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Mirror lenses
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Jun 16, 2019 12:07:59   #
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Here are a couple, also shot with the 500mm f8 Mirror Reflex Nikkor handheld on an F3, from Oshkosh 1988.

Sadly, the French Connection would be killed in a midair in 2000.
Sadly, the French Connection would be killed in a ...

And the Concorde would be grounded after a crash.
And the Concorde would be grounded after a crash....

Spitfire still flies, though!
Spitfire still flies, though!...

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Jun 16, 2019 13:30:25   #
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I should note that the Oshkosh pictures were shot with Ektachrome, because Kodak had a big tent and lounge for us and was handing out bricks of Ektachrome. And cool patches that had the Kodak logo and the legend, "I shot Oshkosh." (Though they had no 120 film, so my Superwide was fed Fujifilm, as below.)



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Jun 17, 2019 13:10:26   #
danbir1 Loc: North Potomac, MD
 
Look at this link for the Samyang 300mm 6.3 for mirrorless cameras, I have one, IQ is good, you need a monopod/tripod.
https://www.dpreview.com/products/samyang/lenses/samyang_300_6p3

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Jun 18, 2019 14:52:16   #
Salo Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ
 
These are all great mirror-lens photos. I especially like the Concord which was an amazing and uniquely beautiful airplane. Shame they had to abandon it. I always wanted but never got the chance to fly on it.

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Jan 6, 2020 12:23:31   #
Costello
 
If you pursue your "cat" lens, it will help your photographic vision with images unobtainable with other lenses. If sharpness us an issue, the author/photographer Herbert Keppler had a hint for mirror lens users: Take your lens to a competent repair shop. They should be able to fabricate a metal disk that will fit the small filter ring at the rear of the lens. With the proper drill, they can create a "Waterhouse" aperture disk. The correct aperture size can be fabricated on various disks to provide (a darker image to focus with, certainly) apertures from f/11 to f/22. They will provide a noticeable increase in sharpness. And are relatively inexpensive

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Jan 6, 2020 14:32:57   #
User ID
 
ialvarez50 wrote:

I have a question for all of you guys here.
Has anyone used a mirror lens in their digital
camera lately? Any that you recommend?
I used to have one that I use with my film
camera but I have not used one with digital.

I would appreciate any recommendations


I'm liking the Rokkor 250/5.6 which was
an unpopular film lens, since a 250/5.6
conventional lens was not huge.

However, it's an outstanding lens and is
very right-sized for APSC and m4/3. It
also solves an old mirror lens problem.
When you build an f/8 or f/11 mirror it
is locked into that aperture and amount
of DoF. Minimal DoF yet a dim f/8.0 SLR
finder always limited mirror lens sales.

An f/5.6 mirror brightens the view, but
as you cannot stop down a mirror, it's
pretty much only for astrophoto, where
everything is at infinity focus so no DoF
is needed.

But !!! If a f/5.6 mirror is only 250mm
then DoF increases somewhat, but the
price is a smaller image. Small Sensor
Digital to the rescue ! 250mm is plenty
long for APSC and m4/3, yet the view
is brighter [even on constant preview]
and the lens is appropriately smaller.
DoF of a 250/5.6 is same as a 500/f11.
Most 500 mirrors are f/8.0, and being
mirror lenses cannot stop down to f/11.
So "Kah-Ching !" for 1 stop more DoF.

The Rokkor is pricey, but there are a
few other 250 or 300mm f/5.6 mini
mirror lenses out there. Compared to
the Rokkor, they will need tweaks in
PP for contrast and sharpness but are
much easier on the wallet !

Much as the Rokkor is easy to pack,
I admit that finding uses for such a
long lens on small sensors is not my
thing. I don't do wildlife etc. Acoarst
I also don't find much use for a 500
and 1000mm mirrors either, but yes
those are on hand as well [for FF].
The 1000mm is about the size of a
gallon jug. It beats hauling a White
Cannon or such, as if that matters !

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Jan 14, 2020 11:45:23   #
speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho
 
torchman310 wrote:
I recently bought a used Nikkor 500MM F 8 mirror lens. I thought it would work well with my Nikon D 4-S camera. Big disappointment ! Lenses of today use better glass, ED, Fluorite, Nano Crystal Coatings, etc. So, as you may realize, the quality of those old mirror lenses is NOT what you will get with today's technology.


Specially if you compare it to a lens that does not use any glass!

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Jan 15, 2020 06:41:42   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
ialvarez50 wrote:
I have a question for all of you guys here.
Has anyone used a mirror lens in their digital camera lately? Any that you recommend?
I used to have one that I use with my film camera but I have not used one with digital.

I would appreciate any recommendations


I've had several. Even made a few lens covers that were smaller than the filter thread to provide a little more DoF. However, even the very best were barely ok compared to refracting lenses. Nothing worse that trying to shoot a moving subject at distance while manually focusing. I can't think of a valid use for one, especially when you can get a perfectly good lens with autofocus, auto aperture, stabilization, etc for around $1000 or less.

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