A Rare Glimpse at Canon’s Monstrous 1200mm Lens in Action

Photography Tips

Thanks to MPB Photographic, the Canon 1200mm f/5.6 L lens—the largest and rarest auto-focusing lens in the world—made it to London for a shoot that took it to some of the most iconic attractions in the city:

The 1200mm is one monster lens—it is both intimidating and a joy to use. And the giant lens pairs with Canon’s 1.4x and 2x extenders, further extending its already legendary reach to 1680mm and 2400mm respectively.

Just for the sake of comparison, the crew also brought along an EF 50mm and an EF 100-400mm.

They traveled from one location to another, creating stunning tight compositions of landmarks such as Big Ben, the London Eye, and Trafalgar Square from vast distances.

Close-up of Big Ben, shot with the Canon EF 1200mm f/5.6 L lens

They even mounted the lens on what appears to be an EOS-M (mirrorless APS-C digital camera) giving us a perspective that is even more incredible. The EOS-M’s 1.6x crop factor extends the lens’s reach to 1920mm without any extender used.

Canon EOS-M paired with the Canon 1200mm f/5.6 L lens

With the EF 1.4x and EF 2x extenders mounted on the EOS-M, the lens shot perfectly focused images at a mind boggling 35mm focal length equivalent of 2688mm and 3840mm respectively! A slight softening of the image was noticed on the latter.

Collage comparing perspectives at 50mm, 200mm, 400mm, and 1200mm

The contraption attracted quite a lot of attention from passers-by, with many interested in seeing the view through the viewfinder. Going by the images, it certainly seems irresistible.