Most Expensive Camera Lenses Ever

Photography is a fun sport. I personally enjoy it because there is always something new to shoot everyday. You can look at a single landscape and capture it in so many different ways. While I’m by no means a pro photographer, I do take some fairly decent pictures in my spare time. Recently, I looked on Amazon to see how much a few new lenses for my camera would cost. While most mainstream lenses are priced reasonably, there are a select few that might require you to sell your car to afford. Check out some of the biggest and baddest lenses you’ve seen after the jump.

Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM Super Telephoto LensExpect to sell a few organs to afford this thing. Price at almost $12,000, the Canon EF 800mm is designed for the pros among us. It will be released in May 2008, it is meant for long-range photography like sports, wildlife, and nature. Don’t expect to use this thing without a tripod by the way. At over 10 pounds, it probably weighs more than your camera. Thankfully, Amazon has graceously included free shipping with the item.

Sigma 300-800mm f/5.6 EX DG HSMThe longest-zoom lens available from any manufacturer. It is rated as having 2.7x zoom, but that’s because its initial zoom size is already much bigger than that of a regular camera. At 21.3 inches (54.1 cm) in length it’s one of the longest if not the longest lenses out there. It can mount on both Canon and Nikon cameras, and is priced quite reasonably considering its features.

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM LensEver heard the saying “good things come in small packages”? Unlike the previous two lenses mentioned, this Canon EF 16-35mm model is a wide angle lens. It is meant for taking in a large areas, not limited, zoomed-in shots. Lenses like this are very popular for taking landscape photos. While still more expensive than most cameras, it is well worth the investment if you are a professional photographer.

Nikon 200mm f/4.0D ED-IF AF Micro-NikkorThough it looks more like a space age gun muzzle than a camera lens, the Nikon 200mm f/4.0D is an auto focus lens meant for close range picture-taking. It features 1:1 image reproduction, a length of 7.6 inches, an f/Stop Range of 4-32, and accepts 62mm filters. Surprisingly, there isn’t that much information on it.

Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L Tilt Shift LensThe Canon TS-E 24mm is a special-purpose lens great for architecture shots. The tilt-shift lens can allows you to change the shift of your picture by up to 11 degrees. It is good for avoiding the distortion and disfigurements that occur in just about any camera lens. It has manual focus only, making it great for professional photographers. Amateurs will find little use for this piece of photo equipment.

And there you have it! While there are many more expensive lenses like these on the web, I chose to list the ones above because they were the most unique and interesting. While good equipment can help in taking good pictures, any decent photographer will tell you it all comes down to your skill level. Great photographers can take amazing shots with cheap digital cameras, while spending $800 on an SLR won’t turn a newbie into a pro overnight.