Are professional lenses worth it?

I'm often asked if fast, professional lenses are worth the high cost and are there any real benefits to using such optics, other than the 'look at me" perception that some of these people seem to have. I assure the reader, there are real benefits, and the latter part of the above comment couldn't be further from the truth.

Fact: professional glass delivers professional results.

Of course, it's still down to the photographer to utilise the equipment to its best advantage...but that's another story altogether.

The image, photographed just before the sun broke the horizon this morning, was made with just such a lens. Light levels were still low, but the ability to shoot a telephoto at maximum aperture - plus the addition of a teleconverter - and maintain very high image quality is what these lenses are all about.
Sure, I could have mounted the camera on a tripod and produced a similar picture with a lesser lens, but I needed to work quickly as the light was rapidly changing, and used a monopod instead, for mobility and versatility. The colour rendition of pro-spec lenses also plays a major factor in producing a top quality image.
You do, in fact, get what you pay for.

300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor with TC-14EII converter. 1/250 second at f/4. -0.33 EV compensation. ISO 320

© 2010