This Soviet 1,100mm Lens is Basically a Telescope with a Camera Mount

Ever wanted to strap a portable telescope to the end of your camera and carry it around? With the soviet-made MTO 1000A 1,100mm f/10.5 mirror lens, you can just about do it. A monster of a lens, Christopher Frost Photography put it through its paces for one of his Weird Lens Reviews.

The most surprising thing about this lens is just how usable it is in the end. Sure it’s massive, and heavy, and your subject has to be at or farther than screaming distance to properly photograph them, but the focusing mechanism is precise and the images Frost was capturing weren’t half bad.

Plus, it gets you so… incredibly… close. Here is a shot he captured at 105mm:

And that same shot with the 1,100mm:

Check out the full weird camera review below to see some sample shots and hear all about this soviet behemoth of a telescope lens. But be warned… you’ll want to buy one afterwards, even if you have absolutely zero use for it.