For Photographers: The World’s Largest Lens

Editor’s Note: To give you an idea of scale, the red arrow above points to an attached SLR camera, also circled in red!

When it comes to travel photography, lighter is preferred, but we couldn’t pass up checking out this behemoth of a lens by Canon.

Touted at the “largest and most powerful prime lens ever created” for an SLR camera, the Canon 5200mm lens reaches optical zoom ranges of 1000x. The camera is 6 feet long and weighs in at around 220-pounds. Its minimum focusing distance is 393 feet and it comes with a maximum aperture of f/14 that regulates how much light filters in through the lens.

The camera was first listed on Ebay with an asking price of $45,000.

Other specifications include:

* 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) [20”x24”x75.6”]
* Weight: 100kg (220 lbs) without stand.

Check out this video to see the Canon 5200mm in action.

Due to its impressive size, its recommended use is for astronomy, space photography, and other sky gazing needs.