Some extreme equipment on our current shopping list

When we exhibited at The Photography Show at the beginning of March, we were quite surprised at the number of people who were asking us about various equipment which we don't currently stock. It was clear that there is an appetite out there for people to hire photographic equipment which might be regarded as "extreme". Obviously we want to be able to keep our customers happy. So we've put our heads together and come up with this shopping lost. We're looking into financing issues and we hope to be able to make the majority of the items described below available for you to hire within the near future.

Do please let us know if you have a particular interest in any of these, or indeed if there's something you'd like to hire but which you think we might have omitted from consideration.

Sigma APO 200-500mm f/2.8 EX DG

Comes complete with a dedicated 2x teleconverter to give you 400-1000mm f/5.6.

Length: 726mm
Diameter: 236mm
Weight: 15.7kg

Availability: Good. Widely available from good photographic retailers.
Purchase price: £13,000 (New)

Estimated hire price: £600/week

Nikon AF-S 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR

Comes complete with a dedicated 1.25x teleconverter to give you 1000mm f/7.

Length: 469mm
Diameter: 160mm
Weight: 4.6kg

Availability: Good. Widely available from good photographic retailers.
Purchase price: £14,000 (New)

Estimated hire price: £600/week

Canon TV 5200mm f/14 mirror lens

The biggest lens ever designed for SLR use. (There's an SLR attached to it in this picture!)

Length: 1890mm
Diameter: 600mm
Weight: 100kg without stand

Availability: Very restricted. We believe that only 3 were ever made and we haven't seen one for sale for several years.
Purchase price: US$55,000 (Used, eBay, 2008)

Estimated hire price: £1,500/week

Nikon Ai 1200-1700mm f/5.6-8 P ED IF

Probably the world's longest ever zoom lens.

Length: 888mm
Diameter: 237mm
Weight: 16kg

Availability: Restricted. Only 15 units were manufactured in 1988-98 and we haven't seen one for sale for quite a while.
Purchase price: US$75,000 (New, Nikon, 1990)

Estimated hire price: £1,800/week

Nikon 2000mm f/11 C Reflex

We believe this is the biggest lens Nikon have ever made.

Length: 598mm
Diameter: 262mm
Weight: 7.5kg

Availability: Moderate. Approximately 300 units were manufactured in 1971-77.
Purchase price: €66,000 (Mint-, auction, 2011)

Estimated hire price: £2,400/week

Canon EF 1200mm f/5.6 L USM

A legendary lens but not Canon's biggest ever (see above).

Length: 836mm
Diameter: 228mm
Weight: 16.5kg

Availability: Uncertain. Total production in 1993-2005 is rumoured to be less than 20 units. But B&H in New York have sold two in recent years.
Purchase price: US$120,000 (Used, B&H, 2009)

Estimated hire price: £3,000/week

Nikon Ai 6mm f/2.8 fisheye

Probably the widest fisheye lens ever made, with an amazing angle of view of 220°.

Length: 171mm
Diameter: 236mm
Weight: 5.2kg

Availability: Reasonable. Approximately 1000 units manufactured, 1972-98.
Purchase price: £100,000 (Mint-, Grays of Westminster, 2013)

Estimated hire price: £4,000/week

Leica APO-Telyt-R 1600mm f/5.6

A unique lens, specially commissioned by Sheikh Saud Bin Mohammed Al-Thani of Qatar.

Length: 1200mm
Diameter: 420mm
Weight: 60kg

Availability: Difficult. There's only one and the owner certainly doesn't need to sell. But he might be getting bored with it by now.
Purchase price: HK$16,000,000 (New, Leica, 2012)

Estimated hire price: £50,000/week

Zeiss APO Sonar T* 1700mm f/4

A unique lens, specially commissioned by an anonymous client. Designed for medium format use: the picture shows it attached to a Hasselblad.

Length: not documented
Diameter: not documented
Weight: 256kg

Availability: Difficult. There's only one and the owner presumably doesn't need to sell. But he might be getting bored with it by now.
Purchase price: >€2,000,000 rumoured (Zeiss, 2006)

Estimated hire price: £50,000/week TBC

Lockheed KH-11 Kennan 57600mm f/24

Similar to the Hubble telescope, but designed to point downwards.

Length: 13.2m
Diameter: 2.4m
Weight: 11.1 tonnes in launch configuration

Availability: Hopeful. NASA have two, built as spares but unused. Storage is costing a fortune and we hope they may be amenable to an offer.
Purchase price: Classified.

Estimated hire price: £60,000,000/week plus launch costs. Please note that enhanced background checks would be required for any client wishing to hire this item.