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 "People
who really know cameras and lenses are usually surprised at this point..." (Ogawa)
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--- The Multi-Layer
Diffractive Optical Element is a revolutionary discovery, but I am a little worried that this is going to be
a highly technical story. I hope you will start with a simple and easy-to-understand explanation... Ogawa: The product itself provides the easiest explanation. As you can see, one of the truly revolutionary
features of this lens system is its size. We have achieved a compactness that was impossible with conventional
lens design using refractive optical elements.--- This is it? But it doesn't really seem very small... Ogawa: Take a look through the camera's viewfinder.--- .... (Looking through the viewfinder.) Ogawa: People who really know cameras and lenses are usually surprised at this point...--- Wow! I'm trying to keep my eyes from popping out of my head! And it seems so light
for a super-telephoto lens. (Smiles wryly) Ogawa: It hasn't been on the market for very long, but we have already received some user response that
its low weight is especially evident when carrying the camera for a long period of time, or moving it around
during heavy use. We have also heard from users who say they are getting more shooting opportunities with the
new lens.Nakai: One photographer of wild birds exclaimed that he could even run with the camera on mountain trails!--- I see. So it lets photographers get the shots they would have missed before. That's
a feature that is certainly easier to understand than image quality and the optical elements. Ogawa: Other features, such as the image stabilizer, which compensates for camera shake, gives the advantage
of two or three shutter speed settings, and the ultrasonic motor realizes fast focusing. All this, and it's lighter,
and shorter than comparable lenses.--- The shorter length brings the center of gravity closer to the camera body itself,
which makes it easier to balance? Ogawa: That's it exactly! You know your stuff about lenses. (Laughs) In other words, this is a highly
mobile super-telephoto lens.--- It's wonderful. What about the price? Ogawa: It's wonderfully priced, though at the high end of the market.--- Breathtaking! (Laughs) I guess that the target user would be a professional photographer? Ogawa: We especially have sports photographers in mind. With this lens, they can hold the camera in their
hands while tracking continuous shots of fast scenes, which used to require a tripod or monopod. We barely made
it in time for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, but the release was well in advance of FIFA World Cup 2002.
It's my personal opinion that we've added one more element of fun ourselves to the soccer action. (Laughs)
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Canon's
newly developed Multi-Layer Diffractive Optical Element made possible reductions in lens system weight
of 30 percent or 0.9 kg, from systems using only fluorite lens elements. This compactness allows photographers
to fit the lens together with the camera into a regular camera bag.
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