5 ms·

+1 I was confused by the title. Reflex lenses were always a gimmick that worth no attention at all... Down voting seems are more and more random nowadays.

mnw21cam 5y ago
I bought a (admittedly Tokina) 500mm mirror lens more than a decade ago. It was the worst lens I have ever bought, blurry across the whole picture. I could get more detail out of my 70-300mm zoom lens, and much more detail out of my 400mm prime. To this day I don't know whether this was because the lens was awful, because all mirror lenses are awful, or because my lens just needed maintenance.
- shagie 5y ago
  The lens was awful. I think I had one of those in my early bag too. The lack of autofocus and a focus screen that doesn't make it easy to do it manually makes it even worse. The split prism screen isn't found on cameras other than manual focus bodies or as an option to swap out on the higher end professional bodies of the time. For a good one - http://www.rokkorfiles.com/500mm.htm http://www.rokkorfiles.com/500mm.htm (and another review of it - https://casualphotophile.com/2021/04/21/minolta-rf-500mm-f-8-mirror-lens-review/ https://casualphotophile.com/2021/04/21/minolta-rf-500mm-f-8... ) One of the things with the reflex lenses is that they don't have chromatic aberration that one sees in the more traditional lenses because all of the wavelengths of light are reflected the same and there are minimal traditional lens elements in there.
shagie 5y ago
There are non-gimmicky reflex lenses. For example, the 2000mm f/11 ( https://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/reflex/2000mm.htm https://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkor... ) The 500mm... I've used it and it was meh. The problem was that it was a cheap one that was in the sub $200 range. On the other hand, being able to do handheld 500mm with a well designed lens in the proper situations - you get http://www.rokkorfiles.com/500mm.htm http://www.rokkorfiles.com/500mm.htm The key to use them in situations where they're warranted and most people don't.
- Scene_Cast2 5y ago
  Speaking of hand-holdable 500mm lenses - I really like Nikon's (non-reflex) 500mm PF and 300mm PF. They use a Fresnel element to achieve hand-holdability.

mnw21cam 5y ago

I bought a (admittedly Tokina) 500mm mirror lens more than a decade ago. It was the worst lens I have ever bought, blurry across the whole picture. I could get more detail out of my 70-300mm zoom lens, and much more detail out of my 400mm prime. To this day I don't know whether this was because the lens was awful, because all mirror lenses are awful, or because my lens just needed maintenance.

shagie 5y ago
The lens was awful. I think I had one of those in my early bag too. The lack of autofocus and a focus screen that doesn't make it easy to do it manually makes it even worse. The split prism screen isn't found on cameras other than manual focus bodies or as an option to swap out on the higher end professional bodies of the time. For a good one - http://www.rokkorfiles.com/500mm.htm http://www.rokkorfiles.com/500mm.htm (and another review of it - https://casualphotophile.com/2021/04/21/minolta-rf-500mm-f-8-mirror-lens-review/ https://casualphotophile.com/2021/04/21/minolta-rf-500mm-f-8... ) One of the things with the reflex lenses is that they don't have chromatic aberration that one sees in the more traditional lenses because all of the wavelengths of light are reflected the same and there are minimal traditional lens elements in there.

shagie 5y ago

There are non-gimmicky reflex lenses. For example, the 2000mm f/11 ( https://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkoresources/reflex/2000mm.htm https://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/nikkor... ) The 500mm... I've used it and it was meh. The problem was that it was a cheap one that was in the sub $200 range. On the other hand, being able to do handheld 500mm with a well designed lens in the proper situations - you get http://www.rokkorfiles.com/500mm.htm http://www.rokkorfiles.com/500mm.htm The key to use them in situations where they're warranted and most people don't.

Scene_Cast2 5y ago
Speaking of hand-holdable 500mm lenses - I really like Nikon's (non-reflex) 500mm PF and 300mm PF. They use a Fresnel element to achieve hand-holdability.