It seems the bigger a camera you have, the more seriously you are taken as a photographer. If you want to prove how serious you are, then you’ll definitely want to check out this 10-pound Camera that Nikon made in 1970.
This story comes to us from The Daily Mail. Nikon originally created the camera for the Photokina photography exhibition that year. It has a 220-degree field of view, which means it can pretty much see around you. (A healthy human field of vision is 180 degrees.) For you camera geeks out there, the speed is f/2.8.
The lens was never put into full production, but it was available for special order. It was intended for scientific and industrial uses, as well as for special effects.
“It represents the pinnacle in lens design, from a time when lenses had to be designed with a slide rule and individual ray diagrams,” Nikon U.K. managing marketer Jeremy Gilbert told the Daily Mail. “Having worked at Nikon for 25 years I have only had the pleasure of seeing two 6mm f2.8mm lenses. And yes, the lens does see slightly behind itself 220 degrees – you see your feet in every picture!”
Gray Levitt, of Grays in Westminster, England, is selling the lens for £100,000 ($160,180 U.S.). Yes, that’s just for the lens, not the camera. “Our vintage camera buyer Toni Kowal spent six months tracking it down from overseas,” Levitt said. “We were fortunate to be able to find this example in such pristine condition.”
If you want a much smaller lens and you’re an iPhone owner, check out a way to turn it into a toy camera. If you like film, you’ll want to check out a beautiful steampunk-inspired camera.
