The expense generally is based on how wide the lens will open up as in 2.8, 1.8, 1.4, etc. The longer the lens and the lower the aperature number the higher the price (and also the bigger the lens). Also they have to add all sorts of extra glass, and rare glass and super coatings to get rid of aberations, vignetting, and a host of other techie things. But in the lens world you pretty much get what you pay for. That's why you see so many white lens on the sidelines of football games (most of them cost from $1500 to $7000 per lens).
I go the cheaper route. I usually buy Tamron. With my trusty 28-300 Tamron XR lens I can get most any shot I want and its quite sharp. I paid $375 for the lens but I could have paid $1500 for the manufacturer model. And guess what, it might have been 5% better than the one I have. But wow, that's quite a price difference for only 5% improvement. But that would be worth it to a pro in some cases.
Cheers,
rfs
Cheers,
rfs
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