which mirror lens question

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Bolerus

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Mike
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I know mirror lens quality is no where near as good as a "proper" lens

but, I am looking for one, to play with and they fit the budget nicely (im saving up for a D90)

the two that seem to be the best of the bunch are the

sigma 600 mm and the tamron sp 500mm

both are fixed F8

has any body had any experience of ether of these, and which woudl you recomend.

I have seeen soem 1000mm opteca ones but they dont look as good quality build or function wise.

any advice woudl be great.
 
I used to own the Tamron SP version.

Alway found it to be quite useful at airshows when on a sunny day shooting into the sky meant F8 was no problem.

Also used it on a tripod with a TC for extra reach.
 
thansk PSi.. what was the quality like, compared to say a kit lens. was it a massive reduction, or one of those you will only notice if you are a tog or compare kind of things?
 
This was in my film days and on a good quality film/transparency the results were excellent.

Sold it last year when I went digital.
 
I had the Sigma 600 for a day !!!

Bought it from Jessops for my then D100 - no autofocus I could live with, but no metering either was a pain in the butt. Final nail in the coffin was that IQ was crap too

Good old Jessops gave me a full refund the following day

DD
 
A1ex I just read that review, seems to be pretty decent doesent it.

cant find any comparing a sigma one with the tamron one though, which is a shame. everything I have read has so far told me that if I want a mirror these 2 are the only real choices.
 
I'd just buy one if it's what you want, they don't fetch a huge amount on the bay so you won't loose very much if you decide it's not for you and sell it on. If you don't get it, it will just nag at you until you do! I'm tempted to buy one as I fancy a giant focal length but don't want a 4ft long white lens that I need a truck to carry around for me!

few sample pics http://www.pbase.com/gummiebear/tamronsp500f8 which all look pretty decent to me
 
your dead right A1ex. there seem to be more of the tamron's on ebay so will probably end up getting one of those, seem to go for £70 - 100 on there
 
Bolerus said:
your dead right A1ex. there seem to be more of the tamron's on ebay so will probably end up getting one of those, seem to go for £70 - 100 on there
Click to expand...

In my reckoning you can't really go wrong especially if your patient and get one for closer to £70 as then you may even get a profit if you sell it. Don't forget you will need a suitable adaptall mount unless you find one that comes with the right jobby.


Think I might be talking myself into one of these......;)
 
I was considering the Sigma at one time, but when I looked into it all the reviews I found were awful.
I have a Sigma 1000mm which I have hardly used but it is f13.5.:(
 
a1ex2001 said:
In my reckoning you can't really go wrong especially if your patient and get one for closer to £70 as then you may even get a profit if you sell it. Don't forget you will need a suitable adaptall mount unless you find one that comes with the right jobby.


Think I might be talking myself into one of these......;)
Click to expand...

Mine sold for £138 on Ebay. Surprised the hell out of me:)
 
I had a centon 500mm years ago and found it bloody awkward to hand hold and was very dark in the viewfinder.
 
just as an update.

I just won one on ebay. cost £87 but it already has the adpatall for nikon, and comes with a tamron X2 convertor as well, think I did ok.

Lets hope it doesent get damaged in the post (always a worry for me when buying things like lenses through ebay )
 
Bolerus said:
just as an update.

I just won one on ebay. cost £87 but it already has the adpatall for nikon, and comes with a tamron X2 convertor as well, think I did ok.

Lets hope it doesent get damaged in the post (always a worry for me when buying things like lenses through ebay )
Click to expand...


I wonder if that is my old lens again, as that is what mine consisted of, along with the original tamron case and shoulder strap:)
 
would be interesting to see. hope that doesent indicate it has developed a problem though (buy for 138 then sell for 87)
 
Bolerus said:
just as an update.

I just won one on ebay. cost £87 but it already has the adpatall for nikon, and comes with a tamron X2 convertor as well, think I did ok.

Lets hope it doesent get damaged in the post (always a worry for me when buying things like lenses through ebay )
Click to expand...

Seems like a very good price and you should be easily able to get your money back afterwards if it doesn't work out.

Look forward to seeing some results!
 
I got the lens, and because of an extremely busy couple of weeks, havent really had chance to use it much.

but here is the obligatory moon shots

First one is at 500mm (just took it) with no PP at all other than cropping to fit web better. After I uploaded it I played with levels and made it much better, but wanted to post an AS IS pic of it



newmoon.jpg


MMM what is that "spray " in the top right, that isnt on my photoshop image (im looking at it now) guessing it is an upload glitch?
EDIT after further examining, it is on teh PP image, but not as prominent, any body got any idea what it might be? could it be light polution? there were some clouds, or is it just that the lens was having trouble with the contrast between moon and night sky?


the second was a few days ago, with the 2x convertor on. Again no PP at all

It was quite funny tryignto find the moon with the 2x on, it pretty much filled the viewfinder, well at least it felt like it did.

moon-1.jpg


It is quite hard to hand hold but am looking forward to getting to somewhere with a bit of wildlife to try it out.
 
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