From the course: Photo Gear Weekly

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Why is this lens so heavy?

Why is this lens so heavy?

From the course: Photo Gear Weekly

Why is this lens so heavy?

- Have you ever thought to yourself, why is this lens so heavy? I certainly would understand when we're talking about a long lens. Here a lens that goes up to 600 millimeters total focal length, that it's going to be heavy. It's a big lens with a lot of reach. But sometimes you might be surprised at how much a smaller lens can weigh. Especially when you're comparing different lenses. So what are the factors that cause a lens to be heavier than another lens. In general, you could say that that comes down to glass. How much glass there is in the lens, essentially. Here I have an example. I've got a 24 to 70 millimeter lens, and I have a 24 to 105 millimeter lens. And so this lens has more reach, and yet it is a lighter lens. In this case, a lighter lens by about a quarter of a pound. This lens has less reach but it's a quarter of a pound heavier. Why is that? Well, there's more glass. The key difference, really, when it comes to looking at the specifications for these lenses, is that…

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