Monster Nikon 6mm f/2.8 lens turns up in London

A rare £100,000 Nikon fisheye lens, said to be able to ?see behind itself? ? and dwarfing any camera it is attached to ? has gone on sale in London.

The Fisheye-Nikkor 6mm f/2.8 was credited as the world?s most extreme wideangle lens to cover the 24x36mm image area when it was unveiled at the Photokina trade show in Cologne, Germany in 1970.

It weighs a whopping 5.2kg, is 171mm long and has a diameter of 236mm.

?We came across it around seven weeks ago,? said Gray Levett, co-founder of Nikon dealer Grays of Westminster who told AP that he found the gem on a trip overseas.

Believed to be one of only a few hundred produced, it was principally designed for scientific and industrial applications and special effects when shooting portraits and architectural shots, for example.

The 12-elements-in-9-goups optic delivers a picture angle of 220º.