Friday Happy Hour: Sneak Preview of the Nikon 800mm f5.6 Lens & More

We’re smack in the middle of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and it seems like nearly every photographer and photography-related website is in a frenzy – let alone the general public! So this week, our short roundup features two Olympics posts, some wild pet photos, and the news of Facebook’s final push for Timeline. Happy Friday!

Nikon 800mm f5.6 out in the wild

English press photographer Leon Neal was lucky enough to get his hands on a pre-release version of the new Nikon 800mm f5.6 lens just in time for shooting the Olympics. The super-telephoto, fixed focal length lens boasts the longest focal length of any Nikon autofocus lens, and is designed to capture outdoor scenes like sports and wildlife. While Leon’s observations are based on this pre-release version, it’s a sneak preview of what’s to come – check out his blog post for some example shots.

Instagramming the Olympics

Just when you thought you had heard enough about Instagram…in fact, it’s probably not much of a surprise that many photographers are Instagramming the Olympics. Thanks to The Photo Brigade, we spotted some sweet shots by photographer Jordan Murph, who’s in London assisting Sports Illustrated photographers and also snapping away on Instagram. Check out a few shots here, and view the rest on Jordan’s website – or follow him on Instagram at @jordanmurph.

News for those still protesting Facebook Timeline

For those of us who have refused to switch our personal Facebook pages over to Timeline, the day has come when Facebook takes away our freedom of choice (shocker!). TechCrunch reports that by the end of the year, Facebook will force all 995 million of its users to migrate over to Timeline. Beyond wanting to give its users a consistent experience, Facebook might also be motivated some of Timeline’s features that encourage more browsing and interaction.

As an interesting aside, Mashable reported this week that roughly 83 million accounts on Facebook are fake. That’s just a mere 8.7% of its total user base, but also the population of a medium-sized country.

Exploring non-traditional pets at home

When you think of a “pet,” you think – dog, cat, bunny, guinea pig, etc. But what about a deer, fox, monkey, or naked mole rat? Photographer Alex Arzt‘s series “Human-Animal” explores the relationship between humans and animals, traveling across the U.S. to photograph how the two collide. Alex’s images were recently featured on PDN’s Photo of the Day. Here are a select few: