I used to own this exact same lens. It was superb. Unfortunately I had to sell it in 2012 due to loss of job and having to pay rent and bills. I was just a hobbyist photographer back then. My lens was purchased by someone in England who went on to use it in the press pool at the London olympics. At least someone was using it for something other than ducks and hummingbirds like I was.
And it's likely still in use to this day, and will continue to be used for decades more. Sorry you hit hard times. That must have been difficult to let go of a prized lens like that.
I also had 500/4 IS, but I sold it due to illnes I had. Now I would like to have 500/4 II or 600/4 II. But those lenses are hard to find used, and they are pretty expensive.
This is final assembly, a relatively simple task, technically speaking. Consider all the designing, manufacturing and testing that goes into each of the numerous individual parts. You can't believe how much effort goes into creating the glass elements. The fluorite is something special that takes a very long time to get to the final stage. I know it takes Canon a full year to grow the fluorite for their 1200mm lens. It's a large single crystal. They earn their money.
@pedrojorgeclaro This is not a lens the worker puts at 3:25 but a rubber safety ring which helps connect a lens with the next one. I own the 500mm f/4 and can surely "testify" that it is an optic masterpiece! Regards from Greece.
Good pro lenses are amazing. My old used Nikkor 400mm 3.5, 180 2.8 and my Hasselblad 180 and 100 are the four best I’ve ever used. I don’t use Canon, but I’m sure this above lens is spectacular also.
I had the 600 plus a new version of the 2x magnifier. Fun getting the right tripod gear and head for it, but to travel with it, you need to have a table to do set up. (You kept the lens in a big metal case) So I just filmed out the back window to the east bay, and also filmed the moon rising, and added it to live concert audio of Tom Waits from the 70's. It's on youtube. Eventually I made a film noir with the body, 5D Mark II. One pixel dies, good luck with video.
No, low dispersion is UD, officially stands for Ultra-low Dispersion and is used to indicate specific elements in Canon lenses (doens't have to be L lens) that has low dispersion characteristics. The "L" officially stands for luxury.
There is only one though in the workers mind: Do not sneeze, otherwise the lens is fucked! , I though they would have mask on to block spit to become stain inside the camera.
Very suprised to see the technicians hair in the assembly vid. We had a clean room in a plastics company that I worked and only body part exposed was your eyes
Employees in the Japanese manufcaturing sector are typically paid more than US employees in that sector. So based on wages alone a $6k lens made in Japan would be $4.161k if made in the US. Of course wages are not the only factor, there are raw materials, etc. However, it is probably fair to say that if Canon made its lenses in the USA that they could be produced for less cost. I hear that Canon have been looking at outsourcing recently so maybe lower prices could be on the cards.
it can mean many things,actually in terms of specs perhaps you can use it, i've read something somewhere that it is stated in some kind of official canon guide book that it actually stands for luxury.
netsurfer912 cheap lenses have a much cheaper process to make them the glass is not as good and the focusing motor is louder and they are not built like the L lenses that can survive water and dust where other lenses have little gaps where dust can come in my sigma died after 4 years and all my dads canon L stuff still works
Eats gooey dripping pizza with one hand, assembles lens with the other; splat! Oops! Right down the barrel! Wipes lens with sleeve, inserts next lens. Examines through laser precision tester; machine starts smoking, blows fuse. Ahh, good enough. Send it.
I own the Canon XL2 video camera and it has liquid in between the lenses. There is no mention of liquid installed on these types? Can you please explain? Thanks Great video. Joaquin from Arizona
The liquid is part of the image stabiliser in the XL2. I'm guessing the stabilisers in the SLR lenses have different designs. I can safely say the stabiliser in my XL1 is a lot more steady than the ones in my EF lenses.
Very impressed with the whole Process, are you sure this lens wasn't made by NASA ? I wonder if they could make a better lens in Space, Maybe Canon should move there lens factory to the Moon, now I want to sell my car so I can buy one
U have to give Canon employees tons of credit. This skill cannot be taught in any vocational school. No wonder countries like Japan, Germany, & Thailand are the only nations that can manufacture such high power optical lenses.
So this is why it costs as much as Hubble... always wondered why these lenses cost an arm and a lung. This stuff is like space tech! Still impressed how the Belgians created wold class optical glass hundreds of years ago. Glass is a marvel of human scientific ingenuity.
wouldnt it be cool if there was a little signiture on the lens, by the person that made it, kind of like when they used to build cars, would make the lens unique and feel more special :D
there's a lot less material needed because of the smaller sensor. and of course, in this price range, they will not have the same quality testing as here.
+Prince Westerburg English is not my native language so without having a though I took the same abbreviation for this from my language which of course is not right in English. :D Fixed.
I have a 400mm. Old. For the old Canon FD system (before EOS). Beatiful glass. Somehow photography lost its magic for me, with digital photography. I enjoyed the quality time with chemical magic in the darkroom. Choosing different films, different developers. Different papers,.. Aah, Kodak Kodabromide,.. Ilford Galerie,.. Oriental Seagull,.. Ilford Cibachrome... Those were the days. Not entirely gone yet, but seems so pointless besides the computer and printer.
I sometimes adapt old FD lenses to my Canon EOS digital cameras. It provides a look that you simply can't get any other way. I've got a 135MM f/3.5 that has incredible bokeh that I've not seen with any other lens.
that's just the short form here's the full expanded form Electronic Focus Fivehundred millimeter focal ratio four Luxury Image stabilization ulta sonic motor
They already make the king of all lenses, 600 F4, so why make another lens that is so close in design? The 500 F4 is only slightly smaller and lighter. It would be awesome if they could make something new and different like a 100 F1!
Amazing no hair net or mask during assembly. I can only imagine what an immense pain in the butt it would be to have a small hair fall in between lenses.
don't forget that in the free market, if your competitor is charging x amount then you now have the ABILITY to charge up to that amount, it's big business. yes. R&D, as well as all the machines developed to specifically design the hardware would cost x amount to make. however these machines are not specific to the hardware, rather than a wide range of hardware. thus lowering the cost. There are people out there that would claim sigma/tameron make better lenses than canon. that gets subjective
I used to own this exact same lens. It was superb. Unfortunately I had to sell it in 2012 due to loss of job and having to pay rent and bills. I was just a hobbyist photographer back then. My lens was purchased by someone in England who went on to use it in the press pool at the London olympics. At least someone was using it for something other than ducks and hummingbirds like I was.
And it's likely still in use to this day, and will continue to be used for decades more.
Sorry you hit hard times. That must have been difficult to let go of a prized lens like that.
In my opinion animals are more worth Fotografin then parts sports events.
Wow. Interesting story u told sir.
Sorry u had to part with ur lens tho. Things will get better. I hope.
😀
@Coo Koo no not really. Jus enjoy good photos. Nature especially 😃
I also had 500/4 IS, but I sold it due to illnes I had. Now I would like to have 500/4 II or 600/4 II. But those lenses are hard to find used, and they are pretty expensive.
I have a better understanding why lenses are so expensive now.
EF-fivehundred-millimeter-F-four-L-IS-USM is my word of the day
This is final assembly, a relatively simple task, technically speaking. Consider all the designing, manufacturing and testing that goes into each of the numerous individual parts. You can't believe how much effort goes into creating the glass elements. The fluorite is something special that takes a very long time to get to the final stage. I know it takes Canon a full year to grow the fluorite for their 1200mm lens. It's a large single crystal. They earn their money.
The leftover glasses used for 18-55mm lenses, I guess.. !! 😊
Lmao this is facts right here
Lmao
Lol yes that's right!
Yes they dont even polish them :D
That and the 75-300
Thank you Canon and all your technicians for adding value to my life.
A beautiful and fine craft. People put a lot of work into perfecting this throughout the years.
1:34 awesome beeping music at that spot
I have one of these and it lives up to all the hype. Camera bodies come and go but superb lenses are keepers.
I never would have thought it was all Hand made !!! Wow ! Now I will respect my lenses even more and those involved in making them !!!
Now I'm going to see if I can take mine apart!
@pedrojorgeclaro
This is not a lens the worker puts at 3:25 but a rubber safety ring which helps connect a lens with the next one. I own the 500mm f/4 and can surely "testify" that it is an optic masterpiece! Regards from Greece.
A very interesting video. No wonder lenses are so expensive ,there's so much work Involved in manufacturing them.
Still using my Canon FD series lenses. Beautiful Glass. F-1n and A-1's beautiful cameras as well.
Amazing to watch that come together. No wonder it costs about the same as a small car.
Good pro lenses are amazing. My old used Nikkor 400mm 3.5, 180 2.8 and my Hasselblad 180 and 100 are the four best I’ve ever used. I don’t use Canon, but I’m sure this above lens is spectacular also.
I had the 600 plus a new version of the 2x magnifier. Fun getting the right tripod gear and head for it, but to travel with it, you need to have a table to do set up. (You kept the lens in a big metal case) So I just filmed out the back window to the east bay, and also filmed the moon rising, and added it to live concert audio of Tom Waits from the 70's. It's on youtube. Eventually I made a film noir with the body, 5D Mark II. One pixel dies, good luck with video.
No, low dispersion is UD, officially stands for Ultra-low Dispersion and is used to indicate specific elements in Canon lenses (doens't have to be L lens) that has low dispersion characteristics. The "L" officially stands for luxury.
Aha! Now we can all make whatever lens we like at home!
Maaan they are really hand made :o no wonder why they are worth a crap load...But if I have the chance, I would NEVER EVER hesitate to buy one.
Great. I wonder if this work is done in special dust free rooms?
Yes, that's why they all have the blue jackets on .
That's what progress does. Even the process you're referring to made the one before it obsolete.
There is only one though in the workers mind: Do not sneeze, otherwise the lens is fucked! , I though they would have mask on to block spit to become stain inside the camera.
I bet they’re wearing masks now lol
The whole time the lady was assembling the lens, I cannot help but to worry if an eye lash hair falls into the lens and only to be discovered later.
Very suprised to see the technicians hair in the assembly vid. We had a clean room in a plastics company that I worked and only body part exposed was your eyes
Yes!!! And towards the end of the video, already without gloves, with naked hands manipulating the lenses, amazing! crazy!!!
lmao how do you get through the day without a diaper on your face
If Canon goes through all this to make a lens, I can't imagine how much work goes into a Nikkor lens.
Employees in the Japanese manufcaturing sector are typically paid more than US employees in that sector. So based on wages alone a $6k lens made in Japan would be $4.161k if made in the US. Of course wages are not the only factor, there are raw materials, etc. However, it is probably fair to say that if Canon made its lenses in the USA that they could be produced for less cost. I hear that Canon have been looking at outsourcing recently so maybe lower prices could be on the cards.
Loving the background tunes
And for a cool $9000 you can own one of them..............
So, how do they keep particles out of the assembly? I'm guessing they don't take extreme measures.
its a dust free environment
i wonder why when they assembly on the 2nd part(back) they don't use glove or finger protection like on the first part..
Insane how that lady assembling the lens managed to keep the lens interior completely sterile
It feels like smithing a Samurai sward. The way from raw glass to high performance single lenses to the complete objective.
High degree of technical skill is required: Screws in lens 😂
Me: I can do that sh#t easily!
10 minutes later
-Factory on fire!-
Me: oops 😬
Just an amazing series of videos. (1-3) amazing lens construction and skill by craftsmen & woman.
How plastics of that lense cover are made
Which machine is up of the machine who makes the lenses .....
Anyone who has ever kvetched about the high cost of first-rate glass should watch this video.
it can mean many things,actually in terms of specs perhaps you can use it, i've read something somewhere that it is stated in some kind of official canon guide book that it actually stands for luxury.
Yeh, and you can shoot awesome photos with that black sunsucking superhot thing ;)
I think it was not a design idea to paint that thing white ^^
So that's why those lenses are expensive as hell look at all that stuff they go through
I've always been crying about the lenses being so expensive, now I wonder why some manufacturers manage to get them so cheap ...
netsurfer912 cheap lenses have a much cheaper process to make them
the glass is not as good and the focusing motor is louder
and they are not built like the L lenses that can survive water and dust where other lenses have little gaps where dust can come in
my sigma died after 4 years and all my dads canon L stuff still works
ronnie tjikoeri sigma suff isn't bad though. i have two sigmas for quite some time now and they still work excellently (a mount, so no motors).
netsurfer912 i have a sigma that has broken aperture (18-200)
i had a sigma 50mm 1.4 that i sold. excellent lens. wish i had kept it. made in japan too. sigma makes nice stuff.
Eats gooey dripping pizza with one hand, assembles lens with the other; splat! Oops! Right down the barrel! Wipes lens with sleeve, inserts next lens. Examines through laser precision tester; machine starts smoking, blows fuse. Ahh, good enough. Send it.
But will it blend?
Wow what beast of a lens!
Their L series lenses are excellent !
I own the Canon XL2 video camera and it has liquid in between the lenses. There is no mention of liquid installed on these types? Can you please explain? Thanks Great video. Joaquin from Arizona
The liquid is part of the image stabiliser in the XL2. I'm guessing the stabilisers in the SLR lenses have different designs. I can safely say the stabiliser in my XL1 is a lot more steady than the ones in my EF lenses.
I still love that fuckin music.
such an amazing process of making lenses! i wonder how they made the 50mm f1.8!hahahahah
Those women have really nice... hands...
And I'm not surprised their in charge of the delicate process of putting everything together haha.
No specified torque for those threads? cool
Very impressed with the whole Process,
are you sure this lens wasn't made by NASA ? I wonder if they could make a better lens in Space, Maybe Canon should move there lens factory to the Moon, now I want to sell my car so I can buy one
It's only when you see that grey casing go on that it all falls together.
U have to give Canon employees tons of credit. This skill cannot be taught in any vocational school. No wonder countries like Japan, Germany, & Thailand are the only nations that can manufacture such high power optical lenses.
So this is why it costs as much as Hubble... always wondered why these lenses cost an arm and a lung. This stuff is like space tech! Still impressed how the Belgians created wold class optical glass hundreds of years ago. Glass is a marvel of human scientific ingenuity.
12 years for TH-cam to recommend this video
All this process and fungus can still infest the lens, is there a way to treat the lens internal to make it not ideal for fungus to grow?
Well, the lens is not completely sealed...as long as you store it in dry places, it should be fine for decades.
If you use it in sunlight the UV should kill any spores before they grow. I also store mine in a dehumidifier
Well, that shows you how inexpensive these lenses really are. No more quibbling from me in future. And I love my humble 24-105 by the way.
Good
Damn - I now understand why they charge so much for these lenses!
AMAZING!
ACHOO!!!!! Oh shit!
wouldnt it be cool if there was a little signiture on the lens, by the person that made it, kind of like when they used to build cars, would make the lens unique and feel more special :D
"IF 500mm F4L IS USM" Well that's a mouth full
where are the lenses made though?
there's a lot less material needed because of the smaller sensor. and of course, in this price range, they will not have the same quality testing as here.
A quality from Japan!
Thumping lens, that 500mm. Must be worth a pretty penny.
what if one of the workers sneezes?
They surely wear protective layer such as mask
@catalinaumbert What is the name of the lens? I can't find it
Can I haz one of the lenz?
4:34 best pickup line ever
@ucheucheuche This one was about lenses, bro.
show me the production of the leica noctilux 50mm f0.95
she must be really strong to carry that monster!!
Im guessing this lens have a money tag like the GNP of a small country..
+dtiydr I thik you mean GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and not BNP (British Nationalist Party)? LOL :o)
+Prince Westerburg English is not my native language so without having a though I took the same abbreviation for this from my language which of course is not right in English. :D Fixed.
+dtiydr There is GNP (Gross National Product), that's only one letter off.
I think I read it's about $16,500 US.
Bloody nice lense
Do they a 50% employee discount?
0.46 what are these lines there for?
Jesus! Photography What lines?
+dtiydr I think he means the reflection on the lens! [face palm]
I have a 400mm. Old. For the old Canon FD system (before EOS). Beatiful glass. Somehow photography lost its magic for me, with digital photography. I enjoyed the quality time with chemical magic in the darkroom. Choosing different films, different developers. Different papers,.. Aah, Kodak Kodabromide,.. Ilford Galerie,.. Oriental Seagull,.. Ilford Cibachrome... Those were the days. Not entirely gone yet, but seems so pointless besides the computer and printer.
I sometimes adapt old FD lenses to my Canon EOS digital cameras. It provides a look that you simply can't get any other way. I've got a 135MM f/3.5 that has incredible bokeh that I've not seen with any other lens.
now show us a kit lens being thrown together!
@catalin205 they sure are worth it though
Now i want to see how they make the 18-55 EF-S 3.5-5.6 IS II xD
Just a guy with a stick and a Bic lighter. It's pretty amazing actually.
If these lenses were made in the United States. You would be paying alot more then $6K for them.
After seeing that I'll take the crushed storm door glass version. Sheesh!!!
mmm... delicious... (referring to the chocolate dip in the factory worker's fingers...)
excellent work..!!!
It's painted white because the fluorite glass is sensitive to high temperature.
This thing costs,£8,489 or $10,449.7 as of May 2012.....
that's just the short form here's the full expanded form
Electronic Focus Fivehundred millimeter focal ratio four Luxury Image stabilization ulta sonic motor
Thanks, i now happy what i paid for my lens :D
Incredible.
Gosh I love this music!!!
They already make the king of all lenses, 600 F4, so why make another lens that is so close in design? The 500 F4 is only slightly smaller and lighter. It would be awesome if they could make something new and different like a 100 F1!
Your DOF would be so thin that you would not be able to use it.
they can use it to achieve bokeh at a longer distance
This should be the KIT Lense!!!
Amazing no hair net or mask during assembly. I can only imagine what an immense pain in the butt it would be to have a small hair fall in between lenses.
4:26 EF 70-200mm f2.8 ;)
don't forget that in the free market, if your competitor is charging x amount then you now have the ABILITY to charge up to that amount, it's big business.
yes. R&D, as well as all the machines developed to specifically design the hardware would cost x amount to make. however these machines are not specific to the hardware, rather than a wide range of hardware. thus lowering the cost.
There are people out there that would claim sigma/tameron make better lenses than canon. that gets subjective
That should be the lens on my spec !
@aassggkk
A was thinking about it too during the film.
Oh snap, the gloves have come off!
where is 4:51?
SuperDrives, I expect it's the same process as they make Lego blocks and drain pipes.
They can make 15 of them using only the front element of that 500 mm L-lens.