sasho1 Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 have anyone used "Vivitar Telephoto 500mm f/8.0 Mirror (Reflex)" or "Vivitar Zoom Super Telephoto 600-1000mm f/9.9-16 Series 1"... can you please write me your oppinion?... thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_wintheiser Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 I have the 500mm mirror. It really does not deliver very good results. Not very sharp. It IS cheap, however, and you might have fun playing around with it. I own 2 alternatives for a long telephoto - an old Spiratone 400mm and a Tamron 70-300mm with a matched 1.4x converter. Either one gives sharper results than the Vivitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vivek iyer Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 Avoid both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_oleson Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 I agree with both of the above; if you want a good long tele at a low price, look for one of the preset glass lenses like the 400 Spiratone. :)= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Gammill Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 If you really need 500mm, there are plenty of used 500m f8 preset teles out there. These are much better than the budget 500mm mirror optics. Do beware of slow shutter speeds (mirror vibration) with long teles, though. Support appropriately and use mirror lockup (if available) for tripod-mounted exposures below 1/125 sec. cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_m Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 With 500mm lens you must use 1/500 sec shutter speed hand-held to avoid camera shake. Therefore a tripod is essential. Your lens needs a tripod collar so you can mount the lens at its center of gravity. This is the only way to get sharp shots with such a long lens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyinca Posted April 1, 2005 Share Posted April 1, 2005 New Vivitar lens are not half of what they used to be. The old 1970s Vivitar Series 1 (e.g. 600/8 and 800/11 solid CAT) mirror are good lens. I have an old Vivitar 800/f11, while you can't compare them to Canon's white super tele, they do product very use-able results. I agree with others on avoiding the new Vivitar 500/8 mirror. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julio Fernandez Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 I own a Vivitar 500 f8 mirror. Cannot compare to other mirror 500 since have no experience with other brands. I needed a cheap and light telephoto that I could take along. It is sharp enough and will give good line detail, but it is very difficult to focus well, contrast is *very* low, and out of focus shapes are different from refraction lenses. The worst thing for me is the fixed f8 aperture, it kills depth of field. But this is a feature of all mirror lenses I know, fixed focus. Also, it does not focus to infinity at the top of movement - you actually have to focus subjects very far away... The lens is cheap and light, suitable for bird photography for instance if the birds cooperate, if you have a lot of patience with focusing and if you need light weight. I have also used it succesfully for sunsets and special effects with the ring shapes in the highlights out of focus. It was the only way I could have bought a very long telephoto so I do not complain. I would recommend that you go to a photo store, mount one in your camera body and fire a 12 shot roll from the store's door to determine if you like the results. Do not buy it blind, it may or may not be what you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_oleson Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 Julio, my experience with a 500/8 Samyang mirror was very much like yours... low contrast, extremely shallow depth of field and tricky focusing resulting from both. It was a combination that can make the results come out worse than the lens might be capable of with very accurate focusing. After I did a side-by-side comparison between the mirror and my 400/6.3 Spiratone preset (shooting wide open with the 400), though, I was really surprised at how much sharper the 400 was. It was enough to make me sell the mirror and resign myself to carrying a longer package when I need that kind of focal length. The preset, T-mount glass telephotos in this class are no more expensive than the bottom-end mirrors; a 500/8 can be bought new today for $100-125, probably less in some places, and used ones are less than half that. :)= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly_flanigan1 Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 Vivitar is a marketing company; just like Radio Shack. Everything is built by another company for them. Some things can be Execellent; come items are crap. The the first couple of serial numbers on a Vivitar lens almost always is a key to the actual lens maker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew robertson Posted April 3, 2005 Share Posted April 3, 2005 These days, everything Vivitar makes is total shit. In the '70s and '80s, they actually sold some very fine lenses under their brand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ky2 Posted April 3, 2005 Share Posted April 3, 2005 Andrew got it right. Avoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sasho1 Posted April 6, 2005 Author Share Posted April 6, 2005 thank you all for qick answers... I just wanted to make sure that this low price isnt just a lucky offer :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now