Massive 1700mm Carl Zeiss Lens

If you thought Nikon’s 6mm Fisheye lens from a week ago was crazy, get a load of this Carl Zeiss telephoto lens announced at Photokina back in 2006. The made-to-order lens was called the Apo Sonnar T* 1700 mm F4, and that little nub at the end? That’s a Hasselblad 6×6 medium format camera.

The monster weighed in at 564lbs and had to use a special focusing method because of the sheer weight of each glass element. At the time this was the biggest non-military telephoto lens in existence, which begs the question: What does the biggest military zoom look like!?

For another look, check out this picture of the lens being showed off at Photokina.