Are you getting started outdoors, gearing up for a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, or just need to save a few quid? We all need to get out, even in this economy. Here’s the lowdown on the best, more budget-friendly backpacking kit our team have reviewed over the last year or so, in one place for the first time

This chunky lens is a terrific telephoto prime with an exhilarating turn of speed www.sigmauk.com

Short, fast, apochromatic refractors with a flat image field that don’t cost a king’s ransom are perhaps the Holy Grail of telescope design. Altair Astro’s 60EDQ f/5 quad astrograph with dual-ED optic

Tim Irwin’s 3D printed 90mm lens is a whole lot better than it looks, says Damien Demolder , and it produces some useful, and fun, results

A not-so-standard, standard prime for full-frame Nikon and Sony mirrorless cameras www.viltrox.co.uk

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