Mirror Lens for DL2

Hi all you good folk,

I'm very much a new comer to this forum, this is only my second posting a syou can see, although I've browsed a lot over the last few weeks.
For many years I've fancied having a long telephoto lens and on many occassions have considered a mirror lens for my old P30n and ME Super and I still would like a long lens for my DL2. What is the consensus of opinion about mirror lenses? Would the out of focus "doughnuts" still appear with digital? Are they wortth the money? Even from Ebay.

Thanks in advance.

Howard

Mirror lenses are compact for their focal length. The downside is that they have a fixed aperture - often f8 - and the "doughnut" effect may be good or bad depending on your taste.

Apart from the excellent Pentax mirror lenses, there are plenty of independent 500mm ones. Most of these are of dire quality, but I believe the Tamron is not bad. There are also some 350mm lenses around, but these will be relatively rare.

The doughnut effect is part of the design of the lens and will be the same on film or digital.

Are they worth the money? I think for me the answer would be no, but if you have the application for them then maybe yes. That's hedging my bets, isn't it? But really only you can decide.

And finally, welcome to the forums!

Hello Howard

I have a Tamron 500mm mirror lens with a pentax fitting that i no longer use. if you are interested leave me a pm

Dave

The Tamron SP 500 lens is a good performer, as is the Tokina. Other than the doughnut effect of out of focus highlights, another criticism that you will often hear regarding mirror, or reflex lenses, is that images tend to be a little softer than those from traditionally constructed lenses.

One big benefit is the compactness and light weight of mirror lenses, the Tokina version being about the smallest and lightest of the better ones.

I have had both of these lenses, and I chose to keep the Tamron SP 500mm BBAR and sell the Tokina.

Both normally come with hoods and hard cases. The Tokina also has a set of 2 x ND + a Skylight filter as standard which screw on to the rear element. These filters were optional on the Tamron.

If you intend buying sight unseen from auction sites, make absolutely sure that there is no fungus, or what appears to be fungus, present. If it is fungus, it'll be difficult to clean (but not impossible). If the silvering of either of the two mirrors is degrading/corroding, the lens is on its way to the great camera/lens collection in the sky . . . or the bin . . . and will definitely be a waste of money unless you buy from a rock solid seller (like me ) who offers a full refund if not satisfied.

Hope that helps,

I too can recommend the Tamron SP 500mm.

Do bear in mind that you'll effectively have a 750mm lens on a DL2, so you'll probably need a fast shutter speed and a sturdy tripod most of the time.
You'll also need an Adaptall 2 mount in Pentax KA fit and then you'll have full use of the lens on all of your cameras - even with converters if you so wish.

If you now think that the mirror lens is bit much, you might also consider the Tamron Adaptall 2 135mm F2.5 (manual focus) or the 200mm version, both are excellent performers and balance quite nicely on the small and light DSLRs.
Any original Pentax lens will be a great asset but the Tamrons are good and often available for a fraction of the price.

Thank you all for your advice, I knew I'd come to the right place. After reading your replies I have decided not to go for such a lens. The only place I have seen them advertised is on ebay. I have a Sigma 75 - 300 lens which works well, to my inexpert eye, with my DL2 so I'll stick with that.

Thanks once again.

Howard

I've recently acquired a SMC Pentax-M 400mm lens which produces superb images. If you can find a Pentax-A version it would suit your Pentax DSLR very well, if a lot heavier than a mirror lens of similar focal length. Remember that it is the equivalent of 600mm on a 35mm film camera so it's pretty long and at 1:5.6, much faster.

I have a MC Rubinar 10/1000. It's so wide that it cover my MZ-S grip. IST-DL2 grip is a bit thicker than lens mount part. So if you want to use a mirror lens on DL2 body, make sure the lens can fit on the camera.

Hope you can understand what I wrote. My english is not so good.

Aka,

Your english is perfectly understood, practice makes perfect.

I have a cheap Centon 500mm mirror lens and I find I can get better images by cropping and upsizing shots taken with my 70-300 Zeiss/Sigma zoom.

If you were going to use a Tamron SP mirror on the DL2 I doubt the KA mount would make a lot of difference since the aperture is fixed anyway. Might as well get a much cheaper K mount and set the custom function to allow shutter release without an A lens, unless of course you are going to use other Adaptall lenses which do have variable apertures.

To be fair, The Centon (Jessops brand) mirror lens is rather cheap and nasty. Other than the Pentax branded reflex lenses (which I have never seen or used), I think the results from Tamron's SP 500mm are quite pleasing if you accept the slight softness and 'doughnut' effect.

For the price that these can be bought for, if you can get a good one, it's worth giving it house room (camera bag room) because of it's compactness. It certainly has a useful 'reach' for wildlife pics.

yes I agree, I was meaning to warn against the cheapo ones (Centon and the many other no name ones on ebay which are outwardly identical) rather than against mirror lenses in general.