Nikon’s Biggest and Longest Lens

The Biggest Zoom Lens You’ll Ever See!

“The Beast” — a 1200–1700mm f/5.6 IF-ED Nikon zoom, custom-converted to Canon — was a true Goliath of its time. The tripod alone was a gigantic Manfrotto with a video head built to handle the monstrous weight.

Mal Langsdon, Reuters’ Head of Pictures Operations for France, BENELUX, Italy, Iberia and Greece (based in Paris), wielded this incredible lens to capture France’s president Sarkozy, surrounded by the mounted Republican guard, as he waved from a command car rolling down the Champs Élysée.

You really need to read about the environment he had to endure, a tightly controlled environment, a military press attaché cheekily commenting on the “size” of his setup, and the final, triumphant shot. Mal reckoned it was easier shooting long-distance manually rather than using autofocus — because, back then, AF systems were like trying to catch a kangaroo with a butterfly net. Fast, erratic subjects needed old-school skills and steady hands!

Update [5/Sept/2008]

This is a better view of The Beast, extracted from a scanned from a 1998’s Nikkor Sales Guide and retouched to restore to supposed colours. Plus a range of Nikon Super Tele-zoom lenses. You’d be a highly paid professional photographer to able to afford many of these, but there’s no harm in drooling over them.

Update [26/April/2009]

Canon also have a few massive lens, but you’d need to be a complete photography nerd to even think about buying any of these Canon gargantuan mammoths!

Update [27/April/2025]

Fast forward to today, and the landscape has changed — but the need for serious glass hasn’t.

Enter the Canon RF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM: a modern marvel that rewrites what’s possible with big zooms. In autofocus mode, this lens locks onto subjects with lightning speed and near silence, thanks to ultrasonic motors and holding torque that stops dead on target without hunting. Paired with the EOS R system’s high-speed burst shooting, it’s tailor-made for nailing fast-moving moments — no prayers or crossed fingers required.

And while “The Beast” was a backbreaker, the RF 800mm is a relative featherweight. It’s an astonishing 299mm shorter and roughly 13kg lighter than its EF equivalent — making it the difference between lugging a keg around or carrying a six-pack. Sharp portraits, wildlife close-ups, and sports shots over long distances are all now far more achievable without an aching spine at day’s end.

Worried about camera shake? No dramas. Canon’s built-in 4-stop image stabiliser means you can hand-hold this beast without your shots looking like they were taken during an earthquake. Whether you’re standing on a cliff’s edge or sprinting up and down a footy sideline, you’ll have the stability you need to get the winning shot.

From Mal’s muscle-powered precision to today’s autofocus brilliance, the evolution of long-range photography has been nothing short of extraordinary. And somehow, despite all the tech, it still comes back to the same simple thrill — lining up the perfect shot and nailing it.