Are Canon reflex mirror lenses (500mm) good?

Question

Canon reflex mirror lens 500mm 1:8

Answer 1

The only 500mm reflex which was easy to use was the one made by Minolta and Sony which actually had autofocus abilities. They still sell second-hand for over £400. You should be able to get a Canon for just over half that price.



That lens and the others are all manual focus with fixed f8 aperture and require a lot of light on the the subject for nice photos. Try one of the Samyang f6.3 versions that won't cost a lot.

http://www.samyang-lens.co.uk/samyang-500mm-f63-mc-if-mirror-lens.html



Tripod or Monopod with a ball head essential.



Here's how an old Tamron 500mm mirror lens performed on my Sony body:

http://www.pbase.com/johnfr/tamron_sp_500mm_

Answer 2

the 500mm mirror is awkward, as it is not heavy enough to have a solid sense of grip, and doesn't stabilize naturally as well as the heavier lenses, even on a tripod. You can get it if you really need it, but it's not very flexible and the only good thing you could really use this for is for astrophotography.

Answer 3

It's a good way to get a very long lens into a small space - I prefer a long tom, though.

Answer 4

No.



They're soft/hazy, produce dull colors, lack contrast and terrible in low light but you can get lucky once in a blue moon like this.



http://keerok-potd.blogspot.com/2011/06/iris.html

Answer 5

Before you deal with specifics of brand and model, maybe you should be asking yourself why you want a 500mm lens.