First day of the PMA and our friends at Sigma are hitting it hard as they introduced the world’s first Ultra-Telephoto Zoom Lens that offers a fast aperture of F2.8 at 500mm focal length! Yeap, you heard right… A Ultra-Telephoto Zoom Lens going from 200mm to 500mm at constant 2.8 aperture.

This bad boy will come with a dedicated 2x tele-converter turning the beast into a monster 400-1000mm f5.6 ultra telephoto lens… Mount that on a regular DSLR with a 1.5x crop ratio and you’ll either get a 300 - 750 mm F2.8 or a 600 - 1500 mm F5.6!!

Use a Nikon D2X with its x2 High-Speed Crop mode and you’ll either get a 400-1000 F2.8 or an amazing 800-2000mm F5.6 - INSANITY!!!

The tele-converter’s exclusive design minimizes image degradation usually associated with tele-converters. The design features some interesting details like a LCD panel that shows shooting distance and focal length. Filters can be inserted towards the back of the lens and thanks to its ingenious rotation mechanism a circular polarizing filter can be used.

“APO 200-500mm F2.8 EX DG

The APO 200-500mm F2.8 EX DG is the world’s first Ultra-Telephoto Zoom Lens that offers a fast aperture of F2.8 at 500mm focal length. It covers the widely used 200 to 500mm focal length range, and maintains its fast F2.8 aperture over the entire zoom range. Four SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass elements provide excellent correction for all types of aberrations and produce a high level of optical performance throughout the entire zoom range.

Shooting distance and focal length can be viewed on the lens’ LCD panel, which is an additional convenience for the photographer.

A filter can be inserted towards the rear of the lens, and a circular polarizing filter can be used with its ingenious rotation mechanism.

A dedicated APO TELE CONVERTER 2x EX DG II is supplied as a standard accessory with the APO 200-500mm F2.8 EX DG.

Its exclusive design minimizes image degradation usually associated with teleconverters. When this dedicated teleconverter is used with the APO 200-500mm F2.8 EX DG lens, it becomes a large aperture 400-1000mm F5.6 AF Ultra-Telephoto Zoom lens.”

Now, this is a serious competitor for the magnificent Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom that I use when I shoot Kiteboarding competitions. As you can see, the Nikon 200-400mm VR seems more compact and I really like that! I can fit this lens with the D2X, a 70-200mm F2.8, a SB-800, two wide angle lenses and some accessories in a Lowepro CompuTrekker Plus AW.

And trust me, when you are traveling extensively, it’s just awesome to be able to keep all your gear with you in the cabin instead of having to check it…

No news on price, availability or weight yet but Sigma lenses are cheaper than Nikon lenses, so it would make sense that this Ultra-Telephoto Zoom Lens should be less than the $4,999 of the Nikon 200-400mm VR.

Wait and see!!