Some leaves with a Pentax 400 - 600mm mirror lens

These were taken with a K5 on a tripod. ISO 80, f8 @1/25th and 1/15th respectively.

I'm slowly learning how to use this amazing beast. As with mirror lenses in general nailing the focus is crucial.
I didn't get it quite right on the first shot - I could only see the rearmost leaf clearly. That left the nearest leaf
slightly out of focus. The second shot focused on the front leaf. At 600mm the smallest touch of the focus ring
produces a huge result.




Same subject with camera position moved 6ft forwards and 3ft to the left. It made for a very different shot.




You can use the viewfinder but ideally, you need Live View. But if the rear screen is fixed and the light is bouncing
straight off it you are up a gum tree!

How did you get a tripod up a gumtree?

IMO, the first one works best.

Oh, and well done on avoiding doughnuts.

Impressive. They both work for me, but for different reasons.

Why is nailing the focus any more crucial with a mirror lens than any other lens?

Problems with seeing a rear screen are as old as photography. The original solution is still available link, albeit a bit inconvenient to use up a gum tree.

Steve

Great shots and it is a great lens

Michael

Superb shots, #1 for me for the light and darker bg

Really like the first. Richness of colour and the focus looks damn fine to me.

Good results...like them both.

Karlo

Why is 'nailing the focus' important? ... With conventional lenses, you can get away with a minor misfocus by, for example, sharpening it a bit more. With these it HAS to be bang on. There is no leeway at all and even with a long throw the tiniest movement will throw it out. You are right Aitch, gum trees and tripods don't mix.

2 is the dreamier one, so that'll be my choice.

There are some terrible reviews of this lens but these pictures make me think it might be more to do with the photographers than the lens! Very nicely done. I assume the issue with focus is that with a fixed aperture you don't have the luxury of stopping down to increase depth of field, so nailing your focus point becomes essential?

Yes, you got it in one Kris. I often find myself reaching for a non-existent aperture ring! The downsides of this beast are, it needs a lot of light and its sensitivity to the slightest mis-focus. A Tamron 500 behaves very similarly. A tripod, bright sunshine and live view go a long way to super results. Without the sunshine to illuminate what you are trying to focus on, you are on a hiding to nothing.

Here are a few more examples, this time with a K1 .....









You can complain to the photographer if you like but you certainly can't complain about the lens.

Lovely images.

That's a nice selection David, unexpectedly good for long Mirror lenses (in my experience) - I've often found them to be on the "flat" side and I often struggled with nailing the focus too - but your skills have brought out the best

I'm a No.2 voter - it has a softer look to it

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments.