The Canon EF 1200mm f/5.6L USM sells for a record €500,000 at auction

[AJ]

At least the guy got a real lens for his $0.5 mil, and not an NFT.

 

[Ozarker]

Guess I should put the old EF 135mm f/2L up for auction. I have been meaning to retire.

 

[slclick]

Guess I should put the old EF 135mm f/2L up for auction. I have been meaning to retire.

NEVER! Shame on you, don't you know it's magical?

 

[Ozarker]

NEVER! Shame on you, don't you know it's magical?

Yes! Great lens Magically forced me to buy it twice. One of my faves. If it ever dies, gonna have a glass reefer pipe made from the elements.

 

[neuroanatomist]

NEVER! Shame on you, don't you know it's magical?

The only magical Canon lenses I know of are the magic drainpipe (EF 80-200/2.8L) and magic cannonball (EF 85L).

 

[slclick]

The only magical Canon lenses I know of are the magic drainpipe (EF 80-200/2.8L) and magic cannonball (EF 85L).

Hmmm, where do I get these ideas? Oh yeah, gazillions of comments on the intrawebs.

 

[PhilA]

Here you can see it: Canon FDn 1200 f/5.6L 1.4x Lens Images

Yes, I took those pics!

 

[Bert]

With all the people who we’ve been assured have jumped / are jumping from Canon I’m surprised there were two left to have a bidding war!

 

[Fischer]

I met an owner in Greenland on a trip to the inland ice some years ago. Wealthy US business man who used it to shot Ice Bears. Maybe he just made another great deal?

 

[justaCanonuser]

Won't there soon be a "cheap" RF version?

yeah, but a compact RF 1200mm f22 lens - according to Canon's new philosophy

 

[justaCanonuser]

I met an owner in Greenland on a trip to the inland ice some years ago. Wealthy US business man who used it to shot Ice Bears. Maybe he just made another great deal?

Makes sense to use such a long tele lens in very cold environments, less atmospheric blur...

 

[justaCanonuser]

The only magical Canon lenses I know of are the magic drainpipe (EF 80-200/2.8L) and magic cannonball (EF 85L).

I have the post-magic EF 85L USM II and love it, but there is another magical 85mm from Canon: their 85mm f/1.8 rangefinder lens introduced in 1961. Very rare today, good copies sell for quite high prices on ebay (though not as high as for the 50mm f/0.95 "dream/nightmare" rangefinder lens, the fastest lens produced on industrial scale for many decades). I am lucky owner (and user) of one, a full metal lens with a beautiful bokeh

 

[justaCanonuser]

Yes, I took those pics!

Here's a review with a B&H video on Bryan Carnathan's site (sorry if someone has already posted it here, I didn't read now every posting):

Canon EF 1200mm f/5.6L USM Lens Review

Is the Canon EF 1200mm f/5.6L USM Lens right for you? Learn all you need to know in The-Digital-Picture.com's review!

www.the-digital-picture.com

 

[justaCanonuser]

Like the Zeiss Apo Sonnar T 1700mm f/4 that was custom-built for a wealthy Qatari individual...

View attachment 200734

Yepp, this Zeissmonster is always fun to see. I'd like to know if this guy still uses it with the medium format Hasselblad it was made for. Guess he always needs some sherpas or a sort of gun support on a truck when he wants to go out and shoot some birds (or what else).

 

[neuroanatomist]

I have the post-magic EF 85L USM II and love it,

I had the 85L II, which IIRC is optically the same as the MkI, but with improved AF speed (which in that case means improving from the pace of a snail to the pace of a slightly faster snail). Some time back I swapped it for the 85/1.4L IS and have been happy with the decision.

 

[justaCanonuser]

I had the 85L II, which IIRC is optically the same as the MkI, but with improved AF speed (which in that case means improving from the pace of a snail to the pace of a slightly faster snail). Some time back I swapped it for the 85/1.4L IS and have been happy with the decision.

Yeah, the 85L F/1.2 II isn't exactly a lens for action, plus it comes with a lot of lateral CA for the money. Canon's F/1.4 certainly is the better option in terms of AF and optical performance. But the contrast between visible sharpness (relatively, lab results are mediocre) and this massive creamy bokeh makes the 85 F/1.2 a unique lens for a more arts related sort of photography. I even use it sometimes for street photography (night), and I guess I'll keep it for many years because of its special character. It's a bit like an amour fou... Here is a night shot from Frankfurt's streets (made before new laws nearly killed street photography with people here in Germany):

 

[Alex784]

Sorry for a dumb question, but...why bother ? I mean that for private investigators and paparazzi, a Nikon Coolpix P1000 is much smaller, lighter, cheaper and 3000mm, especially if the picture quality at 1200mm is pretty much the same as Nikon P1000's at 3000mm (they don't really care about picture quality at those distances anyways, do they ?). If it is for a museum or a private collection, I would understand, but it is highly impractical in real life.

 

[TAF]

For a tiny fraction of that price you can have an FD 600mm f5.6, a 2x teleconverter, and an FD-RF adapter.

And have something you can actually use.

 

[Fischer]

Makes sense to use such a long tele lens in very cold environments, less atmospheric blur...

He had bought it for that one thing. Do not remember discussing if he ever used it for anything else. Yes, you get incredibly clear light - but the very rapid temperature shifts makes for other problems. Never found it easy to get great shots up there myself. The most striking pictures I have are of the deep blue color of the inland ice when the sun is out.