Tamron 500sp Mirror Lens

[User.81858]

Hi all. Does anyone have experience or comments of this lens. I have just been given one.

 

[Cap'n Bill]

It's regarded as one of the better third party mirrors. May suffer from degradation of mirror surface with age. x2 extender doesn't offer any real benefit with digital, cropping the image is generally better.

Has the problems of all mirror lenses. Very prone to camera shake as the lens is so light.Generally a tripod and remote release or time delay gives best result. Focusing is very critical, depth of field is very small. Specular highlights tend to appear as rings (donuts). Image quality is adequate but not up to the standard of a good refracting lens.

They are not an easy lens to use and most get sold on or left on the shelf after a time.

 

[User.81858]

Thanks Cap'n Bill. Had a play with it this afternoon. Put it on a D70IR (not risking myD300) set to manual focus) pressed shutter release and no shutter action. Back to manual do a bit of reading. It certainly brings them in though. Off to Kitchen now to make a Rhubarb Pie.

 

[Silver pixels]

Charly... How are you mounting this on your camera? The Tamron SP 500 had a changeable lens mount for Nikon/Canon/Minolta etc called the Adaptall 2.and, if I remember correctly, it was for the the mounts before digital camera's. I think that, even if you had the correct Nikon mount for pre digital, you would still need an adaptor to fit the D710. HTH's
Cheers

 

[User.81858]

Charly... How are you mounting this on your camera? The Tamron SP 500 had a changeable lens mount for Nikon/Canon/Minolta etc called the Adaptall 2.and, if I remember correctly, it was for the the mounts before digital camera's. I think that, even if you had the correct Nikon mount for pre digital, you would still nee/d an adaptor to fit the D710. HTH's
Cheers

Hi Silver pixels. Thanks for reply. It has the adaptall 2 for Nikon pre digital. I hoped to use it on a d300 and tried it on a D70. Not got the pennies for a d710. do they do a mount for Digital I wonder

 

[PeterTheJet]

Hi Charles
Not a Nikon user but on Sony I need to set the camera to release shutter without lens in the camera menu when using adapters, hope this helps.
Pete

 

[Silver pixels]

Hi Silver pixels. Thanks for reply. It has the adaptall 2 for Nikon pre digital. I hoped to use it on a d300 and tried it on a D70. Not got the pennies for a d710. do they do a mount for Digital I wonder

Hi, I could get a Canon FD (pre digital) to EF (digital) adaptor. They are available on Ebay. I'm not familiar with the Nikon systems but i would imagine that you could find similar.
Cheers

 

[User.81858]

Hi, I could get a Canon FD (pre digital) to EF (digital) adaptor. They are available on Ebay. I'm not familiar with the Nikon systems but i would imagine that you could find similar.
Cheers

Thanks for post Have just ordered on ebay ad states for d300

Hi Charles
Not a Nikon user but on Sony I need to set the camera to release shutter without lens in the camera menu when using adapters, hope this helps.
Pete

Thanks for post will read this up.

 

[Peter B]

I used one on the Fuji S2 pro which has a Niko mount and must be very similar to the D70 I would have thought? Your eyesight will have to be really spot on and you'll have to adjust the diopter if your viewfinder has an adjustable one, or else the focus will be off. Here's a photo showing the doughnuts that Cap'n Bill refers to and shows the need to have a fairly light background to make them disappear.

 

[User.81858]

I used one on the Fuji S2 pro which has a Niko mount and must be very similar to the D70 I would have thought? Your eyesight will have to be really spot on and you'll have to adjust the diopter if your viewfinder has an adjustable one, or else the focus will be off. Here's a photo showing the doughnuts that Cap'n Bill refers to and shows the need to have a fairly light background to make them disappear.

View attachment 60574

Thanks for post. when I can use it, it will go on my D300 that has dioptre adjustment. I quite like the middle picture. To me if it gets a picture I can put up with the donuts.

 

[seriousrikk]

Thanks Cap'n Bill. Had a play with it this afternoon. Put it on a D70IR (not risking myD300) set to manual focus) pressed shutter release and no shutter action. Back to manual do a bit of reading. It certainly brings them in though. Off to Kitchen now to make a Rhubarb Pie.

Do your camera settings require focus confirmation before your shutter will fire? Maybe it expects something back from the lens depending on the mode your camera is, were you in either aperture priority or manual?

 

[big soft moose]

isnt it a fixed apperture lens ? If so it will only function in M

 

[Peter B]

Do your camera settings require focus confirmation before your shutter will fire? Maybe it expects something back from the lens depending on the mode your camera is, were you in either aperture priority or manual?

isnt it a fixed apperture lens ? If so it will only function in M

According to the table on p183 of the D70 manual, certain non-CPU lenses can be manually focused with the electronic rangefinder (with a load of exceptions which probably include f8), and all can be focused without it, both on the M setting for focus. Metering seems to be unavailable, and shooting can only be done in M on the mode dial.

 

[Nod]

Just dug out my old Miranda mirror 500 f/8 and a D70. Focus isn't easy but the focus confirm light does indicate when it's achieved. No metering on the D70 but it MIGHT be possible on the D300.

 

[User.81858]

Just letting everyone know . I purchased an adapter from ebay and followed advice on the posts, now up and running thanks.