It is quite common for some companies to develop a product that pulverizes logic and reason. For example, Samsung and Sharp have offered televisions that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, but what happens when the product is merely a lens? The result is the Canon EF 1200mm, a 16-kilogram cannon with more than thirty years of history, a reputation close to legendary, and a price that can freeze hearts on the spot… assuming it is possible to find one.
When the world was dipping its toes into the waters of 486 processors, talking about Pentium chips was truly crazy. Over time, that technology became familiar and affordable enough to find a place in desktop computers... but there is always a product that rejects that evolution and breaks the mold. I'm talking about things that, while delivering extraordinary performance, also challenge the limits of practicality. Now think about modern photography. Can you imagine a professional carrying a 16-kilogram telephoto lens on their shoulder? Your instinct probably says no… but the point is that something like the Canon EF 1200mm exists.
Canon EF 1200mm: A Cannon in Every Sense
History has it that Canon introduced this telephoto lens at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (sending a total of five lenses), then formally put it on sale in July 1993, and accepted orders until 2005. According to the folks at B&H, the Canon EF 1200mm was built entirely by hand, the production rate was two units a year, and anyone who needed one (after a $10,000 deposit) had to wait at least eighteen months.
Among its buyers are National Geographic, the famous publication Sports Illustrated, and, as expected, some U.S. agency or other for long-distance surveillance. How “long”? Well, let's say that for the first 14 meters the lens cannot focus on anything, and several publications place its hyperfocal distance at 12 kilometers.
In short, a telephoto lens that demanded two or three people to be moved, installed, and used, whose manufacturing was so delicate and exclusive that it took a year and a half, and so rare that probably only about two dozen were ever made. In fact, saying “rare” isn't enough, because Canon doesn't even own a single unit after its only lens was permanently damaged during transport. The last used Canon EF 1200mm to be sold reached a price of $180,000, with a shipping cost of four digits, depending on the country.
Canon has since revived the concept to some extent with the new “RF 1200mm f/8 L IS USM” series.
Source: B&H
