{"id":35073,"date":"2026-01-01T00:00:50","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T00:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/?p=35073"},"modified":"2026-01-01T21:52:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T21:52:44","slug":"my-favourite-lenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2026\/01\/01\/my-favourite-lenses\/","title":{"rendered":"My favourite old lens"},"content":{"rendered":"

End of year tends to make one reflect, and look back over the last year or so. As I did so, my “inner six-year-old’s<\/em>” mind wandered onto the subject of my favourite camera lens. Problem is that I kinda like them all and I’ve had a lot of fun with them. My favourite lens is almost always the one I’m using at the time. Then I feel this sudden urge to try taking the shot with something else. I like<\/em> to think this is because I have an enquiring mind, but the missus says its because I do indeed have the mental age of six. \ud83d\ude42 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Anyway, these are a few of the lenses to which I keep returning, and hope to again in the New Year. They’re are listed in no particular order of preference, but I’ll start with the biggest…<\/p>\n

The big Russian<\/h2>\n
\"Massive<\/a>
Massive Soviet era MTO 1000mm catadioptric lens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MTO 1000mm is so massive that one has to mount the lens on the tripod, then mount the camera on the lens. In this instance, the camera is a tiny Lumix DMC-GX7 Micro-Four-Thirds mirrorless.  And yes, that’s a focal length of one metre, and 2000mm ‘135 equivalent<\/em>‘ on \u00b54\/3.<\/p>\n

It is rumoured that these were standard issue for KGB covert surveillance operatives back in the 1970”s. Though weighing-in at over 2.4kg, these things were hardly what I would describe as ‘covert<\/em>‘.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A snap taken from Portsdown Hill, Hampshire, elevation 100m. Most of Portsmouth is just a few metres above sea level.  This snap shows the M275 Portsmouth Link Tipner Intersection, from around 2.5km to 3.5km \u2013 note the apparent closeness of the 100 metre countdown markers, just before the junction, to the left of the southbound carriageway.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n