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Beroflex -5°- 500mm f/8
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 12:02 am    Post subject: Beroflex -5°- 500mm f/8 Reply with quote

Hello, here is a post about my Beroflex 500mm preset lens. One of those cheap long lenses with whatever name on them. This one has a FD mount. What surprised me was that its image quality wasn't trash can bad, loads of CA but acceptable sharpness. Seen worse.


1/100s, hand hold.


slight crop


Kind of funky colors. 1/400s hand hold.



All shots taken at F/8 with an Eos 40D, non correcting adapter. Hold by hand.


PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 1:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I do also like this Beroflex.
Good value for the money compared to other 500mm lenses.
Only thing I don't like is the length of this lens.... but that's quite normal unless you're using mirror lenses, which are often inferior or much more expensive.

I wonder who made this lens originally. There are several successors but optically they are different. Today it's made by Samyang.


PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 1:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well known as not crappy lens , it did surprise me as well, great samples.


PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 6:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I dearly love these simple and cheap things!

Have a look for "Wundertüte 500" (lucky bag), there are so many posts in the net alredy.
Lens was obviously first made in the mid 70's, there were also 5.6/300mm & 6.3/400mm lenses by Beroflex.

It's not a Zeiss or Leica, but a lens with good reputation, unbeatable for it's price:
http://www.dazzledorf.net/aktuell/index.php/2012/02/21/wundertute/

From the 500mm there are two variants: The elder one with 72mm filter thred is often called better than the newer 67mm variant.

If You don't need high f-stop & AF, it's worth to look at a Beroflex. One nice feature is the T-mount: The lens is adaptable to most SLR cameras, decades before live view diigitals were established...

And with these cheap lenes there was already a lot of money to earn:
Heinrich Mandermann was one of great businessman in German camera industry:
Have a look to him and be impressed:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Manderman

He did not own "a" Rollei, Schneider, Exakta, Beroflex, B&W filter or Orwo,
he owned Rollei, Schneider, Beroflex, B&W filter, Exakta, Orwo and a lot more of German Photoindustry....haha


PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 11:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I knew there was something wrong, it's handheld not "hand hold".

ForenSeil wrote:
I do also like this Beroflex.
Good value for the money compared to other 500mm lenses.
Only thing I don't like is the length of this lens.... but that's quite normal unless you're using mirror lenses, which are often inferior or much more expensive.

I wonder who made this lens originally. There are several successors but optically they are different. Today it's made by Samyang.


Quite long yes but it makes up for it in weight, just put in on a scale and got 688g, almost the same as my af canon 70-300 IS. It's like an extra grip, I could almost be fooled it's simply a metal tube with no glass inside Very Happy
Man I wish I had bought a Yashica 500mm mirror lens at a local market last year, it would be interesting to compare. Unfortunately the seller was off somewhere.





Attila wrote:
Well known as not crappy lens , it did surprise me as well, great samples.


Thanks! Its' fun to use also. Mine is limited to about 15 meters due to the FD flange distance. But if I get one of those Sony cams... Twisted Evil


duckrider wrote:
I dearly love these simple and cheap things!

Have a look for "Wundertüte 500" (lucky bag), there are so many posts in the net alredy.
Lens was obviously first made in the mid 70's, there were also 5.6/300mm & 6.3/400mm lenses by Beroflex.

It's not a Zeiss or Leica, but a lens with good reputation, unbeatable for it's price:
http://www.dazzledorf.net/aktuell/index.php/2012/02/21/wundertute/

From the 500mm there are two variants: The elder one with 72mm filter thred is often called better than the newer 67mm variant.

If You don't need high f-stop & AF, it's worth to look at a Beroflex. One nice feature is the T-mount: The lens is adaptable to most SLR cameras, decades before live view diigitals were established...

And with these cheap lenes there was already a lot of money to earn:
Heinrich Mandermann was one of great businessman in German camera industry:
Have a look to him and be impressed:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Manderman

He did not own "a" Rollei, Schneider, Exakta, Beroflex, B&W filter or Orwo,
he owned Rollei, Schneider, Beroflex, B&W filter, Exakta, Orwo and a lot more of German Photoindustry....haha


Yeah good for the price.
Ah, didn't know about the 72mm version, I have the newer version then.

Is T-mount a screw mount? Mine has a FD mount that seems to be held in place by three screws around the barrel. It's a lose fit to say the least when mounted on a camera.


PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 11:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

blotafton wrote:
Is T-mount a screw mount? Mine has a FD mount that seems to be held in place by three screws around the barrel. It's a lose fit to say the least when mounted on a camera.


Your FD part should be unsrewable from the lens and lot of other mounts are fixable:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-mount

There's an insert, fixed with three srews around, put into the bayonet mount for Your cam. With these three srews the mount can be turned in a correct angle, so that meter scale is to be seen from above.
here's a picture for Nikon :
http://lens-club.ru/public/files/users/image/generic_20t_20mount.jpg
and here's Your Canon FD to be seen:
http://www.scopesnskies.com/magnify/326.1.html


PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the detailed explanation. In that case I will keep my eyes open for m42 or Nikon adapters to put on there, for which I have EF adapters.


PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 1:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

if you use Nikon.. get one for Nikon then:

Click here to see on Ebay


But if you use Canon EF.. get on of those:

Click here to see on Ebay


they exist for any modern mount, are cheap and easy to replace...


Last edited by Tedat on Mon Jan 27, 2014 1:34 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tedat wrote:
....it's cheap ...


Aaaaahmmm, is there anybody out there, who is willing to sell a T-adapter to ALPA (Switzerland, NOT Sony Alpha!) for a reasonable price?
looking for one now, but can't find it....


PostPosted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 1:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

there is one.. together with 2 adapters for FD.. $39 and "Make Offer"... but shipping cost to germany.. Shocked


Click here to see on Ebay


PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 8:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some people are bidding like crazy on this lens. It's ok but they must be drunk.
https://www.catawiki.nl/l/46852259-beroflex-500mm-f8


PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 9:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Haha that is crazy! I should sell mine to sponsor some Zeiss glass.

The image quality is a bit worse than my EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 at 300mm and cropped to the same size.

But for small prints or web uploads it's good.


PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 10:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

D1N0 wrote:
Some people are bidding like crazy on this lens. It's ok but they must be drunk.
https://www.catawiki.nl/l/46852259-beroflex-500mm-f8


Furthermore, most if not all samples suffer from separation of the last two elements which tends to reduce the contrast and even might, in more severe cases, destroy the sharpness... Thank You Dog


PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 11:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Biotafton, I have the yashica 500 f 8 not ML and the beroflex, the beroflex is much better. Apparently the later Yashica ML is better than the non ML. The ML is believed by some to be a Zeiss copy (or the other way around... Wink )


PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 6:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alsatian2017 wrote:
D1N0 wrote:
Some people are bidding like crazy on this lens. It's ok but they must be drunk.
https://www.catawiki.nl/l/46852259-beroflex-500mm-f8


Furthermore, most if not all samples suffer from separation of the last two elements which tends to reduce the contrast and even might, in more severe cases, destroy the sharpness... Thank You Dog

Not separation, it is element degradation, since not proper glass. If lens is healthy it does deliver favourable results. I doubt the bidding was "normal" since 2 bidders. Might be a case of shill bidding.


PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 7:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Most of the time I see this goes for $20 to $40. It could be shill bidding if there is only two bidder as it goes more than 6x the normal price. Laugh 1


PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 7:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Phalbert wrote:
Biotafton, I have the yashica 500 f 8 not ML and the beroflex, the beroflex is much better. Apparently the later Yashica ML is better than the non ML. The ML is believed by some to be a Zeiss copy (or the other way around... Wink )


Those are mirror lenses right? I had the chance to buy one at a market but didn't, good choice it seems. I don't remember what version it was.


PostPosted: Tue Apr 06, 2021 8:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes. Mirror lenses. The one to look for is the tamron, but apparently there are 3 Yashicas and the one to look for is badged ML.
Here you go:
https://yashica.boards.net/thread/371/pre-ml-yashica-500mm-question
One alleges the ML is the best 500/8 ever...


PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 2:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Phalbert wrote:
Yes. Mirror lenses. The one to look for is the tamron, but apparently there are 3 Yashicas and the one to look for is badged ML.
Here you go:
https://yashica.boards.net/thread/371/pre-ml-yashica-500mm-question
One alleges the ML is the best 500/8 ever...


imho the improved focusing technology in the canon reflex 500/8 raises it above the others, the sharpness of the ML or rubinars isn't much use if you can't nail it.. i have the yashica c/y 500/8 pre-ML, it's certainly very good, but the canon is just so much easier to use, especially handheld


PostPosted: Wed Apr 07, 2021 10:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

We are straying away from the beroflex but please allow me this one. Benadamx, what makes the canon easier to focus than the other mirrors ?