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Current 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 Switch | 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 (APS-C + 35mm extension) | 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 | No | 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 | ||
 | 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 |     | 5) |
 | Asahi/Pentax Takumar 200mm F/3.5 | No | Prime (telephoto) | Manual | 200mm | F3.5 | No | 67mm | No | 1958 - 1965 | 2021 |     | 6) |
 | Asahi/Pentax Super-Takumar 200mm F/4 | Yes (original carry case) | Prime (telephoto) | Manual | 200mm | F4 | No | 58mm | Yes | 1965 - 1971 | 2021 | ||
 | Asahi/Pentax SMC Takumar 300mm F/4 | No | Prime (telephoto) | Manual | 300mm | F4 | No | 77mm | Yes (telescopic, built-in) | 1971 | 2021 | With tripod clamp. |
Accessories
| Part | Manufacturer Date | Purchase Date | Info | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 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 |
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)
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. Only issue is that some gorilla has tried to have a go in the past and the front name plate is slightly scratched.
5)
Lovely condition lens from Carl Zeiss, produced in East Germany from the 60's through to the early 80's.
6)
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.