Rare Canon Lens Becomes Most Expensive Camera Lens Ever At $580K
Image via Wetzlar Camera Auctions
Last week, a rather massive Canon lens fetched a price of €500,000 (US$580,000) as part of an auction held by Germany-based Wetzlar Camera Auctions (WCA). This is said to be the highest value ever fetched for a camera lens.
And for good reason, too: the Canon EF 1200mm f/5.6 is extremely rare. Built with 13 elements in 10 groups, its closest focusing distance is 45.9 feet and it’s almost unheard of to have one.
Image via Wetzlar Camera Auctions
Produced originally in the 1990s, only a limited quantity was made, and customers had to put in special orders for them. This was down to how difficult it was to make them in the first place, which saw production span more than a year per piece.
What makes it take so long, one might ask. That would be the fluorite crystals needed for its huge elements; growing them took up most of that year.
Image via Wetzlar Camera Auctions
The lens is so rare that, although previously thought that fewer than 100 lenses were made in total, PetaPixel reports that, in actuality, the number is already generous. Apparently, fewer than 20 were produced, and every year the company was only coming out with two. Unsurprisingly, the company ceased production years ago.
Of course, with rarity comes value. Even in the 90s, the lens fetched an astronomical price of US$90,000. That might explain the result of this year’s sale, compounded by the fact that the lens remains in pristine condition.
Image via Wetzlar Camera Auctions
“Since the end of production, there have been sales of individual pieces, some of which caused considerable media attention,” WCA details. “Not least because of the respective sales prices in question, which in some cases significantly exceeded the original retail price.”
Image via Wetzlar Camera Auctions
Some of these examples include a 2016 sale of the lens by B&H for US$180,000.
[via PetaPixel, images via Wetzlar Camera Auctions]
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