blog:photography:equipment

Part Manufacturer Date Purchase Date Info
Canon EOS 200D DSLR 2017 2017 My first DSLR, although an entry-level model I'm still learning my way around this.

Lenses

Part Boxed? Type Focus Type Focal Length F Number Stabilisation Filter Thread Hood Manufacturer Date Purchase Date Images Notes
Canon 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 EF-S DC III Yes Zoom Auto/Manual 18mm - 55mm F3.5 - F5.6 No 58mm No 2017 2017 1)
Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Yes Macro, 1:1 Auto/Manual 105mm F2.8 Yes 62mm Yes 2014 2021 2)
Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 AT-X Pro SD (IF) DX No Zoom (ultra-wide-angle) Auto/Manual (pull-clutch) 11mm - 16mm F2.8 No 77mm Yes 2012 2012 3)
Asahi/Pentax SMC Takumar 55mm F/1.8 No Prime Manual 55mm F1.8 No 46mm Yes 1972 - 1975 2021 4)
Asahi/Pentax SMC Takumar 135mm F/3.5 Yes (original carry case) Prime (portrait) Manual 135mm F3.5 No 49mm Yes 1965 - 1971 2021 5)
Carl Zeiss Jena DDR MC Sonnar 135mm F/3.5 No Prime (portrait) Manual 135mm F3.5 No 49mm Yes (telescopic, built-in) 1960's - early 1970's 2021 6)
Asahi/Pentax Takumar 200mm F/3.5 No Prime (telephoto) Manual 200mm F3.5 No 67mm No 1958 - 1965 2021 7)
Asahi/Pentax Super-Takumar 200mm F/4 Yes (original carry case) Prime (telephoto) Manual 200mm F4 No 58mm Yes 1965 - 1971 2021 8)
Asahi/Pentax SMC Takumar 300mm F/4 No Prime (telephoto) Manual 300mm F4 No 77mm Yes (telescopic, built-in) 1971 2021 9)
Celestron C90 Yes Spotting Scope / Telescope Manual 1250mm F13? N/A Yes 20xx 2022

Accessories

Part Manufacturer Date Purchase Date Info
Canon EP-EX15II ?? 2021 Eyepiece extension for EOS cameras. Remove the original eyepiece, fit the extension, then slide the original eyepiece back on. Moves the viewing position back to make it more comfortable (no face smudged right up against the LCD screen, and easier to for those of us who wear glasses without smashing them up against the back of the camera).
URS-7000 2022 2022 External intervalometer for EOS cameras. Cheap (<£10) device that can do remote shutter release based on a timer and number of shots wanted.
Canon RS06-E3 2021 2021 Remote shutter release for EOS cameras.
K&F Concept 200cm Tripod 2021 2021 Useful, fairly lightweight tripod with lots of adjustment. Seems well built.
Skywatcher Star Adventurer 2i Wifi Pro 2021 2021 Very popular star tracker with WiFi functionality, smartphone control and start-guiding add-on options
Svbony Red Dot sight & hot shoe rail 2021 2021 20mm mounting rail for the hot shoe mount and an illuminated red-dot sight. Should be useful when trying to align the camera for astro pictures, often the live viewfinder is not nearly sensitive enough to pick up what you want to look at.
3D Printed polar illuminator adapter 2021 2021 Allows permanent fitting of the Star Adventurer polar illuminator on the front of the L-bracket. From: http://www.astrokraken.fr/accessories-for-skywatcher-star-adventurer-mount-a184487612
3D Printed right-angle viewfinder adapter 2021 2021 Allows fitting an easily purchased right-angle adapter to the rear of the polar finder… instead of having to bend down constantly when aligning the tracker. From: http://www.astrokraken.fr/accessories-for-skywatcher-star-adventurer-mount-a184487612
Kenko MC7 Teleplus 2x 2000 2021 2x zoom adapter for Canon EOS EF/EF-S format cameras.

1)
Kit lens included with the 200D. Okay general purpose lens for out-and-about work but doesn't have an optical image stabilisation of any kind.
2)
Bought second hand. My first dedicated macro lens. Quite a heavy lens, but I'm really very impressed with this. In theory this would make a very good astrophotography lens - it's very sharp, has a flat image and high image quality… however focussing to infinity on this lens is nigh-on impossible; it doesn't have a hard stop at infinity, and there is only around 5-10 degrees of rotation to take the focus from 2m through infinity and past.
3)
Bought second hand. My first dedicated wide-angle lens. Compact and well built; some optical correction needed in long exposures, but otherwise really rather good. Very nice image quality and very wide - not the best image quality for astro when you move away from the centre of the lens, but improves when stopped down from f/2.8. At 11mm there's always some elongation in the corners though.
4)
Yes; this is one with the radiation-emitting Thorium-treated glass element. This was bought fairly cheaply on Ebay, but it had fungus between the two rear elements which required stripping the lens. Fortunately, it's quite a simple procedure on these designs and it cleaned up nicely - it still needs de-dusting, but that's much less of an issue. Only issue is that some gorilla has tried to have a go in the past and the front name plate is slightly scratched. Bought a new-old-stock 55/1.8 lens hood to finish it off.
5)
Bought as a birthday present for me by my wife in 2021. Really, really lovely condition including the original carry case.
6)
Lovely condition lens from Carl Zeiss, produced in East Germany from the 60's through to the early 80's.
7)
Extremely well regarded telephoto from Pentax/Asahi under the Takumar name; not 'Super' or 'SMC', since the 200mm f3.5 was never released in that branding unlike the 200mm f4. In reasonable condition - a little wear/light scratches to the focus ring and was missing the tripod clamp.
8)
The -other- 200mm Takumar; in F4 format. It's not nearly as bulky as the non-Super/SMC F3.5 lens. This set is in really nice condition with the original carry case, although the top and bottom foam needs replacing.
9)
Really big, really good condition 300mm/F4 SMC Takumar. Has integrated, telescopic lens hood, a non-original lens cap and the unique tripod collar. The rear mount has a rectangular cutout, which, if you have a full frame sensor camera, will clearly show up on the edge of the images - you will need an adapter that allows this to be align with the body opening. With an APS-C camera this isn't an issue since the sensor is much smaller. Interestingly, on this lens the generic, cheap M42 to EOS mount adapter had a unique issue; it would bind against the aperture control arm, meaning that once you tightened up the adapter, the aperture control was fixed. However a very small adjustment with a file on the inner radius of the adapter ring solved it and it now works perfectly.
  • blog/photography/equipment.txt
  • Last modified: 2022/10/17 13:44
  • by john