I recently passed on a 1200mm Nikon lens that was listed on eBay because of my on experience with an old Canon 1200mm. It was waaay too much lens for casual use.
Now we have this Canon 5200mm lens from 1962 that was recently listed on eBay. –If I recall correctly they only made one of these, and while I can’t swear to it, it seems to me that it only brought $55k at auction.
•Focal Length: 5150mm
•Exposure Control: Light quantity is controlled with the use of built-in ND filters, corresponding to f/14, f/16, f/22, f/32
•Minimum Object Distance: 120 meters (Approx 393 feet!)
•Size: 500mm(wide) x 600mm(high) x 1890mm(deep) [20x24x75.6]
•Weight: 100kg (220 lbs) without stand.
From the Brochure:
Is it just me or does the picture in the top right corner look like something out of a weapons of the future article?
Now the $64,000 question: What the hell would you do with it?
Better yet: What uber-secret government project was it built for?
It’s not like you could carry it out into the field under cover of darkness take your shot and sneak back. So that pretty much lets out most military and spy applications, and the mount seems to preclude any astronomical applications.
I know: It was built to watch the girls on the beach at Malibu………… from Omaha.
