nikon F mounte Reflex C 500mm lens

Does it worth buying it?

If you're talking about the 500mm f/8 mirror lens, it's a classic. They are cheap, rugged and reliable. They do have the classic "donut hole" bokeh of a mirror lens. And they are strictly manual focus but at 500mm it's very easy to focus because the image is very clearly in focus or it isn't. I use mine with no problem on my D200and D7000.

If it's the Nikon lens, it probably is worth it. If it's a third party, it may not be. Be aware that many reflex lenses, though they can be Nikon mounted, will not clear the Photomic viewfinder on older Nikons, and may be a difficult fit on newer ones (not sure, but it's something you need to check). And some, sad to say, are just not sharp enough. When I finally found one that fit my F, and looked good through the finder, I snapped it up, only to realize later that it never got quite sharp enough for anything but a "look what I saw" sort of snapshot.

I prefer the Tamron, as its contrast is better than the Nikon. There was an earlier post this week in which I showed side by side comparison between Nikon & Tamron 500 cat lenses.

That depends.

• What is your use for it? If you have no use for it, then why buy it?
   
  
• What other lenses are you considering?
  
• The mirror is shorter and lighter than a straight lens or a telephoto.
  
• The mirror lens has no aperture control. Your only exposure control is ISO level (or film speed) and shutter speed.
  

I have had the Nikon 500 mm Cat lens for years along with a variety of filters to fit (Gary, that is how you can in effect get "aperture" control 4 and 8 stop ND filters). (Matt -- it clears the meter on all of my old Nikons, F Photomic Tn thru F 3HP) Primary advantage is that it is light and compact. It can be hand held (with good light and some skill), it allows physical mobility that larger heavier lenses do not, and takes up far less space to transport, It does have the donut bokeh. Used properly it has significant advantages, and with good light is adequately sharp. Obviously you give something to get something -- it is not as sharp as my old ED 600 5.6.

The Nikon 8/500mm has an excellent reputation, as do similar MTO lenses

I personally had a Soligor back in my filmshooting days, still have it and plan to use it on my DF somewhere in future

Must admit though that the IQ of a mirrorlens is not in the same league as a 'normal' 600+ mm lens (had a 4/600mm AF-I I used for shooting surf with, occasionally with a TC14) but as already stated the saving in cost and weight is considerable.

 

Biggest issue is the f8, for all intent and puposes you'll always need good light to have a clear viewfinder. When the light isn't optimal, focusing with an A-type viewing screen becomes a challenge, as the splitscreen part will blacken out only leaving the micro prism ring surrounding it as a focusing aid.

After initially using it hand held, I soon only used it on a tripod. Due to the focal length, the angle of view is very narrow, so, especially when shooting something somewhat tightly framed (used to shoot fashion with it) even the slightest tremble results in a major shift in the framing of the image.

 

The 'doughnuts' in the background are an acquired taste, could be considered disturbing, or (as I did in my case) used as part of the image (contributing to the atmosphere of the image) e.g. http://www.pbase.com/paul_k/image/61045663/large

Paul, it works well on the DF and the D750 as well.

Without knowing a price, how can one say it's worth it? For me, it all starts there, especially since there are relatively affordable alternatives these days to reach 500mm (nothing dirt cheap, but a second hand Sigma 150-500 or Tamron 200-500, the old models, aren't terribly expensive either).

 

Personally, I don't like the donut effect in the out-of-focus areas of these lenses, so for me it would have to be seriously cheap to lure me.

I have seen the Nikon 500 F8 for as little as $100 U.S. Just a question of shop on line & wait, make an offer. The real advantage vs conventional lenses is the small size & light weight -- shorter & lighter than my 80-400. Makes it possible to bring a 500 just in case you might need it.

I realize the Nikon lens will clear the meter on all Nikons, as one would expect. It is, unfortunately, not true of many third party lenses. I can't recall the ones I tried, but at some point I've tried several and found they did not. I only brought this up since it's not always obvious if you're getting a lens by mail order, as I seem to recall at least one of the ones I could not use was a fairly mainstream one and I was rather surprised.

I have and have shot a fair variety of catadioptric (mirror reflex) lenses. Some of them are quite excellent. The Nikon Reflex 500mm is in the top three, for sure.

here are some links to the reports,

 

 

• http://www.photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00RaKy - various Spiratone et al.
  
• http://www.photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00d4Vf -Yashinon-DX 500mm f/8 Reflex
  
• http://www.photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00XSrL -Sigma 600mm f/8 Reflex
  
• http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00Pzdv - Reflex-Nikkor 500mm f/8
  
• http://www.photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00c1nS - Quantaray 500mm f/8
  
• http://www.photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00bVwA -Maksutov MTO
  

It depends which version of lens, and which camera you're going to use it on.<p>I have the early version and don't rate it at all highly. It has quite low contrast and doesn't do justice to high megapixel DSLRs. It's adequate on film though, and the later version is supposedly better.<p>If you don't need the compactness, then an Ai-S IF-ED 400mm f/5.6 Nikkor gives better IQ. The 400mm will stand up to a digital crop or addition of a 1.4x teleconverter to give the same or greater magnification.

Around 1990, I had the last version of the Nikkor 500mm/f8 mirror lens. At the time my main camera body was the F4, which I still own today but its electronics are dead. I found that mirror lens very difficult to focus (manually, of course) and it is too slow.

I have used both the f/8 and f/5 versions and think they are great. Both will clear the viewfinder on any Nikon I ever have tried including the F2 DP-1 Photomic through the F4s, Nikkormats, N90 and others and all the digital bodies I've used. It has a different look to it than a non-mirror 500 but it is one I like. It fit very well in my bag in the news business and could reach right out and find what you wanted. A great lens to cover mischief, murder and mayhem, also sports which is basically the same thing....I'd buy another in a hot minute if need be. There is the 1000mm f/11 mirror lens too, truly unique. Prices are not bad and I recommend the 500 without hesitation.

 

Rick H.

So, Shun, understanding and appreciating your expertise - what is lighter, shorter and faster that will get you to 500mm? ;-)

"what is lighter, shorter and faster that will get you to 500mm? ;-)" - <p>

A 135mm f/2 lens and two TC-200 converters, obviously.

Two converters -- I bet that works a treat. Lighter? Maybe.

300/4E PF VR with TC-17EII (makes a nominal 500mm f/6.7) - not lighter, not shorter, maybe faster (since the mirror lens doesn't have an aperture, one would need to look at the T-stop values for either setup. It least there won't be a donut-bokeh with the 300/TC-17EII. Maybe someone can try them side by side and report back which one is optically better.

You might want to see if you can find one of the Vivtar Series One Solid Cats. They were available in both 600mm f8 and 800mm f11. Both were very sharp but neither one is very light in weight. They were T-mount lenses so could be made to fie many cameras.

I was joking about the 135 + TCs Sandy. However, by the time you've fitted a deep enough hood on the 500mm Reflex-Nikkor to make its contrast reasonable, it's not that short!

I just got a Nikkor 500/f8 mirror.

I got it to be my "reach out" lens, for boats on the bay and birds. And, I always wanted a mirror lens.

And it was MUCH cheaper/affordable than a 500/600mm VR lens.

 

I found it easy to manually focus on my D7200, and did not need to use the electronic focus indicator. This was during the day with plenty of sunlight.

 

I realize that without VR, it is a tripod/braced lens, not a hand-holdable lens (for me). Although at ISO 500, I will be shooting at 1/2000 sec, during the day. So maybe I could get away with hand-holding it.

Reflex-Nikkor 500/8, original model.

 

Hand-Held, on the Df.

 

Flying Circus AirShow by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

 

Flying Circus AirShow by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

 

Flying Circus AirShow by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

 

Flying Circus AirShow by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

Thanks Brian.

I got the shutter speed from the EXIF; 1/500 for the skydiver and 1/1000 or 1/1250 for the others.

Now I feel better about being able to hand-hold it at 1/1000+

The Reflex Nikkor is a fine lens optically. It is a single aperture, manual-focus lens.

Nouveaux who don't know how to focus without training wheels will hate it, but it worked for a lot of sports and BIF shooters in its day.

 

With today's high ISOs, it's easily hand held

Edited April 9, 2017 by JDMvW