pecohen Loc: Central Maine

I've been making occasional visits to a nearby bog, both for the exercise and for photography. I wanted a lens with a bit more reach but preferably not too much bulk and not too expensive. With some doubts I decided to take a chance on an inexpensive 500 mm mirror lens. This morning I took it back to the bog to take some sample pictures, some of which I show below. The captions show my recollection of how far away but they are simply guesses, not measurements and not even the better estimates that with some forethought I could have read off of the lens.

The lens has a fixed aperture of f8 and that gives no control over depth of field (and bokea). The narrow depth of field should be apparent in all of the images below. Focus is pretty critical and is manual only.

With a fixed aperture my usual habit of shooting in aperture priority seemed to make no sense so I shot in shutter priority, but I left ISO as automatic so that the camera had a chance to make adjustments for low light; but the lighting was strong enough so that did not come into play. I'm not sure what would have happened if I'd use aperture priority, however. Perhaps that would be a better choice.

As if one experiment were not enough, I decided to try something else today at the same time. In the past I've used a monopod at the bog, thinking a tripod would slow me down too much. Animals just don't stay still long enough to set up a tripod. But I have a tripod that has one removable leg so you can build a monopod out of it. I've never used it for that, but it occurred to me that I could also take advantage of that to construct a bipod with more stability than would be possible with a monopod. It is also more bulky to carry around but I think the extra stability is worth it.

#1 About 6'

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#2 About 60'


#3 About 250'


#4 About 300'

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Looks good. Your focus is good.

You can use aperture priority mode. Of course you can't change it, but now the camera can now pick both shutter speed and ISO if auto ISO mode.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I once had a Nikkor 500mm mirror lens. Let it go with the rest of my 35mm film gear. I miss that lens but would have no use of it now.

Quixdraw Loc: x

By today's standards, small and light for 500mm. Not a great lens but not bad. You don't say if it is a Nikon, but if it is you can gain some flexibility if you can find the filter set - filters are small and mount at the rear of the lens.

a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel

I have had several mirror lenses. They are not all equal by any means. My current and best so far is the Minolta 500/8 which has a crude AF with the Sony e-A adapter. It was built for the Minolta mount which is what the Sony A mount also is. My camera is the e-mount a6500.

I note in passing that a 400/8 has just been announced (manual focus). The new lens is from Tokina and I don't know yet how it performs. If you have focus peaking (peeking?) then MF is feasible. In-camera image steady is probably a very good idea because F8 limits your shutter speeds to 500 or below at ISO 100 and the long lens could use more speed. You can move the ISO up a little, but then you introduce other IQ problems after a stop or two.

The sample attached was one of my first shots, hand held using manual focus because I didn't yet have the other adapter.

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JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

And here is a shot using the manual focus Tamron 500mm f8. This one is taken using an Olympus EM1, which has a crop factor of 2x, so this is an equivalent 1000mm FOV.

I also have the Minolta 500mm f8 reflex lens and it is every bit as sharp, and auto focus as well. But the Tamron was designed for manual focus and the focusing mechanism is really a pleasure to turn. The Minolta is actually not a pleasant experience in manual focus mode. The amount of focus ring turn is not very far and obtaining accurate manual focus is difficult.

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Canisdirus

Mirror lenses still have their place in the digital world.
Sony thought enough of them to make an AF model.
The problem is ...the bokeh...but not a deal-breaker for most.
Your best bokeh is the first image...where you were closer to your subject and the background was much further away.
That is always the best formula for stand out wildlife images...with any long lens.

Nice images...enjoy!

bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

my cameras are sony a-mounts. the minolta 500mm f8 mirror works just fine. the auto focus works well in good sun light. the contrast settings in the camera or editor improve the image quality. I do a lot of shooting at 1/1000 sec or better. I also do most of my shooting with this lens from a mono pod.

markwilliam1

I used to own the Minolta AF 500mm mirror lens but sold it due to the terrible bokeh....the little doughnut circles drove me nuts! BTW I believe the Minolta was the Only AF 500mm mirror ever made.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

The Hubble Telescope as well as others are mirrors.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

In essence you’re shooting aperture priority by default. If you shoot shutter priority it can only change the ISO if you’re set for ISO. Since the aperture can’t change that will always be the priority.

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

Nice pix!

I've had several mirror lenses. A Rubinar 1000, 500 & 300mm. A Sigma 600 (Ver.2). A Minolta AF 500. A Sirius 500. The Sigma 600 has the best quality of the lot. The autofocus of the Minolta is nice. The Sirius is small enough to fit in a pocket. All fun lenses but not the greatest image quality.

bwa

User ID

Bokeh problem ?
ROTFLMAO.

Mirror lenses have THE coolest bokeh of ANY lenses anywhere !

Canisdirus

Yes, the doughnut bokeh is highly sought after ... (sarcasm now turned off)

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Yes...as are most astronomical telescopes. But the reason they work so well is that everything they are shooting is effectively at an infinite distance...they don't even have to deal with focus at all. Just get it right in design and construction. Of course, if it's not quite right, life can be a real headache, as was discovered with Hubble.