Using a 500mm Mirror Lens for Nature Photography
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- Опубліковано 12 кві 2022
- Are mirror lenses any good for nature photography? Sean takes a Vivitar 500mm f/8 mirror lens for a spin to find out!
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That ghosting doesn't happen with ALL mirror lenses. It has to do with the mirrors being unaligned. You can correct that if you open the lens, but it is a somewhat difficult thing to do. I happen to have a Samyang 500 f/8 lens with that problem and another from Bower at f/6.3 with no problem at all. It's usually the large mirror that is not well aligned with the axis...
Great info! Thanks! Will see if we can fix ours too.
A nice concise video with a nice delivery by the host.
Thanks!
I bought my Mirror Lens (Opteka f6.5 500mm) just because I was curious to see how they would work. I seem to get more pronounced donut bokeh with the Opteka than your Vivitar. They aren't the sharpest lens out there but they are quite fun to use.
This Vivitar is f/8, which might explain the smaller amount of bokeh, but for this video we didn't use the lens in a lot of situations where bokeh would be a factor.
I love the quality of these shots. There's almost an old-school feel to them with some of the blurriness and graininess (especially on that tree swallow), and I find that very appealing. Gives it a timeless look.
Cheaper lenses like this T-mount will tend to give you a more old-school vibe :)
I have a Samyang 500mm f/8 mirror lens.
Out of the box, I experienced it to be very hazed, with poor contrast. I had to increase contrast in post processing, but details were lost.
Then I bought a 10cm long screw in lens hood, it improved the contrast hugely.
If you take the lens off, and try looking through it from an angle, you can see straight through. If you extend the front by 10 cm, you avoid most of the unfocused light causing haze. I think a screw in lens hood is a must, and should be a recommended accessory, or even included.
I think the mirror lens gets some bad reviews just because of the haze, that can be easily delt with.
While the fixed aperture and manual focus is just the way it is.
As well as the circular bokeh is just something you have to accept, or even learn to love, if you can.
That's genius! And it makes total sense too. We'll have to try a lens hood on our mirror lenses and see how that quality improves. Thanks!
@@FotodioxInc I had a look at my lens, seems like I remembered incorrectly, the screw in lens shade is about 75 mm (3") long.
These mirror lenses, even the cheapest, were all sold with a decent lens shade, because it makes a huge imaging improvement in a lens design which will always suffer from low contrast resulting from internal lens flare.
@@randallstewart175 *no* my Samyang 500mm f/8 mirror lens *was not* sold with any lens shade, I had to buy that separately. I expect @Fotodiox Inc didn't get at shade with their lens either. Otherwise I would expect they would have tried it.
Yeah, mirror lenses are quite interesting and have a distinctive look. I was surprised to find out that due to their construction they don't have chromatic aberration.
Interesting! I guess there wasn't any in my images, though I did get some color fringing.
They're probably like reflector telescopes, and those scopes don't have chromatic aberation also
yes, there are color fringing, specially in high contrast :(
I don't generally photograph birds but this time of year brings so many migratory birds to our area that it is fun to see them up close through a zoom lens.
Yeah, this is the best time to do bird photography.
I love my A7rII so much, what an awesome and capable camera yet even today!
We still use ours almost every day :)
Just got a vivitar 500mm f6.3. Very excited for it to come, but a bit concerned at the lack of lens hood. How do these handle glare? Am I gonna have to get one of those jumbo rubber hoods? Lol
We haven't had any issues with ours.
I actually like the doubled branches effect, but I do artistic photography and films.
For sure. Lo-fi lenses can actually help you create a more artistic, less clinical image.
I have a Sony A 58(APS-C) and it has the Steadyshot option . Does it work like the Sony fullframe you use ?
I don't believe that camera has a stabilized sensor, so odds are you wouldn't get any stabilization with a manual 500mm lens.
Turkey vultures are awesome. Scary when sitting close by watching you passing by their "dinner" (in my case a decaying deer carcass) ...but stunning birds in the air. Nice shots with this lens. Thorough review. Thank you.
Thanks! Yeah, we love these birds, though they're pretty hard to photograph :)
As much as I love my 500mm mirror, the effective fixed f12 aperture when used on my Nikon D7500 APS-C does limit it's possible uses somewhat ...
Oh yeah, these lenses are not the easiest or most versatile :)
I have one of these lenses left over from my 35mm camera days, I've tried it on my dslr and can't get a decent picture. All of them look very cloudy. I've tried different settings to no avail. What settings do you find best?
The lens could be dirty, or something could be misaligned inside. But we've found that you do get softer images with mirror lenses in general. For the photos in this video I was shooting at ISO 800 and using as fast a shutter speed as I could. Because the lens is so long, lower shutter speeds will increase the camera shake blur a lot, even on a tripod.
I didn't see the weird stuff w/ the mft like w/ the first camera. Is that a coincidence or editing in post? Loved all your wildlife pix!! ☮️💟📸🐢🦆🦜
On the Sony there still is some ghosting and donut bokeh, I just used demo photos from the Sony that didn't showcase it as much.
Hi could you tell me which adapter is suitable for the BMPCC 4K ? Thanks Ed.
You’ll need our T-mount to Micro 4/3 adapter. Here’s the link: fotodioxpro.com/products/t2-mft
Thanks a million for all of your help.
Is there any difference to the more modern version of these lenses that go around 200 dollars where they already have a more contemporary mount built in like an e mount.
No, they should be about the same. If anything you might get a cleaner mirror since the lens is newer.
Hi, Very funny to see this as I just bought a 500mm f8 Tamron in a very bad shape (mushroom and dirt) for... 20 €. It was very easy to dismount probably as all reflex lenses (2 mirror and 2 lens elements only). So I cleaned it up completely and I must say that the results are quite good. A little soft but what a pleasure of using it on my Sony A7iii and get advantage of the IBIS. I will try it on my Z7 to use like you the APSC crop factor. I also did quite good pictures of the face of my cats who usually don t "authorize" me to take close up photos and with this 500mm if you are at less than 2 meters the face is big :). thx for sharing.
Nice! Glad you got good results, and its good to hear what a little cleaning up can do for an old mirror lens!
I'm looking for a comparison video of mirror lenses 500mm f6.3 vs 500mm f8. I own the f6.3 and love the lens.
We'd make a video like that, but we just don't have an f/6.3 mirror lens.
I have used a t mount/ nikon on a nikon d90 & got some good shots , I then made the mistake of entering the image in a camera club competition , the judge did not like the donut effect ( that was added in photoshop ????) I still use this 500 mm f8 lens.
Yeah, people get weird about the donut bokeh of mirror lenses. I don't really get the issues, it's just a different kind of bokeh, but some photographers can be weird about it.
The Nikon 500mm reflex lenses are razor sharp. Third party like Vivitar, Sigma, and others fall well short. The main issues are focusing and vibrations
Makes sense that the Nikon ones would be a lot better quality.
I was wondering how video comes out with this lens and mirrorless camera?
It's not great, will have a similar softness as these images, plus doughnut bokeh. I'd recommend using a lens like this instead: ua-cam.com/video/8KPv44bI_-M/v-deo.html
Good video and a bit of love for these lenses but why the Vivitar one? That's one of the weaker mirror lenses... the Canon FD and the Nikon are far superior, but also the Tamron Adaptall one is better...
Because we had one laying around the office :)
Where can I find the adapter to attach to the camera and lens?
It's a Fotodiox T-mount adapter. What camera are you wanting to adapt the lens to?
Fortunately for me I found one at a pawn shop for $40.00 my is 50mmF8 . My Pentax cameras have IBIS so my lens is stabilized it's a decent lens for stationary subjects but worthless for action shots . I used one in the 1980's to photograph the space shuttle in flight with a film camera as we were kept way away from the landing strip
Nice find!
Lovely results there, wish you many hours of happy snapping :)
Thanks, we wish you the same! :)
Hi, I wanted to know if this telescope can be used via an adapter on my Canon SLR.
Yes, you'll just need our T-mount to Canon EF adapter. Here's the link: fotodioxpro.com/products/t2-ef
@@FotodioxInc so many thanks.
I am eyeballing one of these because my Tamron 150-600mm is VERY heavy. I am not sure I would like the soft look.
It is an acquired taste. That being said, there are nicer mirror lenses out there than the one we demoed here. I'd recommend looking at demos of other mirror lenses online and look for one that's sharper.
What lens is mo better JCPenny or Vivitar?
There were a number of lenses rebranded with JC Penney’s brand. Do you know what model it is? What does the text say on the lens?
@@FotodioxInc The Vivitar branded 500mm lenses are from the same generic pool of no-name lens makers as the JCP. In its Series I lens line, Vivitar also sold 600mm nd 800m mirror lenses made for them by Elmer-Perkins, which also made and still makes space telescopes for NASA. Those were quite a bit more expensive and perform relatively better, but still will not compete with a new telephoto optical lens design using newer ED type glass elements.
@@randallstewart175 Thanks for the info!
It’s better that or 420-800mm/500-1000mm jintu ( aliexpress )
It looks like that lens isn't a mirror lens, so you will get a slightly better image, but the lens will be much longer. For reference, here's a video we made about a similar lens: ua-cam.com/video/8KPv44bI_-M/v-deo.html
I have always wanted to try one of these lense. I see a heap of noise in most of the photos. I would like to see how well they do in low light doing long exposures. I want to try use a lense like this for astrophotography.
I was shooting hand-held, so to get a fast shutter speed I was using higher ISOs, which is why there's more grain. But if you use a tripod you can use lower ISOs.
@@FotodioxInc Appreciate the reply
I did this in my 20s 😃 30 years ago
Nice!
It's cool that these lenses last so long--you can use them when you're young and then come back to them later and their still in good condition.
Circle bokeh, pentagon bokeh or what ever, if you get used to it it, you do not notice it in the same way, fx I like circle bokeh more than pentagon bokeh. Youu can get Mirror Lenses that have better optical image quality than the Vivitar Lens !
For sure! We were just using the lens we had laying around the office at the time :)
Different looks are way better lens flares Lomo love that shit
Yeah, we like it too
Sony A7RII is a FF camera and the crop is 1! On this camera, 500mm is just 500mm.
That's correct. I was using a 1.5 crop mode in the camera, which was giving my photos a 750mm full frame equivalent. But in full frame mode it would have remained a 500mm.
Con razón está en 50 dólares, carece de nitidez. Prefiero el Nikon 500mm, es bastante nítido, al menos con la nitidez de un objetivo normal.
Sí, esa lente te dará una imagen mucho mejor.
I mean, you always get what you pay for, but this lens sounds like a cheap, fun lens to mess with. Interesting
For sure :)
These lenses have donut shape bokeh.
Oh yeah, we mention that later in the video and show some examples.
By the old ones kids - MTO, Tamron
:)
Seems like a piece of junk
"She'll make .5 past lightspeed. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself." :)
Is it a problem or a feature?🤫😏🫰
Depends on what kind of photographer/filmmaker you are :)