Here at Unique Photo, we have the privilege of being on about 300 manufacturer's press release lists. Typically we know about the news contained within them well before the announcements. Sometimes the press releases are about products that really have no relevance to our business here at Unique Photo. So when I read this morning about a product we do not sell, "Canon Technology Contributes To Subaru Telescope's Wide Field Of View," I still found this press release particularly interesting.
Subaru is a brand of automobile. Admit it, you all thought that when you read the title. Also, it was about a telescope located on the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. As a car enthusiast, an astronomy enthusiast, a Canon dealer and having been on a Canon dealer trip to Hawaii in 2008, it all caught my attention. Well there is no car story here, but there is a story about how photographic lens technology has made its way into helping explore our Universe. Kudos to Canon. I invite you all to read the press release and learn more about how "Canon succeeded in expanding the lens's maximum angle of view from the 0.5 degrees realized by the first-generation Suprime-Cam*3 (SC), to 1.5 degrees."
Getting back to Hawaii, I recall how I ventured away from the 2008 Dealer meeting and actually took a tour to the summit of Mauna Kea. I went searching through my pictures from that trip hoping to find an actual picture of the Subaru Telescope. What is the chance that I actually pointed my Canon 5D and 24-105mm lens at it?
The Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea, 13,000ft (Aug 2008)
The View From Mauna Kea, approximately 9,000ft (Aug 2008)
A view of Mauna Kea from Sea Level on the Big Island, Hawaii (Aug 2008)
