Canon’s amazing 1200/5.6L USM tele still lens is a beast that weighs in at 36lbs, is over two and a half feet long and sports a massive 9″ wide front element. Canon builds this lens on a special order basis and since 1993 has shipped less than twenty of them. No word on what it costs new (if you have to ask, you probably can’t afford it), but B&H does have one used 1200/5.6 for sale for a cool $99,000. Just in time for Valentines Day…

“The viewfinder is surprisingly bright, and though somewhat sluggish as compared to the latest-generation Canon EF lenses, the 1200 was usually able to nail the focus on the first pass. The hard part is figuring out what you’re focusing on because the angle of view is so narrow. If you’re not familiar with the landscape you’ll find yourself peering out over the top of the camera every so often trying to figure out what you’re looking at. As for image quality, even wide open it’s quite lovely. Stopped down to f/8 and f/11 it’s actually quite remarkable. How remarkable? From midtown Manhattan we were able to read the street signs on the corner of JFK Boulevard East and 43rd St. in Weehawkin New Jersey when viewing image files at pixel resolution.”

“…Apart from a few minor cosmetic blemishes, this particular lens is extremely clean inside and out. Included with this lens is a leather slip-on ‘lens cap’, a fitted aluminum trunk case, and a prodigious measure of ego satisfaction. Pack mule not included.”

Simply amazing. I’d love to see this on the front of a 35mm adapter rig…