Olympics, and Nikon is continuing that tradition with their longest AF Nikkor lens ever. The press release doesn't tell us much about this monstrous new kit, except that it will be an 800mm lens with built-in VR (you're going to need it.)A prototype of the lens will be in action at the end of this month during the Open Golf Championship in England. England, of course, being the site of the upcoming Olympics as well.

Got shaky hands? Nikon has a couple new lenses for you tonight in the form of the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR all-in-one zoom for APS-C bodies and the AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR, which can handle full-frame DSLRs.The 18-300 DX lens is only slightly larger than Nikon’s already-popular 18-200 f/3.5-5.6, while adding an extra 100mm of reach (technically making it a whopping 16.7x zoom). Nikon promises that the VR offers up to 4 extra stops of handholdability, which we'll check on in our lab test.

Andrew Kane is very thankful he paid a little extra to cover his gear from Lens Rentals. Otherwise his story of a bear encounter would have a painful ending. Kane rented a Nikon D4 and a 600mm f/4 VR lens to capture wildlife in Yellowstone National Park. He left the camera and lens set up on a tripod and went off with his second camera to take pictures of a coyote. As he wandered away the grizzly bear saw his opportunity to attack—the camera.