500mm Mirror lens.

From bitter experience, avoid mirror lenses like the plague. Manual focus, fixed aperture, polo mint bokeh, they are horrible.
 
They can be good for a laugh and worth having a play around with, but...

manual focus, FIXED f/8 aperture, doughnut shaped oof highlights.
Oh... and you'll lose a couple of stops too if you use the 2x converter.

it's up to you!

cheers
Bill
 
agree with all above - and at that price a particularly horrible example I'd imagine!
 
Some mirror lens are very good, the Minolta/Sony 500m AF Reflex for one, and Nikon made a good 500mm, neither of which are cheap.

Some of the old russian m42 mounts were optically good also but they are pretty hard to find now.

The Phoenix is just average *** apparently a good copy can produce decent results for what you pay (not sure if that means much <G>).
 
I had a Centon 500 cat on a Pentax DSLR quite a few years ago - thought it would be good for moon (i.e. Lunar !) shots - it wasn't.
It was relegated to be back of the cupboard quick-smart.
Novelty value only IMO.
(sits back and waits for someone to post simply stunning images taken with a cat just to prove me wrong)
 
Knew it !
Thanks Peter. Looks like I should have persevered with it a bit more. The camera and that lens have been passed on to my son now so I'll see what he makes of it.
Thanks for posting the link.
 
Pete, not necessarally. Remember, the minolta is the only autofocus mirror made and in good shape used goes for $450 USD approx (Sony version new is over $600). Your Centon optically is nowhere a match. Still, maybe your son will be able to get it to produce some decent shots.
 
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