Top 10 Outrageous Lenses
We’re taking humanity’s competitive streak, originating with the childhood preoccupation of “my tricycle is better than yours”, to a whole new and expensive level with our top 10 list of outrageous lenses. Anyone with a severe bout of lens envy will have an absolute field day dropping hints that the owner must be compensating for something…
To maintain the jovial (immature) spirit of this post, it’s complete with oh-so geeky lens top trumps:
#10 Canon MP-E 65mm f2.8 1-5x Macro Lens
Because 1:1 life-size magnification is bit ordinary, Canon made the MP-E 65mm which allows you to magnify objects five times larger than life-size (relative to your sensor).
- Canon MP-E 65mm samples on FlickR
- Canon MP-E 65mm page at Warehouse Express
#9 Sigma 300-800mm f5.6 EX DG APO HSM Lens
If foot zoom isn’t really for you then the Sigma 300-800mm lens is the solution! This super telephoto zoom provides you with an 8.2 – 3.1 degree picture angle. Bolt-on a 2x teleconverter and you have a manual focus 600-1600mm f11.
- Sigma 300-800mm page at Warehouse Express
#8 Nikon 2000mm f11 Reflex Lens
A true behemoth that makes the other contenders look like travel lenses. The Nikon 2000mm f11 tips the scales at 17.5kg, which presumably can only be hand-held by Governor Schwarzenegger.
#7 Sigma 200-500mm f2.8 EX DG Telephoto Lens
Kudos to Sigma who are pushing the boundaries of lens design and letting you see the results (just like Canon and Nikon used to). In the likely event that you’re mildly fatigued after carrying this 15.7kg beast just three paces, Sigma have been thoughtful and included motorised zoom & autofocus – powered with a dedicated battery. Perhaps they should consider including a camel or a donkey too…
N.B: Sigma will make you one of these for the price of a BMW; buy your 200-500mm f2.8 here!
#6 Canon 65mm f0.75 Lens
A prime lens with a fixed aperture scores well on the eccentricity scale. If you really need to see in the dark this badly then eat your carrots! Alternatively we stock night vision equipment instead…
#5 Nikon 6mm f2.8 Fisheye Lens
The Nikon 6mm f2.8 is an extreme fisheye lens which covers an astonishing 220 degree picture angle. Owning a lens that can see behind itself must be fairly close to having eyes in the back of your head – parents take note!
#4 Canon 50mm f0.95 M-Mount Rangefinder Lens
This Canon rangefinder lens has an enthusiastic following of photographers who convert it to a Leica M mount. The extremely shallow depth of field produces absolutely stunning images; here are a few of our favourites on FlickR:
- Never never land… and FUWA FUWA by AKI_AKI_AKI
- Amazing butterfly photo by decopon
- Canon 50mm f0.95 photoset by doo3
#3 Zeiss 1700mm f4 APO Sonnar T* Lens
Built-to-order for a private owner in Qatar, the Zeiss 1700mm f4 weighs 256kg and is designed for use with a Hasselblad 6×6 medium format camera. What’s not entirely clear is what on earth you’d need this for…
#2 Canon EF 1200mm f5.6L USM Lens
The world’s largest focal length SLR lens with autofocus is quite an accolade – and it belongs to Canon. The original list price was $89k. Ouch.
- More info on the Canon EF 1200mm f5.6L is available at Canon.co.uk
#1 Nikon 1200-1700mm f5.6-8.0 P ED IF Lens
The Nikon 1200-1700mm is just scary. It weighs 16kg, is 88cm long, and lets you take a picture of the broccoli in someone’s teeth from half a mile away. You must read this blog post from Reuters:
“Unleashing the beast” details how a Reuters photographer used the 1200-1700mm on an assignment…
What’s next on the horizon?
The Leica NOCTILUX-M 50mm f0.95 lens is the new kid on the block, dubbed “King of the Night”. Priced at £6290 you could be forgiven for thinking Leica left a zero off the focal length, but the extremely shallow depth of field should be sensational!
(6 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)
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Great to see all these lenses in one place. The Zeiss 1700mm is quite a mad looking lens, saw that one a while back. The “Unleashing the Beast” link is worth looking at on the Nikon 1200-1700mm lens. I’m sure I saw the Nikon 6mm f2.8 Fisheye Lens on eBay not long ago, wasn’t cheep
Enjoyed reading this, thank you for posting !!
Peter StephensSome of these are just insane. I’d be happy to test out the Canon 1200 5.6 if someone has one lying around somewhere
David BakerIf anyone has a Canon 65mm f/0.75 Lens they want to sell used, I would LOVE to take it off your hands! email me at:
sell_my_lens_2_evan@live.com
By the way, I am in Manitoba, Canada.
Thank you
EvanI’d like all of these please….now where’s that lottery ticket….?
Nick BarberIf only we all had some serious mad-money around and it didn’t hurt to spend it.
I remember going to a photo convention a long time ago and seeing a guard standing near some steps leading to a camera mounted to a lens. As soon as I saw it, I recognized it as the Canon 1200 f5.6…. and nobody was there. I spent about 15-minutes shooting with it, wishing there were more things to shoot other than conventioneers and photo booths. Even with the limited lighting, the lens never searched for the subject and locked in extremely quick. When someone finally decided to wait in line, I reluctantly stepped down and let them give it a try.
So many people outside the photo realm don’t understand what it takes to design and build these unusual lenses…… but its good to see these companies build them just to show that its possible.
ScottSocial comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by ericdol: THE most amazingly outrageous lenses on the @WexTweets blog http://tinyurl.com/yhqx6xm
uberVU - social commentsI’m not sure that the Canon 65mm f0.75 Lens is designed for full frame 35mm format. It shouldn’t be in there if it’s not, as it’s easier to make a fast lens with a smaller image circle.
Other lenses I’d include are:
Nikon 13mm f5.6 rectilinear (non-fisheye)
andySigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 rectilinear (non-fisheye)
Nikon 300mm f2.0
Canon 200mm f1.8
Nikon 1000mm f6.3 mirror lens
Carl Zeiss 1000mm f5.6 mirror lens
Canon 5200mm f14 mirror lens (beast of a lens)