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 !