9 Unbelievable Camera Lenses That Actually Exist

[wolfnowl]

Number 4 looks good for bird work... would need a fairly sturdy carbon fibre tripod though.  Oh, and a gimbal.

http://www.popphoto.com/gallery/9-unbelievable-camera-lenses-actually-exist

Mike.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

I hope Michael will want to purchase one of each and give us a detailed field report/comparison. 

[Farmer]

I hope Michael will want to purchase one of each and give us a detailed field report/comparison. 

And where applicable, for multiple mounts!   

[sdwilsonsct]

I think I saw #3 in The Camera Store in Calgary last winter.
Focal length? You can get 3800 mm for a measly $5K from Celestron.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

I think they forgot this one:

[jule]

I think they forgot this one:

NO way!!! That couln't be a lens.....  That's a canon!!!   :-)

Julie

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

NO way!!! That couln't be a lens.....  That's a canon!!!   :-)

Julie

Can't be Canon... their lenses are white... Must be Nikon.

[JBerardi]

I still have a hard time believing that the Nikon 6mm fisheye is a real thing. I've never seen anything else remotely like it.

[jule]

Can't be Canon... their lenses are white... Must be Nikon.

hehehe :-)

[N Walker]

'Unbelievable' they failed to mention the fastest aperture 300mm lens ever produced, the Nikkor 300mm F/2 supplied with dedicated 1.4X converter.

Apparently only 441 lenses were produced.

For its day, a spectacular optic but a pig to manually focus accurately at f/2 on fast moving and unpredictable sports action such as football.

http://www.company7.com/library/nikon/Nikon_0300f2.html - comprehensive details about the designers, lens design and uses; stills and film industry use.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

I still have a hard time believing that the Nikon 6mm fisheye is a real thing. I've never seen anything else remotely like it.

I saw one in the Kodak Museum in Rochester.

[NancyP]

#4, the 5200mm catadioptric (mirror) lens, seems ideal to evaluate the other side of the Strait of Hormuz in real time. This is military hardware. The video shows heat waves in its images, the main limitation of such lenses aka telescopes.

[NikoJorj]

In such a list, edits are bound to take a fair amount of flak, so I'll go with my own shot : f/0.95 are not that incredible these days, where you can buy three different ones in µ4/3 mount (CV 17mm, CV 25mm and noktor 50mm) for a fistful of dollars...

[Justan]

Interesting story. 8 lenses that few mere mortals could afford or which are no longer in production and then the Sigma 4.5mm f/2.8 EX DC HSM circular fisheye for #9 at the end. I’m guessing Sigma is the sponsor of the article.

Has anyone used any of these? They are an impressive collection. Would like to see the kinds of tripods that can be used for some of the uber-tele lenses.

[kers]

The most incredible lens that is missing is the low budget super wide angle lens without any distortion...

the pinhole