What would be a good choice of mirror lens for EF mount or EFS? Would you consider a review?
What would be a good choice of mirror lens for EF mount or EFS? Would you consider a review?
As much as I heard, they are not that good at all.
Mirror lenses give donut-shaped out-of-focus highlights, and some/many/all don't have an aperture. You end up with a fixed f/8 lens, so you'd better understand the exposure triangle well to make your shots work.
We're a Canon/Profoto family: five cameras, sixteen lenses, fifteen Profoto lights, too many modifiers.
Originally Posted by peety3
Also, you have to focus them manually, which is another thing to take care of when taking picture. The advantages are size, weight and price. They work best when yoursubject is not moving too fast.
I used to own a 500mm 8.0 mirror lens 15 years ago, along with my trusty ol' Zenith [:P]
Hold on. If the ones made "for ef mount" are manal focus and have no aperture control, what is the point of being "for ef mount"? I guess it will correctly report f/number to the camera for metadata. And I guess you don't need an adapter to attach the thing. But one's options might widen if one doen't require "for ef mount", and it doesn't seem that one loses much.
Perhaps it is better to say that they have issues. There is no reason a high quality mirror can't give just as good in-focus images as a refracting lens.
But yes, bookeh will be lousy if you have a big central obstruction (which compact ones must have). And if you compare a $500 mirror lens with a $5000 refracting lens, it shouldn't be surprising if the $5000 lens does better.
Here is a review comparing canon 500 f/4 with tamron 500mm f/8 reflector. Guess what? He says the canon is betterBut it seems to me the reflector, with its portability and low cost, does have its place.
Hi Liamisnowon,
Thanks for the suggestion - they are always appreciated. For the reasons already mentioned here, the mirror lenses are rather far down on my to-do list.
Regards,
Bryan
Perhaps they should call them E mount, then. However, most folks would think "it won't fit my camera", since most folks aren't buying the TS-E lenses, and it's often called "EF mount" in the wild.
We're a Canon/Profoto family: five cameras, sixteen lenses, fifteen Profoto lights, too many modifiers.
<span style="font-size: 9pt; color: black; font-family: Verdana;"]Thank you all for your comments. I should have given you more information so you could give a more specific answer, so here it is...<o></o
<span style="font-size: 9pt; color: black; font-family: Verdana;"]Yes the mirror does have a limited niche but I think my needs suit that niche. Occasionally I like to take shots of a subject such as a distant city skyline at dusk. I would be using a tripod, shooting in Manual and stopping down for DOF. These considerations wipe out a lot of the disadvantages of a Mirror lens (I think). Sometimes the compression offered by the long focal length is what I'm wanting.<o
<span style="font-size: 9pt; color: black; font-family: Verdana;"]I have a 350D so the crop factor is helpful for getting some extra reach. I'm looking at a Sigma 600mm FD mount Mirror and I can get an adaptor on eBay. Manual focus is not a big deal. Auto focus will probably be challenged by the low light as will my eye during MF, mirrors are rumoured to be dark anyway due their design. Manual is OK, I can probably do a better job than the AF in these situations.
<span style="font-size: 9pt; color: black; font-family: Verdana;"]Quality; acceptable sharpness and overall IQ is what I'm looking for. I know that is subjective but whatever would cause the average person to say "hey that's a nice photo!" is what I'm looking for. Not a big ask, I hope.<o
<span style="font-size: 9pt; color: black; font-family: Verdana;"]So what I'm asking is; providing I shoot within the limitations of a Mirror lens, what lens would be the pick of Mirror lenses suitable for a 350D and the IQ afore mentioned?<o
<span style="font-size: 9pt; color: black; font-family: Verdana;"]I haven't found much info on the net to help me with this so that might be my answer right there!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"] If they’re crap just give it to be straight, I can handle it ;-)<o
Minolta made a 800mm f/8 mirror lens of good image quality, and if you can find the super rareMinolta 1600mm f/11 itwould besuper cool too. I have a Minolta 600mm f/6.3non-mirror and it hasGREAT IMAGE QUALITY, I saw one of these on ebay for about $1000 not too long ago. I paid $200 for my mint condtion lens.
I wouldn't have thought a guy named fast glass would be interested in such lenses. [
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