Another question, Thoughts on Mirror Lenses

[unclebill]

What are your thoughts on Tokina 500mm Mirror lenses?

Bill

[byuphoto]

Never tried it. I did try the Vivitar/Phoenix 500 and it was very low contrast on the other hand the Sigma 600 will blow you away I love it

[Dan Vincent]

SIGMA 600 Mirror lens.

I have a Sigma 600 in beautiful condition. It has a case and a clear plastic box with several filters.

I ran off a roll of 12 on some birds in the feeder and they looked great.

I'm really not a long lens guy so I would trade this off for a Minolta XD-11 body in black.

This lens has a Minolta "T" mount but could be used with any other camera brand with a "T" adapter mount.

[Peter S.]

I have a Tokina 8/500, but didn't use it much. There are two issues: first F=8 is _very_ dim. So focussing is a pain. Then as it is typical for mirror (or other long lenses) You can focus beyond infinity. So You need to focus, even if the object is very far away. So both these issues are typical for these mirror lenses, and even an original Minolta lense is expected to perform better.

On the other hand, the small Tokina mirror lens got some plus point, too: it is very small, got quite a good lens shade, which usually comes with the lens (I wouldn't buy one missing it). Then there is the very small minimum focussing distance of only 1.5m - that means it got a 1:4 macro capability! It is ideal for taking photos of small critters. It is relatively light, and it is sharp - if You can hold it steady (You need a good tripod!).

I will sell mine in the long run, since I were able to acquire a 400mm Apo Tele :-) . But I would recomment it anyway - one just needs to understand the limitations of that kind of lens.

Best regards
P

[doubs43]

I own two mirror lenses; an MTO-500 and an MTO-1000. Both are in M42 mount and both are big, heavy and excellent.

Walker

[Just Plain Curt]

I own a 500 f8 Tamron mirror lens and although I don't use it often, it seems ok to me.