Mirror lens

SpikeK6

SpikeK6

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Hi guys

Well after getting some monies for xmas I have been looking for a new lens on ebay.
find there are alot of these "mirrior lens" on there which offer massive magnification but what i want to know is, what are they, never hear any one on here using them, so whats the deal.

Not looking at buying one, just curious, unless you all rave about them:thumbs:

Thanks guys

Spike
 
..
"here" is a look

usually 500mm f8
 
Mirror lenses or to give them their technical name Schmidt-Cassegrain optics were designed primarily for astronomical observation not photography as such.

In the 70’s a lot of camera manufactures adopted the Schmidt-Cassegrain configuration to produce low (ish) cost long telephoto lenses.
Initially the reception of these was good, their long focal length combined with a reasonable compact size won the hearts of many photographers, however it soon became apparent they had some shortcomings.

The Schmidt-Cassegrain lens configuration was designed primarily for astronomical observation, as such having a fixed aperture was only a disadvantage if what you were observing did not produce enough light for the eyes to resolve the viewed image.

Some photographers became frustrated at the lack of ability to control the depth of focus with a fixed aperture lens, one huge hurdle that the mirror lens could not get past was the rather distracting ‘doughnut’ effect in the out of focus areas of the image know as ‘bokeh’. So distracting were these circular effects that one picture editor of a national newspaper would not publish images shot with these lenses.


By the mid 1980’s autofocus was the buzzword in photographic circles and although I believe Minolta produced an auto focus mirror lens they fell out of favour with the photographic community, although they are still alive and well in their original usage of astronomical observation.

Mirrors lenses still pop up on eBay from time to time, the Tamron SP 500 and the Vivitar ‘600 Solid Cat’ being very popular. The former needs a special EOS mount to fit on canon cameras, the latter were mount specific.

To sum up if cheap enough and used for ‘ observation’ rather than creative photography mirror lenses can be a good stopgap buy, however a word of warning modern digital SLR’s do not have the fine focussing screens of the 70’s counterparts, consequently focussing mirror lenses on modern DSLRS can be a bit hit and miss

Oh yes stay away from cheap brands advertised on eBay, they really are only useful as doorstops .

Refrences

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/tutorials/mirror.html

http://www.mirrorlenses.co.uk/ml_gallery.php

http://www.photozone.de/mirror-lenses
 
I bought my Tamron back when I was using film, but because it's a Tamron, I was able to buy an adapter to fit it to my Eos.

As has already been stated, it's a fixed aperture which can be a pain, the 'donut' bokeh is not to everyone's taste, and these lenses tend to lack a bit of contrast. Having said all that, it is still possible to take perfectly acceptable photographs with them.

This is mine fitted to my 40D (I can't believe how dusty it is!)

189.jpg


And this is a photo taken with the above combination.

098.jpg
 
Thanks for that excellent write up Holden.

I was not in the market to buy one just seen them and wondered what they where and how good they where.

Will not be buying one now even at a good price, going to save for a decent ish long lens.

Thanks again

Spike
 
The big advantage of mirror lenses is that mirrors don't suffer from chromatic aberration, so considering the price they can be quite sharp. And the reflex design 'folds' the light path so they are very short and usually light also.

Most of the downsides can be worked around except for the dohnut bokeh which is very prominent (and horrible).
 
Scarcrow,

Did you get one of the realy rare Tamron Adaptors or did you go for another make?

Aso have you considered the excellent matched multiplier :) f16 nthough :'(
 
focussing is hard at what could be termed infinity
the f no is fixed..
i had a 500 mirror for my 35mm shots...used it for fun
really a piece of non essential kit for me

ps all the highlights are doughnut shaped
 
I used to have a 500mm mirror lens on my old film camera - used it for cricket in the summer. It was quite good on a sunny day and was nice and short to boot. Only trouble it was f8.
 
Holden. the converter I have is a Tamron-EF which I thought was made by Tamron. If they are ultra rare, then it must be by another company. All I know is that I bought it fairly cheaply off ebay and it works fine.

No worries about any connections because the lens is manual focus only and is of fixed aperture.
 
HoppyUK said:
Most of the downsides can be worked around except for the dohnut bokeh which is very prominent (and horrible).
Click to expand...
that can be worked around too in many cases.

& yes, Minolta produced an autofocus 500/8 reflex which is still made by Sony to fit Alphas.
it's definitely a niche lens but it does have utility.
 
Never heard of mirror lenses before. Thanks for the lesson.

Everyday's a school day i suppose
 
FooFanDan said:
Never heard of mirror lenses before. Thanks for the lesson.

Everyday's a school day i suppose
Click to expand...

It's an interesting design that gets around the long physical length of typical telephotos by using mirrors to bounce the light path backwards and forwards before admitting it to the camera.

It is still very much in use for astronomical telescopes - just google Schmidt-Cassegrain.
 
heidfirst said:
that can be worked around too in many cases.
& yes, Minolta produced an autofocus 500/8 reflex which is still made by Sony to fit Alphas.
it's definitely a niche lens but it does have utility.
Click to expand...

You can't work around the doughnut bokeh - it's caused by the mirror at the front. That's the problem with them.
 
HoppyUK said:
You can't work around the doughnut bokeh - it's caused by the mirror at the front. That's the problem with them.
Click to expand...
yes, you can - you simply don't get into positions where you get highlights in the background e.g. use the sky as a background ;)

in the 70s many people bought mirror lens for the doughnut bokeh - an effect that has fallen out of fashion though.
 
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