From popphoto.com: "It doesn't come as much of a surprise that the world's priciest lens comes with a red Leica dot logo on it. But when it comes to price, the Leica APO-Telyt-R 1:5.6/1600mm truly goes above and beyond. This one-off extreme telephoto was created for Sheikh Saud Bin Mohammed Al-Thani of Qatar for 16 million Hong Kong dollars, just over $2 million in the US.

That lens is a one off, but the photo above is from the prototype that's in the Leica factory showroom. Since this lens isn't exactly being sent out for review, we don't know an awful lot about it. It fits the Leica R-mount, is 1.2 meters long (1.55 with a lens hood), has a maximum diameter of 42cm, and weighs 60kg. The kicker? Sheikh Al-Thani had a Mercedes four-wheel drive commissioned specially to drive the lens around, and act as a support."

To read the entire article, visit popphoto.com

Sounds similar to the Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 1700 mm F4 lens made for a similar individual back in 2006: http://www.dpreview.com/news/2006/10/1/zeiss1700f4

The Zeiss press release.

Guess it would be nice lens for birding. And unlike that Zeiss its movable by single person (60kg isnt "that" much..).

Certainly would be nice lens to have, but there are much cheaper ways to get to 1600mm equiv. not mentioning portability.

Having that 50mm f1.2 prototype lens might be more interesting.. (even tho Leica thought its not good enough..).

This is a bit too mainstream for me.

I didn't know the sheik of Qatar was into photography

Leica sure needs some help in these troubled times.

The Zeiss lens was made of the sheik too.

Leica doesnt need help, they built new factory very recently. They have waiting list for some lens.. Far from problems.

Maybe they'll trade for a set of Canon EF 1200mm f/5.6 binoculars? They're AF...

Excellent price. I'll take two!

I'm going to wait for the luise vitton edition.

It's out of stock. Too funny/how ironic!

I'm going to wait for the mark 2 IS version.

Does the 4WD has a "lens turret" as well too?

IS version? He can put a big Gyro Stabilizer on the 4WD to stabilize the lens and himself.

A Hermes edition is more likely that a LV edition!

Actually the Zeiss Apo Sonnar T* 1700mm f/4 sounds better... longer and faster..

Can I adapt that lens to my Olympus OM-D? With a 2x crop factor on an MFT, I should be able to pick out the Mars Rover.

I am more hopping to put on on a Pentax Q!

Ok, great, this focal length gets us into premium telescopes. You want that kind of image qauality at that kind of focal length, look up Astro-Physics, Takahashi, and TEC.

This 1600mm is a Leica collector's item. I would put my A-P triplet up against this telephoto any day. Just saying.

I didn't know that he lives in Hong Kong.

speedmaster20d wrote:
I didn't know the sheik of Qatar was into photography

Leica sure needs some help in these troubled times.

The Zeiss lens was made of the sheik too.

That lens was listed on eBay for a great price. I was going to buy it, but the seller wouldn't take PayPal. That's when I got suspicious.

That's a bargain for a Leica Lens!

Look at the size of that Red dot!! Bet that makes up a majority of the cost of the lens!

Great. I'm just selling my gear and wondered what to do with the money.

Not....

Happy shooting,
Yakim.