Exclusive: Prototype Canon 400mm f/2 legacy lens review

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Күн бұрын

Something you have never seen before - a mysterious legacy prototype / one-off Canon lens from the 1970's / 1980's, with crazy parameters. Huge thanks to cinematographer Joel Honeywell for hiring it to me - check out his website here: joelhoneywell.com/
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All pictures taken by me on a Canon EOS R5 camera.
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Music: 'Opportunity Walks', Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

Пікірлер: 220

@GinoFoto 2 жыл бұрын

It's definitely a true Canon lens, as it doesn't come with an included lens hood. :-)

@tazzamund 2 жыл бұрын

😆

@108u9 2 жыл бұрын

Throwing some shade ;)

@PatVu 2 жыл бұрын

Cut the bottom off a rubbish bin and you'll be right!

@mihugong3153 2 жыл бұрын

Still cheaper than RF glass!

@kronusaerospace8872 2 жыл бұрын

The list of monstrous lens reviews keeps growing. Just wait till Chris reviews the 300mm f/1.8 and the 1200mm f/5.6.

@logitech4873 2 жыл бұрын

The 300mm f/1.8 doesn't sound so extreme anymore, somehow

@kishascape 2 жыл бұрын

There’s another crazy canon lens you leave out but I forget which one it was.

@logitech4873 2 жыл бұрын

@@kishascape I mean there's the 5200mm f/14

@T2uyu 2 жыл бұрын

how does 400mm f2 keep in such a small shape whereas the 300mm f1.8 weights literally a ton? this is insane

@logitech4873 2 жыл бұрын

@@T2uyu The 300mm has autofocus and likely much better image quality

@samuelwest5752 2 жыл бұрын

How large of an image circle does this lens project? Many of these long/fast lenses will actually cover 6x6 medium format or larger. If this could be adapted to a 6x6/6x7 medium format camera it would be an incredible portrait lens.

@SunnySoCal 2 жыл бұрын

i actually kinda like seeing chris his self in this video with the camera lens it’s pretty cool

@Joelsfilmer 2 жыл бұрын

Love these quirky lenses getting revisited! Maybe time for some Nikkors next? The 8mm f/2,8, 1200-1700mm f/5.6-8, 360-1200mm f/11, or 1200mm f/11 would be my top picks!

@evertonporter7887 2 жыл бұрын

Don't forget their 2000mm f11.

@diegorivera2711 2 жыл бұрын

OMG! Answering our prayers about vintage lens with this beauty!!! Totally worth the wait! Thanks Chris!

@APixerProductions 2 жыл бұрын

I've been hearing to your voice for quite a few years now and seeing your face while you saying these things hits different. you have such a soothing voice and way of delivering your speech, Love from India

@bburchellphotos 2 жыл бұрын

Obviously, the next Canon lens Chris will have to try and get a hold of, is one of those 1200mm lenses that was specially made for an Olympics XD

@kishascape 2 жыл бұрын

B&H had a couple. Should’ve jumped in on it. Even Rarer is the Nikon 1200-1700 which they claim was made deliberately engineered superior to be superior to canon’s 1200.

@GinoFoto 2 жыл бұрын

Well, even Google is pretty "quiet" about such glass.

@Aksunkuvat 2 жыл бұрын

Try petapixel :)

@kishascape 2 жыл бұрын

@@Aksunkuvat trash hole blog. “When it’s drivel, it’s PetaPixel”

@joeaddison 2 жыл бұрын

Amazing! What a huge lens! Thanks for the very special review Chris!!

@cyrilhamel8289 2 жыл бұрын

Fab initiative !! I love a lot your recent "old stuff" reviews ! 😊

@SunnySoCal 2 жыл бұрын

wow i wasn’t expecting this 😳 i never even heard of this lens great review as usual chris

@tomaso101 2 жыл бұрын

Chris, you are making truly excellent job. I've been watching your reviews for so many years... You and Dustin Abbott are my favorite reviewers 👍

@SovietLensReviews 2 жыл бұрын

There are quite a few of these hidden gems out there, that no-one has encountered before (at least, no-one on the internet) - it's always fascinating to see them uncovered!

@szelag 2 жыл бұрын

Very unique! Awesome find

@hzubovi1 2 жыл бұрын

A real treat. Thank You, Chris, and I hope you will do more reviews like this in the future. Especially of Japanese lenses. I would like to request a review of the Etaniya full-frame fisheye lens 210 and 250 degree one

@NikCan66 2 жыл бұрын

This is a lens I never ever heard of. Phenomenal

@kevindiossi 2 жыл бұрын

Such a strange and interesting lens. Thank you for sharing it with us.

@Magnetron692 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Cris, many thanks! What a behemoth! Best wishes, Ralf

@paulhills1967 2 жыл бұрын

Fascinating!

@powerlurker 2 жыл бұрын

i love this new series，theres no other review like this

@arildhagen3820 2 жыл бұрын

Really nice getting hold of this marvel of a lens albeit the lacking image quality. I really like that way you test lenses and would not buy one until it's "Frosted". Keep it up sir

@carjac820 2 жыл бұрын

There will be a day that christopher frost would be able to review the legendary Zeiss f/0.7 lens.

@Badonicus 2 жыл бұрын

Good to see you in front of the lens 👍🏻

@notcirrious 4 ай бұрын

That was great!

@IgorKlajo 2 жыл бұрын

Amazing. I hope you will get your hands on many other exotic lenses as well, test them, show them to us, get some background on them. The Canon PE 300mm f1.8 would be nice to have around and test.

@markattardo 2 жыл бұрын

What an interesting monster! Thanks for showing it off👍👍

@rango-konk 2 жыл бұрын

Love the new opening...

@windmillstudio 2 жыл бұрын

This is basically a refractor version of Celestron RASA 8

@robertbohnaker9898 2 жыл бұрын

Technology has improved ..That’s for sure !

@chrisrockt9064 2 жыл бұрын

I really like your channel and your smooth voice. Iam enjoying that much. Greetings from germany 🙂

@lensineer 2 жыл бұрын

Wow that would be an awesome lens to rehouse for cinema use!!!! I work in this field and fitting that giant barrel would be an interesting task, our lenses are max 165mm front diameter at the moment. Great Video

@j.kimmer1509 2 жыл бұрын

Amazing glass.

@jonathanhornby 2 жыл бұрын

You may have one-up’d Matthieu Stern 😎 I love this video keep them coming!

@Thunderbolt03 2 жыл бұрын

crazy lens

@MilezAwxy 2 жыл бұрын

Truly a legendary one of one lens.

@Veptis 2 жыл бұрын

This front element is giant. It's even larger than my 150mm f/1 lens. The "engineer" you mentioned that can turn this into a filmmaking tool - I would like to know more

@xandrexvisuals Жыл бұрын

What's the full name of your lens?

@Veptis Жыл бұрын

@@xandrexvisuals I have no idea. It's rather generic and I haven't found the original vendor. Only some half way leaked drawing without a name.

@PlacesToVisit Жыл бұрын

@@Veptis Any chance you can take a video of that lens and post om KZfaq? Taking some photos and posting it on Flickr would also be good.

@emix1010 2 жыл бұрын

Amazing! You did lug around that thing to your usual points of view! It’s the flare test that got me. That is dedication! You won’t be able to do that with the 300mm f1.8 though, it doesn’t seem that moving it was included in its design.

@Knowbody42 Жыл бұрын

I'm pretty sure you're supposed to use it on a vehicle mounted turret.

@cesarguerilla 2 жыл бұрын

One of the few times that there's a face to that voice. Great video man.

@estogaza1 2 жыл бұрын

Wow another exotic lens that no one reviewed before. I hope one day you can review Leica lenses

@uniktbrukernavn 2 жыл бұрын

This is like a Stanley Kubrick lens, unpractical and only used for one specific thing :)

@bearbearingston7696 2 жыл бұрын

Just feels weird seeing Christopher and his voice come from the same image. Great vid, as always, reminds me of the recently found urban myth 28-80mm f2.8 AF-D.

@ygtx44 Жыл бұрын

I saw your comment on Petapixel AWSOME that you managed to get it rented out! Cheers

@MatCatSoft 2 жыл бұрын

OMG I would LOVE to try and use this lens for astro

@RFGfotografie 2 жыл бұрын

Holy shit what a lens :O Nice to see you. Very interesting video.

@milkedition 2 жыл бұрын

Nice that a little thing like running out of lenses hasn’t stopped the reviews coming in.

@zikuanchen5767 2 жыл бұрын

amazing

@bobceffo 2 жыл бұрын

lovely

@gpdu57 2 жыл бұрын

That lens is really misterious, I couldn't find anything about it online, all I got were results about the f2.8 lens

@drbeardo6960 2 жыл бұрын

Saitama....! OMG

@anamorphicalan 2 жыл бұрын

Damn good show!

@manleycreations6466 2 жыл бұрын

This is a lens that the images OF the lens are better than FROM the lens ;)

@nigelwest3430 2 жыл бұрын

What a beast

@MicaelWidell 2 жыл бұрын

Wow! The person standing in the garden at f/2 looks like a miniature figure, because we are only used to that kind of background blur in macro photography!

@777GEORGEGEORGE 2 ай бұрын

I have this lens too. It has been modified to EF mount. I'm taking photos with R5 and GFX50.

@HLF31528376 2 жыл бұрын

I used to own the 400mm f/2.8 and it was AWESOME…

@Wszyc 2 жыл бұрын

I hope you will still make some videos for old or dslr lenses :)

@jeroenvdw 2 жыл бұрын

400mm at f2 sounds insane, I'm sure it doesn't have too great image quality though but I'm curious to find out tomorrow!

@jeroenvdw 2 жыл бұрын

Guess I was right, but fun to use such a rare lens.

@MrSpychecker 2 жыл бұрын

Probably not. 400mm f/2 is probably more achievable with a mirror (reflecting telescope or astrograph) instead of a lens, like with Celestron’s 8” RASA or Starizona’s ‘hyperstar 8’ which is 390mm at f/1.9, and still with excellent image quality.

@skinman620 2 жыл бұрын

11kgs!!!! My word. Fantastic video - thank you

@GaryFerrao 2 жыл бұрын

i wonder what you use as the photo chart… and where you place it for such long focal length lenses. do you use a parabolic mirror or some other contraption to make the chart appear at infinity? it makes me curious how to compare the chart across different lenses and focal lengths

@martinschmidt96 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome Test-Image! Is that available somewhere?

@rileysmithphoto 2 жыл бұрын

holy moly

@Wreckedandruinedand 2 жыл бұрын

Damn, those chromatic aberration are quite obnoxious. And the image is quite soft overall at F2. But with that 400mm focal length, some beautiful bokeh is still can be achieved when stopping down even to F8, plus you gain more sharpness. I kinda wish Chris included some black and white sample images, since those chromatic aberration would be much more subtle and unnoticed, and of course, for a "fun" reason: it is an old lens.

@gavtakesphotos 2 жыл бұрын

Another weird old canon lens I’d love to see you test is the 135mm soft focus, looks like an interesting lens

@denispelletier4381 2 жыл бұрын

Amazing lens. I collect and use Canon cameras and lens and my guess about the date of the lens is end of the 1960's certainly not 80's. In the 80's Canon was making New FD lens and they had UD and Fluorite glass in many lens. The original New Fd 400mm f2.8 was on the market in 1981. The look of this lens match the look of the R lens series that was made for the Canonflex cameras series. The helicoidal to focus the lens is not original. The original focusing unit was probably a small bellow on rail. Christopher did you use some sort of lens hood in you test because the lens anti reflection coating was mostly a single blue layer and not very effective like modern lens coating? Thank you for testing that amazing lens. You saved that lens from oblivion because now it is part of Christopher Frost Tested lens.

@mikester1290 2 жыл бұрын

You can certainly tell a Canon lens era just by the look of it for sure, I agree.

@pit5000 2 жыл бұрын

i want one!

@AgnostosGnostos 2 жыл бұрын

It belongs to a museum

@boredgrass 2 жыл бұрын

Though at the time it was build colour photography had taken on speed, there still happened a lot of black and white photography. That makes me wonder how the colour abberations effect black and white images, especially since Yellow, Orange, Red and Green filters were widely in use. I would imagine, one could use those to keep the fringing in check, if not make use of them.

@michaelwalsh7846 Жыл бұрын

If you ever come across the 12" Perkin Elmer lens, as used in the retired SR71, you may only get focus at 90,000ft.

@todanrg3 2 жыл бұрын

It's actually quite small for a 400mm F2, even for a 400mm 2.8.

@thedondeluxe6941 2 жыл бұрын

Wow! I want one! :-) But I imagine it's a bit tricky finding filters for that thing.

@pixelpeter3883 2 жыл бұрын

Wow, that's truely a behemoth of a lens; never heard about it.

@Матвертикаль 2 жыл бұрын

I’ve got an old huge and heavy (6 kg) Canon Ef 400mm f/2.8

@danncorbit3623 2 жыл бұрын

Fascinating stuff. If you use a 1.7x speed booster, and coupled to a Cannon M type camera, it would be f/1.2, which would be mighty impressive for 400mm.

@kishascape 2 жыл бұрын

No it wouldn’t. Speed “boosters” are very limited in f stop increase and this is already past that.

@danncorbit3623 2 жыл бұрын

Here is a link to EXIF data for my Canon M3 using a 85mm f/1.8 lens: drive.google.com/file/d/10N7bhfZpqm16UwNXdj-vOFFgoXni_SIA/view?usp=sharing Notice that the aperture is f/1.2 and the focal length is 60mm, according to my camera.

@TechnoBabble 2 жыл бұрын

@@kishascape Lol, what? The f-stop is a physical attribute of the lens and most focal reducers basically don't have a limit. They might be limited in light transmission, but not to the point where an f/2 lens wouldn't allow more light onto a smaller sensor.

@robertbirnbach2312 2 жыл бұрын

what a monster!

@hukumongdu 2 жыл бұрын

wow that thing is huge 😸

@77appyi 2 жыл бұрын

WOW at 11KG that's 5.5 Noct

@fwiffo 2 жыл бұрын

That looks like a focusing helicoid that may have been retrofitted onto the lens and maybe not original. I wonder if it had some other focus mechanism, or was used with a bellows or something. Or maybe a fixed-focus lens for some scientific or industrial purpose?

@huwpenson2678 2 жыл бұрын

always wanted to know what you looked like .. one love matey

@-szega 2 жыл бұрын

This lens is impressive but also pretty much an ad for ED and "exotic" materials (fluorite and such). Photo-finish sounds pretty plausible for this, because when this lens was around they were probably using moving strips of film still, so having the fastest possible lens gave the clearest result, while ergonomics and image quality were not important.

@testusersg 2 жыл бұрын

Any review on canon ef extenders?

@LetsKetchup 2 жыл бұрын

I’ve been asking this question myself for close to years now: When testing focal lengths this long how far do you have to step away from your test chart?

@robinte98 2 жыл бұрын

depends on the size of the test chart...

@kishascape 2 жыл бұрын

@@robinte98 and also whether it’s on the full frame or APS-C camera.

@robinte98 2 жыл бұрын

@@kishascape he used a Canon 6D, which is full frame.

@mastaw 2 жыл бұрын

@@robinte98 R5

@robinte98 2 жыл бұрын

@@mastaw no. Look closely. You can see it very good at 2:18 for example.

@GaryFerrao 2 жыл бұрын

ah another opportunity to show yourself coz the lens is so massive!~

@Tristan_KOR 2 жыл бұрын

Would love to see how this monster works on film cameras

@donaldklopper 2 жыл бұрын

Ok wow.

@ggreyshade 2 жыл бұрын

WOWWWWW WHAT 400mm f2 !!!!!!!

@PaulSafford 2 жыл бұрын

Great and interesting work as usual- but “uguly”? I guess beautify is in the eye of the beholder- Reminds me of the Pentax 6x7 600mm f/4 - only a little smaller, aesthetically similar and IQ shares alot of characteristics too.

@StefanGenov7 2 жыл бұрын

🤔 I hope the low light is Great

@hardywoodaway9912 2 жыл бұрын

wow

@andreasschroder7880 2 жыл бұрын

Does it have weather sealing?

@balmoral2472 2 жыл бұрын

Where can I get extenders and filters for it 😎

@Old_Man_Jay 2 жыл бұрын

A bit different than your usual videos but a nice and welcomed change. You should record your mug talking more often.

@sgtLPH 2 жыл бұрын

It's a bit like the Nikon 58mm Noct, but from an analogue era and sadly even less practical in any normal use case. Awesome discovery nonetheless :)

@arnonart 2 жыл бұрын

amazing! you need to go to the gym on regular bases in order to be able to carry such monster. remind me that back on the days i managed to lay hands on Pentax 15mm 3.5 rectangular. people used to stop me and ask what on earth this lens is?

@iliyinichna 2 жыл бұрын

Sounds as shocking as 18-55 f1.4 kit lens

@EugeneMaynard 2 жыл бұрын

🙏🏾

@itsm3th3b33 2 жыл бұрын

How does this lens compare with a more plebian EF 400 f/2.8?

@mpunktbphotography8515 2 жыл бұрын

That lens sure is a cannon

@brianbeattyphotography 2 жыл бұрын

that front lens element is ABSURD! Awesome. That being said... it's not a great performer. Interesting lens though!

@jeremytheoneofdestiny8691 2 жыл бұрын

Why hasn’t there ever been a company who made a 3000m f/1.0 or some other ludicrous lens like that? Just for fun! I know it’s difficult and expensive, but come on, we put people on the moon!

@vladimirlenin4080 2 жыл бұрын

A 3000mm f/1 lens would have a 3m wide front element (at least). That piece of glass would probably cost the equivalent of a small country's gdp. And it wouldn't really have any purpose either.

@suhan8382 2 жыл бұрын

rent a winch as tripod

@johannweber5185 2 жыл бұрын

Producing such enormous lenses is extremely difficult. Furthermore the influence of their own weight on their exact shape become non negligible. Thus for the largest astronomical telescopes mirrors, which can be supported on the non-reflective side andare intrinsically free of chromatic aberration, are used.

@NoMoreForeignWars 2 жыл бұрын

That's called a telescope. You can find such beasts at observatories and much bigger than 3m too.

@vladimirlenin4080 2 жыл бұрын

@@NoMoreForeignWars yeah but they're always (with literally no exceptions) reflectors (they use mirrors) and not refractors (using lenses)