Do they sell any cheap/affordable 600mm lenses.

FatBear · Apr 30, 2019

Soocom1 said:
I tried several times to get the flowers in focus, but as the previous poster stated, you get a donut boke and what was so frustrating other than the wind was in inability for some reason to get anything outside the center of the pic (between the flower pods) into focus.

500mm is 500mm. That is a fairly high magnification for a camera lens. What you are seeing is the very shallow depth of field of a 500mm lens at f8 (probably, you didn't state.) You don't state the shutter speed, but at f8 it may be too slow. You are seeing motion blur from the wind and possibly from camera shake unless you have it on a heavy tripod with a cable release. A good, recent camera may offer an ISO high enough to stop the motion blur, but the limited depth of field is inherent in the glass.

Mirror lenses were popular in the 1980's Hollywood movies with the "photo-sniper" stuff, but they are dedicated lenses that require alot of knowledge and patients to work.

I know that was just a typo, but it was a good one: my dentist used to have a special mirror lens for shooting his patients' teeth.

Derrel · Apr 30, 2019

Elevated ISO, or the ability to vary the ISO used with today's digital cameras, ha made using a 500mm f/8 mirror lens esier than back in the film days, when we were often using ISO 64 or 100 clor, or 125 or 400 ISO B&W..now, we can go to 1,000 ISo to 3,200 ISO, and get 'decent' color shots.

We now have shutter speeds of 1/4000 on a lot of cameras,so f/8 is not the serious limitation is used to be!

Soocom1 · Apr 30, 2019

The biggest problem with fixed mirror lenses is that they act just like view camera lenses w/o apatures or shutters. They are simply glass.

ac12 · Apr 30, 2019

Soocom1 said:
The biggest problem with fixed mirror lenses is that they act just like view camera lenses w/o apatures or shutters. They are simply glass.

You are looking at it from the negative side.
Look at it from the positive side.
Or at least, do a pro and con comparison.

Yes it does not have an aperture. But as @Derrel said, shutter speed is more adjustable today than it was in the film days of max 1/1000 sec. So you can adjust exposure with just the shutter speed. And if that is not enough, the ISO is adjustable also.

A mirror lens is a specialized lens, not a GP lens. So you have to look at it and evaluate if/how it will match to what you want to do.

Example1 - Logistically, I would rather carry my 500/8 mirror than my brothers 600mm "stovepipe" refractor lens.
Example2 - It is NOT a zoom. So if you need a zoom, get a zoom, not a mirror lens.
Example3 - There was only ONE autofocus mirror lens (Minolta/Sony), now out of production. If you need AF, and you don't have a Sony A mount, don't get a mirrror lens.

BTW, I do not know of a 35mm SLR lens that had a shutter. Cuz to use a lens shutter means you can't use the viewfinder.
Yes I know the Hasselblad has a shutter in the lens, but it also has a 2nd "shutter" behind the mirror, and they worked in sequence.

dxqcanada · Apr 30, 2019

Minolta Maxxum AF 500mm Reflex

OMP Ron · May 1, 2019

Raw photographer said:
Hey there wondering if they sell any affordable 600 mm lenses for canon cameras.
Thanks.

Hello Raw Photographer,
If you are going to spend $500 why not buy a Nikon P900, it gives you a 2000 mm optical lens that is as clear as most of the huge tubes out there and only weighs a little over two pounds. I bought it as a backup and find myself using it more than my original camera. The surprise to this camera is the closeup work.

zombiesniper · May 1, 2019

OMP Ron said:
2000 mm optical lens that is as clear as most of the huge tubes

It does not have a 2000mm optical lens it has a 4.3 - 357mm lens and it is defiantly not as clear as a "large tube lens". I've seen images from one and and my set up. Not the same at all.

Now having said this. This is an excellent option for wildlife.
It does grant the user a heck of a lot for the price an I think bridge cameras such as this are the best choice for a lot of people.
You can get some excellent images at ranges that are simply out of the price range of most people to achieve with a DSLR.

OMP Ron · May 2, 2019

Hello Zomiesniper,

I stand corrected, I should have said the Nikon 900 has an "equivalent 2000 mm lens." I will agree that a high end Canon or Sigma lens is a good investment, but only this person intends to eventually move up to high end a full image sensor camera, otherwise they may be wasting their money. I bought my first SLR in 1971, a Yashica TL1000 and purchased a manual 450 mm Vivitar lens to go with it and since then I have owned four beloved Canon SLR cameras but none of them have provided me with the fun that the Nikon 900 has so I am a bit prejudiced. I have taken dozens of photos that I would not have been able to take with any other camera and as a friend of mine once told me, discussing the quality of an image is a moot point if you don't get to take the shot.

Raw photographer · May 2, 2019

I am a canon user. will it matter if i buy that Nikon lens.

ac12 · May 2, 2019

Raw photographer said:
I am a canon user. will it matter if i buy that Nikon lens.

ONLY if someone makes a Nikon to Canon adapter.
If not, then it won't work, so don't buy it.
If not, then the options are Sigma or Tamron in Canon EF mount.

Derrel · May 2, 2019

A adapt ed Nikon F-mount lens will LOSE autofocus, and automatic operation of the iris diaphragm. NOT a problem with say, a mirror lens which is manual focus ONLY, and does not use any diaphragm whatsoever. Nikon made lots of 500mm f/8 mirror lenses, in two long production series. Lensbaby and mirror lenses..both are user-focused, no AF, and no automatic diaphragm. The only two types of lenses to buy in F-mount, to be used on a Canon d-slr: Lensbaby lenses, and mirror telephotos.
Nikon F-mount to Canon EF adapters are plentiful, and need no glass to achieve infinity focus. I have actually USED a good number of F-mount (Ai, AI-s, Af and AF-D) lenses on Canon d-SLRS (20D and 5D) and my last adapter was the Photodiox Nikon G-to-Canon "pro" adapter to use G-series lenses (which are G-elded, having NO aperture ring on the lens!) with a click-stopped method of aperture control on Canon cameras.

beagle100 · May 4, 2019

sure, Sigma 150-600 "C" ... $800

www.flickr.com/photos/mmirrorless

zaroba · May 29, 2019

If you just wanna dip your toes in the water and experiment before spending a lot, Amazon sells an Opteka 500mm manual focus mirror lens for under $100. Can get it as a kit with an x2 teleconverter as well to make it a 1000mm lens. I got one long ago and used it a few times on trips to large parks and the shore. It was an ok lens but my eyesight isn't the best so the manual focusing was a real issue for me and most of the pics ended up coming out blurry.

petrochemist · May 29, 2019

zaroba said:
If you just wanna dip your toes in the water and experiment before spending a lot, Amazon sells an Opteka 500mm manual focus mirror lens for under $100. Can get it as a kit with an x2 teleconverter as well to make it a 1000mm lens. I got one long ago and used it a few times on trips to large parks and the shore. It was an ok lens but my eyesight isn't the best so the manual focusing was a real issue for me and most of the pics ended up coming out blurry.

My Ricoh 600mm f/8 mirror lens was only about half that, just as fiddly to focus - unless you have focus aids.
Mine's in PK mount which is easily adapted to Canon's EF, I often use it with a MFT-EF reducer (along with other adapters) to reduce the crop factor & increase shutter speeds on both micro four thirds & APSC. 1200mm equivalent FOV is a real pain to handhold!

Here's an infra red shot though the lens using a tripod (no reducer for this shot):

Gaff Ketch 'Betty Alan' by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr

and one handheld using the reducer:

Handheld mirror test by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr