mirror lenses are they any good ?
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- čas přidán 13. 06. 2014
- Mirror camera lenses are better quality than most people think. That are difficult to use for the beginner photographer because they must be used completely in manual mode , nothing is automatic except the exposure in some cases , the f stop is fixed this one for example is f8, A although mirror lenses are difficult to use they are a very good cheap altrnative to expensive telephoto lenses.
Any telephoto lens is difficult to hold steady and mirror lenses are no exception, a tripod is by far the best answer.
Thank you! I also have a 7D! When I purchased it-I also got a lot of extras including a mirror lens. I had absolutely no idea what to use it for until you came along. Thank you sir from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan!
Great video. Been wondering about these for a while and not very many videos about that actually explain them with shots taken with one, so good on ya. Very good and informative.....
Great stuff, very informative and helpful!
Mirror lenses are very well worth the money. I bought myselt a Canon FDn 500/8.0 manufactured in 1980 for about $150 a few years ago. It was in mint condition. I use it free hand on my Fujifilm X-H1 for bird photography. Manual focusing on flying birds needs practice, but as the "film is free" in the digital world it's just to shoot on. I love the result and after some 10000 shots it's not that hard any more to nail the focus.
Great to see another video from you Phillip. Hope it's not too long before the next one!
Very soon I promise
Nice to watch you after months, Phill. Thanks!
I have owned, and used, a Tokina 500mm F8 since the 1980s quite successfully. I use a number of Nikon film and DSLR cameras with good outcomes. This was a very interesting video, especially the shots with the tele-converter. It was also a most enthusiastic one. Thanks for posting.
Loved this video, is exactly the kind of info i was looking for! Thanks a lot!
The effective aperture can be changed by creating a donut shaped opaque "filter" for the front of the lens.Then you put holes in the donut. The size and shape and smoothness of the holes will improve sharpness slightly and will change the shape of out of focus highlights.
Interesting, I hadn't even heard of those kind of lenses, i learn something new every time i watch your videos. Thank you for that!
Very good, and what makes it soft is the fact that we are pushing it to the limits of the mirror...
I love how you explain the lenses. Great work. I will subscribe.
Hallelujah..... Hallelujah.... (hear Handel slowly fading in)... Nice to have you back, Mr. McCordall! Nice video. Thanks.
Very interesting, thanks. Like most people I've seen these for bargain prices and wondered if they were any good but have always been too wary to go ahead and spend the money. Having taught myself to use manual for everything but AF I might be able to adapt to this fairly quickly, might be worth the investment.
the best explanation for Miror Lenses .
nice to meet you Sir.
Image/focus peaking and tripod essential and I enjoy using the mirror lens a lot. Not great for action but ideal for land and city scrapes.
A very interesting video indeed, very tempting to get one to play with....
I used to be an amateur astronomer and had all types of telescopes and the cat was a good all round telescope.
I just picked up a makinon mirror lens for $30 at a pawn shop and a adapter for $20 and its not a bad lens at all if you know what it is and know how to use it.
Im planning a full moon shot coming up behind some radio station towers using photopills.
You right about post processing you get some damn good images from one of these for not much money.
Thanks for the demo and info, very useful.
The mirror lenses are all over the park as to optical alignment and Phillip's 500/8 is obviously quite good. If you can find a good one you still have the doughnut shaped highlights in the unfocused part of the image and, being such a long lens, that can be a large part of the image. For novelty, these doughnuts can pass, but for a conventional look they can trip up the viewer. The photographer has to decide. For astronomical use they do not come into play as the entire image is essentially infinity. I have a Nikon 500/4 refractor, or conventional type lens, and it is such a beast that I seldom use it. Nothing in the universe is without compromise. Great review!
thanks great review and keep up the good work uncle !!!!!!
loved it sir. loved the way you did it:)
Good to see you back, i did have one of these lenses and found them to be remarkably good for the price.
Thanks for the useful video. Just one small correction - the light travels three times the distance (not twice).
I was looking for this comment!
Thnx for the info, it's very much appreciated
Looks amazing I just bought one bit worried about focus but for price hope I can use it
Oh what a genius review! Thank you!
I shoot a mirrorless Sony A7 mk II camera so I have been dragging out a lot of old manual focus lenses as the image peaking makes it easy to precisely focus the image, so I still shoot manual from time to time. I tried a Quantaray mirror lens of similar design to yours and I was pleasantly surprised that it looked pretty decent. Unlike the Canon, the Sony has the image stabilization built into the body, so the 500mm was not too terrible to use hand holding. With the 2x tele-converter even with the stabilization set for 1000mm, it was impossible to hand hold, so a tripod is necessary.
My results were not too different from yours in which the 500mm alone was acceptably sharp, but the Kalt branded tele-converter really softened things up. I also noticed that your lens had the same ugly bokeh as mine. I guess that is to be expected of a mirror lens. I'll have to look to see if I have a better quality converter lying around and see if that improves things. I'd imagine on a bright day or trying to take astral photography the chromatic aberration would be pretty awful. Mine was given to me by someone cleaning out their house, so I essentially saved it from the landfill. So for a free lens, it is very good.
That was great! Thanks! I used mirror lense on 1994 to 1997, i think it was 1000mm on a 35mm film camera.
Since he was shooting 35mm film at that time there is no crop factor involved and he was talking about a different lens
No wonder you get sharp pictures, that tripod is built like a tank!! Love it. Thanks for sharing. I have two of these lenses. I like them too.
Hi may I ask if I have to use tripod when I use this lense ?
Thanks for the video.
Is that 1600mm FOV or 1600mm magnification or both because of the crop factor?
wow cool! iv'e been wondering about those for a long time, Idk why I haven't thought to consult with youtube sooner,lol
Thank you sir for teaching photography
Thank you for the video, it was very useful for me.
Have just purchased a mirror lens online and am still awaiting its arrival. My first serious camera was a Pentax K1000 so didn’t see the manual spec as a problem. Thanks for the informative video - can’t wait to try the lens out although plan to use a monopod for more convenience in the field.
so how is it ?
Randomly found your channel. I'm subscribing (:
Hi . great video . Do you know if it supports micro 4/3? Maybe using an adapter .. right? One more question .. could you take long exposure photos to the stars? Without light pollution. Thank you . Good channel
Wonderful - thank you - MOST helpful to be specific/
Given a choice between this 500mm mirror lens and something like a Bower/Vivitar 500 mm lens, what would you choose?
It's great to see a new video by you, Philip. Hope there are more to follow. :)
Great knowledge Sir, I have eos m50 mirrorless camera with mount adapter, this mirrorlens does work on my camera! 2nd this lens work on video!
Love this guy!! I am expecting my Rokinon 500mm and 2X multiplier any time soon !
Should be fun!!
NO! Get a Sony7r or 7, 7s. These are the best camera's made...period. And then spend money on just 2-3 lenses. As far as zoom goes, i figure if I wanted total such a picture, I'd walk over there.
Thanks for such a positive video. I'm getting what appears to be your lens's doppelganger. Looking forward to taking it hiking with me as a lightweight telescope. There are lots of t2-to-1.25 adapters out there for exactly that purpose. It'd be sort of a more-compact Celestron C90, which is also pretty good for hiking, though on the large side of possible. We'll see how well collimated it is and/or how easy it is to align. As for the TC, I'll probably stick to a telescope Barlow or a nice Sigma APO.
These lenses are basically Schmidt Cassegrain telescopes on a small scale, the front lens by the way is called a corrector plate.
The russian versions i heard are maksutov designs however i cant remember the difference.
@@ldsklLtgmer Maks use spherical mirrors and corrector lenses. This makes them cheap to make but the corrector lense needs to be really thick meaning that it gets impractical to make large ones. Schmidt's uses thinner corrector plates but they are more costly to make as they aren't spherical.
These lenses aren't Schmidts or Maks as they use Mangin mirrors which are really lenses with a mirror surface on the rear. Again cheap to make when small but too impractical to make larger.
Interesting video Phil :)
Thank you - brilliant review
For Canon EOS, you can buy converters for FD, Minolta, Nikon, etc. Some of the converters have contacts and a small chip for focus confirmation, giving you a beep when you get focus. I wonder if this would work on a mirror lens?
Thank you, Phillip.
Great video, thanks!
I have a question !! what is the brand of the tripod ? i really like it !!!
Can you list your tripod gear? I need something good to stable my zoom lenses.
My thourths: Would a cropping of the image w/o converter not be just as sharp?
All the videos I have watched have been really great.QUESTION/ On mirror lenses you have a fixed aperture and the speed has to be relatively fast so you adjust the ISO , but does your metering system on your camera still work I want this lens for wild life , has anyone used a mirror lens for wild life and what where the results like
The reason I am looking at this is that my new 500mm
looks very soft. Do you know of any difinative tests such as a test card to
see what resolution it should have?
That mirror lenses are full manual is not completely true. There is at least one model that supports AF and can be used fully automatic: the Minolta/Sony AF 500mm F8 Reflex. You of course will have to use a Minolta or Sony A mount camera, or a Sony E-mount camera with proper E2A mount adapter to use this lens to its full extend.
With sharpening even crap lenses can be improved. I have never understood why mirror lenses are so decried. The only issue is they’re fixed aperture and fixed focal length when people are so used to zooms. For me, I’d love a tiny 1000 or 2000 lens for astrophotography. Its not worth a whole lot of money though.
They are usually quite slow, most of them are manual focus, have a donut shaped bokeh and have limited sharpness and contrast.
I have the Minolta 500 reflex, one of the few with autofocus and I like it. But I mainly bought it for its special approach.
@@jochenkraus7016 he is talking about astrophotography and you about autofocus 🤣 would like to see your autofocus to work on nightsky 😂😂😂
I saw in a video that Olympus has "Star AF" :-P
The moon is big enough for AF. Idk if planets also work.
Apart from that the comment started with the question why mirror lenses are "decried". That's not limited to astro.
I loved your video on mirror lenses and it helped me on understand me out much better .....I would like to know what is the mount on which your camera sits on your tripod is called....the huge metallic one....please reply....
+Robert Perez It's a Gitzo head for large format cameras, they still make them, the one I have I bought in 1965, so a pretty good investment :))
I use Canon FD lenses more than 35 years and only with my Canon Film cameras. The Canon Reflex Lens 8.0/500mm is regarded as one of the best mirror lenses along with the similiar Nikon rl 500mm. For landscape photography it is a very valuable lens with very good results, if you use this type right.
Use of a very stable tripod is necessary. I use a Cullmann Titan 400 with good results.
Best regards from Germany!
The Sony 500mm f/8 AF mirror lens (or Minolta ... exact same lens) is a MUST on my Sony A7 III. Fast focus, enough sharpness for reasonably good results, the color rendering must be slightly edited though, but in the end it's a great lightweight, affordable, and rather discreet lens (for the reach).
Deal!
Setting the exposure on my Nikon D40X, won't be a problem. Everything is (mainly) manual; and no auto-focus because I bought the camera with an older lens. It's a 28-80mm.
However this lens looks brilliant!
I'm away to EBay, to hunt one down.
Cheers!
I don't know why everybody says that exposure needs to be manual. My Nikon D7000, from about a decade ago, allows me to assign a 'non-cpu lens'. In my case it's 500mm & f6.3, now I use aperture priority to adjust shutter speed & ISO. The focus is still manual and very picky, but exposure is not a problem. Check your user manual!
thanks the video
Without the extender I was shocked at the quality! What a great lens!
It is good but not easy to use.
Thank you, I think is great with a tripod, for action quite difficult or wildlife in movement right? Thanks where did you buy?
On Ebay , just bought it for the video :)
I have the Minolta 500 Reflex with autofocus. The most difficult part for me is to find what I want to photograph. It's a prime lens so I can't zoom out a bit for better orientation.
Not bad at all! You said not easy to use... How long did it take you to set up?
Thank you!
Thanks for a very informative video Phillip.You have brought up a question I've been thinking about for a long time now! But I feel you will have the answer to. I shoot with a few film cameras, and each are verrry different with their focusing. My question is about manual focusing and wearing glasses!! I'm relatively new to having to wear reading glasses and I'm at odds with myself as to what's best! My results seem soft! and have done for a while. You wear glasses (obviously).......... Please.... What's your advice on manual focusing and wearing glasses? A second question's just appeared, do you use your reading glasses or your distance glasses while using your camera in manual mode?Please reply.......... I would really appreciate your advice on this subject.Kind regardsIain
+Iain Hamilton-Cummings Hi Ian , that's a good question. I don't wear my glasses when shooting as most digital cameras have ajustable viewfinders, however my eyesight is just at the end of the adjustable scale. Most makes have different eyepieces that can be changed if your off the scale, I ordered one for my Canon and I was just at the bottom of that range :) so I'm waiting for my sight to get a little worse before I fit it. Manual focus is difficult with dslrs because they don't have split screens like the film cameras used to have unfortunately. Although I'm sure that different strength visors must still exist for them as well. Many things can effect images as well, with film shutter speeds are normally slower as we work with low iso settings, also damaged lenses and dislodged mirrors are a danger as well.
As a matter of interest I never managed to focus a Hasselblad correctly but when I changed to Mamiya 6X7 it was easy. So different cameras suit different people. Static testing is the best way to find your particular problem though, camera on a tripod and a couple of boring hours work, easy with dslrs but not so easy with slrs of course.
Phill
You can use auto ISO in M mode with these lenses. These lenses will work better on mirrorless IMO. One of my motives for getting the Z6ii was the IBIS would provide image stabilization so I could get a couple extra stops below 1/500 if needed. Focus peaking would pinpoint the focus as I turned the huge focus ring. I am using the Nikkor 500mm f/8 which I think is a better lens than the cheaper Chinese knock offs.
thanks for the nice video. I like it.
Thank you very cool.. what camera are you using MFT?
+Anthony Magliocco The camera on the video is a Canon 7D
Thanks for your upload, Phillip! Would it be a big trouble for you to make 2 photos of the Moon? I am so curious how would it look like because I was thinking to purchase it for astrophotography and now I wonder what to do... I am sure other subscribers would also be interested, because we all know how the Moon looks like but with this magnification, I am sure it will be even more interested - both for photographers and astrophotographers. Cheers! /Thomas
I sold it yesterday to a friend of mine but I'll get it back and have a go :)
Phillip McCordall I am waiting patiently then! :-) Thanks in advance!
7:45
There's at least one autofocus mirror lens. The Minolta 500 reflex for A-mount. But there's only one central point working because it's only F8 and there's something built in to get autofocus working.
Well I use full manual even on my auto lenses so I guess I have no disadvantages after all :D Might get one used to check out.
Hello Phillip, One question. What kind of tripod do you have?
Greetings from Perú! :)
I have a very old Manfrotto with a Gitzo pro head :)
Thanks !
Roughly, what is the aperture compensation for a mirror lens? do you lose 2 or more stops of light?
Hi Nina, this is an f8 lens so just set your camera to f8 and the speed and iso to what you need, no compensation is needed :)
a really useful video
on a super bright sunny day the fixed f8 aperture might be a factor ? What is the thread size on the front if I could ask? a ND filter may counteract a really sunny location.
I've sold the lens already, as I only bought it for a video, so I don't know the thread size. f8 shouldn't be a problem even on a bright day at 100 iso, as it's best to use the highest shutter speed you can with long lenses like this.
At 1:43 you can see it's a 77mm filter thread.
elbryan9
That's mostly about the hood size, and perhaps a polarizer or colour correction/contrast filter if you think you need one. Cats tend to take much smaller rear filters for ND/exposure adjustments. (A clear filter is usually in place to keep the light path consistent; it would be replaced with an ND.)
Thanks
It also looks to be something of a prime lens; there is no alternative but 500 mm unlike a 70-300mm lens that can change focal length.
I came here for another reason.... I had this idea for a one way mirrored lens or cover so when one is facing the camera, they can see themselves. For vloggers such as myself, this would eliminate the need for a rotating screen to see if you are in frame, and save battery life too. Anyone know of anything like that?
Very nice explanation! Very good!
You kind of misspoke at the end there. The camera can still do auto ISO(which I wouldn't) and auto exposure. Its only the focus that is manual, and since the aperture is F8 always, well you don't have much choice there. Haha. So its no different than any other manual focus lens, the camera can still do the hard work if you want it to - focusing isn't hard.
+SeanHodginsc the Sony/Minolta 500mm f8 are Auto fucus
I love my Mirror lens it takes patience I agree but if you learn to use it right I have gotten some awesome pictures.
I have the Sigma 600/8 mirror in EF mount and use it on my 5D2... When you learn to use it and are in practice, it can give truly awesome results. cheers!
Doyou have any experience or knowledge about Vivitar Series 1 500mm f8 mirror lens? Is it good? or just good enough or something else?
No sorry never tried one.
Using the lens in manual mode is not really a disadvantage, well, maybe for those brought up in the age AUTO mode shooting without an inkling of exposure values, apertures or shutter speeds. I still shoot in maunal mode when time permits me to take full control of the camera. Given the simplicity of the mirror lens does not mean its no good. What's the point in having a lens with 200 settings on it only to use it on AUTO mode?
Some 500 mm mirror have a revolver with 3 ND filters to reduce
the f stop from 11 via 16 to 22. Has yours?
Why has your 2x converter a pin and M42 thread?
no filters and I use a converter as you see in the film.
Use live view for focusing and cable for shutter release
05:54 ..and now - [please, Phil] make a photograph of the compound eye from that fly sitting there on the church's cross's left arm, in full frame with a 6'000 x 4'000 resolution. Thanks.
That's one hell of a tripod head there..
Very nice tripod!
For DSLR mirror lenses, the finest is the Nikon 500mm f8 N
Nice results, although It would be interesting to see the image compared to a crop of a good 50mm or similar and compare detail in each,
Yes you'r right I should have done that , the results were pretty good though. The other thing to note is that it is one of the very cheap mirror lenses , so I imagine not the best results possible.
Digging around in my Grandfather's camera stuff this evening and came across what looked like a telescope for a camera...this must be it. I wonder how this would be for astrophotography. Interesting video. Just need to find an adapter to get it down to MFT and I'll be playing with it. :D
It' just because of the mirror lens is all manual (except for one AF mirror lens made for sony a mount), and none of them has image stabilization, and with fixed (and narrow) maximum aperture
Is this a good lens for lunar photography? Someone please help a novice. Rolleinar 500mm is on one of the big box Photo Sites, and I am interested!!!😜
I don't know if you ever found any answers but when you get into astrophotography it becomes a matter of money. Refractors (your standard camera lenses) become very expensive as they become larger in aperature. Reflectors (incuding mirror/lens combinations) become more affordable). For serious astrophotography you need tracking mounts. Good luck!
What tripod do you have and whats that head ?
This a Manfrotto with a Gitzo large format head. I would normally use this setup for 5x4 or 10x8 sonar cameras
So is IT possible to get a sharpe image from that lens using photoshop?
What is sharp ? I found the result very very good after a standard sharpen.
Ok...i need help. I am very new to photography trying to reinvent myself after a horrid bout or neurological lyme disease. I have a canon rebel t6 EOS. I noticed other people were mixing vintage lenses with their digital cameras and I got some to do the same thing. One being a vintage spiratone ultratel 500. I got a separate tripod for it and as some have done tried to back it up to the camera on another tripod. I have a very important project I am trying to do involving pics of the moon. there is a dot in the center of this lens...it gets in the way. I am sure I am doing something wrong. can you please help.
Sounds like a focus problem, are you sure the manual focus is working ? If not it will be a distance problem between the body and the lens.
i tried the canon 75-300 on my camera and put it up to the spiratone as some have said should i just do the camera to it? and thanks so much for answering
and im not sure not sure how to tell its a heavy heavy lens and is not screwed into the camera
If it's an old canon fit lens you will need a converter to an af fit, available on most sites. You can't use it with autofocus so that must be turned off. Then focus by hand by turning a ring on the lens. It will have no automatic functions which means setting everything with the manual controls.
I really can't imagine that working, it needs to be directly on the camera.
You have to lurn how to handle this lens. The lens is a slow lens. Which cann't use for everything. Its very easy to carring with instead of a real 500mm lens which is heavy. I like the lens and his special bokeh.
i found with equipment and photograthy is at end of day if you love the picture you done then its doesnt matter what you use.yes there are great,good and ok lenses and bodys but the most important is your eye for composition and imagination.
great tutorials by the way
Thanks Dale