Canon's Seven Craziest Lenses Ever

My review of the Canon EF 200mm f/1.8 is coming soon! (but if you're desperate, Patreon supporters have got early access)

These lists videos that you do are great! It would be fun to see one of 7 Crazy Nikon lenses: AI 6mm f/2.8, 10mm f/5.6 Orthographic, 105mm f/3.4 UV, 300mm f/2, 360-1200mm f/11, 1200-1700mm f/5.5-8.0, Z 58 f/0.95.

I don't want a lens, I want Canon to allow third party lens makers to make lenses for the R-mount!

I had a friend who worked for Canon several years ago.. he said there's a 500mm 2.8L at the Canon factory in Japan.. heavy lens!

Not even an unusual lens, but why is Canon taking so long to make the RF35 1.2!!!!! Great video as always ❤

I have the RF 28-70 F2.0 and love it. I was lucky to get it in 2020 when a few were sold by Canon as refurb (rumored to be tester units) for a hefty discount. I doubt I could afford it now.

ef 50mm ticks everything bad in lens but just look at those pictures... oh canon

As a Mountainbiker, I have to put out the question if the similarities between Canon and Canonndale are just by coincidence or maybe there is more behind that... :-P

What about MP-E 65mm F2.8 1-5x?

The first lens is almost certainly some form of a surveillance application. Maybe it's a really hardcore wildlife play. For that level of serious astrophotography, you would be using a dedicated telescope (usually with a larger field of view) and a dedicated imaging sensor.

"What crazy lens would you like Canon to come up with next?" - Well, considering the fun I'm having with the RF 800mm f/11 and the fact that people are using this one with extenders, I'd surely love to see something like an 1200mm f/16 thing or so. Or maybe a more appropriate successor to that infamous, but somehow fascinating EF 70-300mm DO lens.

Not a lens:I want Canon come down from their pedestal and make their R-mount compatible with third party lenses!

Thank you for this list of really awesome craziness! I would love to see a new version of the MP-E 65mm or some new TS-Es (from the latter at least there are already some rumors, but you really never know). My dream lens (for professional sports photography) would be something fictional like a TS-R 200mm F2L IS, without AF, but with the ability to adapt to the RF Extenders...

If you wanted to discuss modern RF lenses. Nothing is weirder than the "Canon RF 5.2mm f/2.8 L Dual Fisheye 3D VR Lens". Such a bizarre lens.

im surprised canons cine-servo 50-1000mm lens was not on here, that thing is absolutely nuts.

Should have included the 135 2.8 soft focus lens over a modern RF lens imo.

Canon blew it when they did not come out with a reasonably priced
200-600mm zoom lens for their mirrors-less system. The Sony 200-600mm lens is a game changer. Its so good I switch systems from Canon to Sony.

You forgot the MP/E 65mm 1:1-5:1 macro lens or the Tilt&Shift lenses...

The EF 200mm F/1.8 is the bomb! I only pull that out on special occasions.

Where was that last photo taken? It looks really familiar and I can't quite place it, and it's bugging me ;-)

I want canon to come out with a 500mm f5.6 L mirror lens. Yeah, you heard me right, a mirror lens. Back in the 80s nikon canon and tamron made some really good ones, now though they're all cheap crap. They have issues, but with modern systems for focus and editing I've gotten some amazing results with my tamron 500mm f8 and it has some characteristics that I really prefer compared to refractive glass.

That FD af lens is still probably more AF reliable than anything Panasonic has done, at least shy of the S5ii

Your reviews never fail to delight, and this was no exception!
Also, I think it's very sporting of your missus to let you feature her so often in your videos.
Keep up the good work, and good on both of yers!

Great list. I would add the MP-E 65mm f/2.8. A 1-5X macro only lens that starts where most macro lenses finish. What I'd like to see is a 300-800mm lens for bird photography.

I would love to see a well made 1000 mm f/5 mirror AF lens with image stabilization, and with a an internal ND filter that can be rotated from zero to maybe four stops, to compensate for the lack of aperture control. They can be made to be good. The bad rep mostly comes from cheap/poor design of the ones that have been made so far. Contrast will always suffer, but that can be corrected for in post, and the loss of contrast diminished with greater aperture (the central obstruction is a smaller part of the aperture). The only significant drawback is the donut bokeh, but I could live with that if I could get a 1000 mm lens that weighed maybe a quarter of that of a refractor of the same FL and aperture. Shorter and more convenient as well.

I own that auto focus 35-70 and use it on a Sony a6000. It is rather outstanding. I find the range useful and the focus system simply works. Not bad on the batteries either and it seems to not mind nmh rechargeable AAs. I recently dropped it on some concrete stairs due to a strap failure and besides a few cracks in the plastic, it still works great... As long as what you want to focus on isn't around a lot of complex surfaces. Even then, it focuses on what is dead center so if you aim it well enough complex groups are fine. What I love is that it is perfect for the "focus and recompose" method.

Such a calming video.

Canon 5200mm Lens. Watching the moon landing from the surface of earth

I can't even find a Canon EF 1200mm f/5.6 L USM (EF version 1993) to buy. lmao, what a legend

Yes, that is an FL mount for the 5200mm lens. It was compatible with the FD and New FD mounts.

The 50mm f1 lens was intended to showcase the change from the FD lens mount to the much larger EF mount, which allowed much more optical design options when working on a new lens design. My photo department had one and it wasn't a great lens optically, but when you needed the speed, you really had no other choice (back in the filn shooting days; these days, you just dial up the ISO).

I can't have lenses that cost more than my car. However, I can see them on this channel.

Not from Canon, but I always have to think about the Sigma 200-500mm f/2.8 when I hear weird lenses.

Other crazy lenses from Canon's history are the 50mm f0.95 "Dream Lens", FD 24mm f1.4 S.S.C. Aspherical and the FD 200mm f1.8.

I would love to see an f2.8 or higher tilt shift lens, but maybe the physics is impossible for that

Have you tried the Nikon 80-200mm f2.8? I don't see a review about it :)

And what about the Canon 50 mm F/0,95 "dream lens" from 1961 ? Only 20'000 units ever produced.
Ask Zack Snyder about it ! :-)

I would just like Canon to develop an Rf 40mm pancake lens. I have an Ef 40 mm which I shot with exclusively for a class assignment for a semester and came to really treasure. I would love to see how an Rf version compared. Also, perhaps an Rf 300 mm prime. Thanks for the opportunity to offer these suggestions.

$6K for the 200 1.8 on Feebay.

While I am still on EF, I think it is time for Canon to come out with a replacement for the MP-E65mm which was originally shown in 1999. The 1:1-5:1 magnification range is still enough, but perhaps come up with a narrower lens since the MP-E65's front glass is just 22 mm while the filter thread is 58 mm to accomodate Canon's not very good macro flashes.

I use the 200mm f/1.8 fairly regularly with the R5C for indoor stage performances (with a monopod!) The mirrorless bodies really help bring these older lenses back to life, as the hit rate I got with my 1DC was never anything to write home about. I’ve never actually tried using it for sports, though!

Now you know why Canon is the market leader in camera industry, they have things called ‘history’ in making camera and lenses back in ages

I’d be very happy with a compact fish eye lens similar or smaller size than the RF 16 f/2.8.
The aperture doesn’t really matter. Nothing crazy, I know.

No love for the Canon 50-1000mm? Have watched wildlife documentaries made with that, and its a ver flexible lens!

Canon RF 20-50mm f2.8 IS would be a delight ;)

I'd like canon to come up with all the 3rd party lenses, especially Tamron 35-150mm. Is there an adapter to mount Sony on Canon?