Home

Please support mflenses.com if you need any graphic related work order it from us, click on above banner to order!
SearchSearch MemberlistMemberlist RegisterRegister ProfileProfile Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages Log inLog in

Minolta RF 1600 (1600mm mirror lens) on eBay
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Manual Focus Lenses
View previous topic :: View next topic  


PostPosted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 5:24 pm    Post subject: Minolta RF 1600 (1600mm mirror lens) on eBay Reply with quote
This lens comes up for sale only very rarely, Minolta's 1600mm Mirror lens.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284596864151

Almost 6.3kg and near US$ 10,000 asked. Still, I would hate to think what a 1600mm refractive version would weigh (and cost).

It may be coincidence, but the only ones I have ever seen on sale were all from South Korea.

Unless it is the same lens being passed around between South-Korean sellers & buyers, it does make me wonder if the South Korean army once bought a lot of them to peek over the demilitarised zone, and which have now ended up in private hands there.


PostPosted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Ultimate girl watcher lens! (North Korean girls that is)


PostPosted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 8:02 pm    Post subject: Re: Minolta RF 1600 (1600mm mirror lens) on eBay Reply with quote
RokkorDoctor wrote:

. Still, I would hate to think what a 1600mm refractive version would weigh (and cost).


The Takumar 1000/8 weighs about 6.1kg and could be converted to a 1500/12 lens with a x1.5 multiplier. I've already used it with a x2 multiplier and it was still good for shooting the sun handheld.


PostPosted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 8:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Just got the cheap teleplus 2x MC7 to add it to rf80cm , the MC7 without macro it came out very cheap, hopefully as multiplier the quality would be the same on both of em


PostPosted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 9:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Plenty of excellent, new telescopes available for that money.

I know photographic mirror lenses can often be quite a bit smaller than the equivalent telescope (particularly at 500mm). So even old ones can have an advantage over the newest telescope.

Just judging by eye, this doesn't seem to be the case with this 1600mm. Still, extremely cool.

EDIT: I remember there's something interesting about the focusing mechanism on this, there's a slot at the front for a lever to connect to the secondary mirror. Not sure who covered it.


PostPosted: Sun Jan 16, 2022 9:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
eggplant wrote:

EDIT: I remember there's something interesting about the focusing mechanism on this, there's a slot at the front for a lever to connect to the secondary mirror. Not sure who covered it.


That would be on the earlier (black) incarnations of this lens (and the RF 800). There was a rod poking through a slot on the side of the lens, that rotates a helicoid for the secondary (front) mirror of the lens.

Minolta changed the focus mechanism on the last (white) versions of these RF 800 and RF 1600 lenses; the rod is still there but they lost the visible slot on the side of the lens, and the focus scale thus looks a bit more conventional. You can see the rod in the frontal images on the eBay listing (or google it)

The idea is that the rod is both thin enough and far enough out of focus not to be visible in the image. However; I would imagine that it might be visible in the bokeh of out-of-focus specular highlights or point light sources; the bokeh doughnuts then possibly may have a very small gap in them. I shall try this on the RF 800 one day.


PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2022 10:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Would be great to complete a collection... but 10000$ ?... makes the 600 mm APO look almost cheap... So no chance!


PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2022 2:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Focussing one of the mirrors by lever is much preferable to turning a helix moving the entire construction especially on a tripod. At least that is my experience (using the RF800 in its Leica mount version).

p.


PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2022 4:17 pm    Post subject: Re: Minolta RF 1600 (1600mm mirror lens) on eBay Reply with quote
The Takumar 1000/8 weighs about 6.1kg and could be converted to a 1500/12 lens with a x1.5 multiplier. I've already used it with a x2 multiplier and it was still good for shooting the sun handheld.[/quote]
And now your right eye is blind? 😳


PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2022 6:11 pm    Post subject: Re: Minolta RF 1600 (1600mm mirror lens) on eBay Reply with quote
Phalbert wrote:
The Takumar 1000/8 weighs about 6.1kg and could be converted to a 1500/12 lens with a x1.5 multiplier. I've already used it with a x2 multiplier and it was still good for shooting the sun handheld.

And now your right eye is blind? [/quote]

Or you could use any number of the 800mm f5.6 lenses with a 2x TC for 1600mm f11. Far cheaper, more common, smaller.

paulhofseth wrote:
Focussing one of the mirrors by lever is much preferable to turning a helix moving the entire construction especially on a tripod. At least that is my experience (using the RF800 in its Leica mount version).

p.


Don't know why that wasn't obvious- very good point!


PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:57 pm    Post subject: Re: Minolta RF 1600 (1600mm mirror lens) on eBay Reply with quote
Phalbert wrote:
The Takumar 1000/8 weighs about 6.1kg and could be converted to a 1500/12 lens with a x1.5 multiplier. I've already used it with a x2 multiplier and it was still good for shooting the sun handheld.

And now your right eye is blind? 😳[/quote]

Nope and I've done several sunset pictures with 500/1000/2000mm lenses. I suppose that the whole configuration (sun trough more atmosphere, very dark configurations (f/22-32 at real aperture, light going trough both lens and prism, qucik shots without staring at the light...) is what saved me from losing my eyes. Now I am aware of this danger and I will not retry even if I think this is not immediately dangerous.


PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Antoine wrote:
Would be great to complete a collection... but 10000$ ?... makes the 600 mm APO look almost cheap... So no chance!


I hear ya. Whenever I see hugely inflated prices for camera optics, my first reaction is to look at equivalent telescopes. For that kind of money, I could buy TWO Meade 10" f/10 LX200 telescopes. Not optical tubes, but the complete telescopes. A 10" f/10 telescope has a focal length of 2540mm. And it's even a fraction of a stop faster. These big Meade (or Celestron) SCTs are diffraction-limited optics. Basically as good as they get.

Years ago, I owned a Meade 10" LX3, and I actually used it for terrestrial photography on occasion. It was impressively sharp. Yes, it's bigger than the Minolta by a sizable amount, but if that's too much for you, then there's always the 8" Meade (or Celestron). The 8" Meade sells new for between $3500 and $4100, depending on configuration. The optical tube is a 2032mm f/10 lens. Celestron also makes a C5 -- a 5 inch SCT. 1250mm f/10, but you can buy it configured as a spotting scope (basically configured as a lens) for $800 new.


PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 7:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nice price. Luckily I rarely go over 85mm and now I know why.
Laugh 1


PostPosted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
martinsmith99 wrote:
Nice price. Luckily I rarely go over 85mm and now I know why.
Laugh 1


Best stay above 20mm as well then! Wink


Antoine wrote:
Would be great to complete a collection... but 10000$ ?... makes the 600 mm APO look almost cheap... So no chance!


cooltouch wrote:
I hear ya. Whenever I see hugely inflated prices for camera optics, my first reaction is to look at equivalent telescopes. For that kind of money, I could buy TWO Meade 10" f/10 LX200 telescopes


Inflated against what though? Sure, for photographic purposes there are many other and cheaper options available than the RF 1600, but this price simply reflects the rarity value to collectors. Besides, it is a likely very optimistic asking price; I would hazard a guess that the bid value will be substantially below this Wink

Likewise, last year a Minolta Tele Rokkor-QF 250mm f/4 sold in a Japanese auction for 99,800 Yen (about 870$ / €770 ). Absolutely not worth it from a photographic perspective (described as heavily scratched and dirty optics), but that is one of the rarest if not the rarest Minolta SR lenses around... :



PostPosted: Wed Jan 19, 2022 12:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
https://www.cameramanuals.org/minolta_pdf/minolta_lenses-1980s.pdf

Page 8 on my computer, page 12 and 13 on the image.


PostPosted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 11:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Big boy! Need to do some lifting though... and grossly overpriced!


PostPosted: Sun Aug 07, 2022 9:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
[quote="Antoine"]Big boy! Need to do some lifting though... and grossly overpriced![/quote]

The 02/01/1982 Minolta price list shows a retail price of $3308 for this big boy. Maybe not the best investment in the world, but one could still have enjoyed using it for 40 years and then sold it at more than twice the original price... Smile


PostPosted: Sun Aug 07, 2022 11:48 am    Post subject: Re: Minolta RF 1600 (1600mm mirror lens) on eBay Reply with quote
RokkorDoctor wrote:
This lens comes up for sale only very rarely, Minolta's 1600mm Mirror lens.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284596864151

Almost 6.3kg and near US$ 10,000 asked. Still, I would hate to think what a 1600mm refractive version would weigh (and cost).

It may be coincidence, but the only ones I have ever seen on sale were all from South Korea.

Unless it is the same lens being passed around between South-Korean sellers & buyers, it does make me wonder if the South Korean army once bought a lot of them to peek over the demilitarised zone, and which have now ended up in private hands there.


This lens should be perfect for wedding photographers who wants to work from home...

Joking aside, does anyone know how well it compares to modern telescopes for astro work?


PostPosted: Sun Aug 07, 2022 12:53 pm    Post subject: Re: Minolta RF 1600 (1600mm mirror lens) on eBay Reply with quote
lattesweden wrote:
RokkorDoctor wrote:
This lens comes up for sale only very rarely, Minolta's 1600mm Mirror lens.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284596864151

Almost 6.3kg and near US$ 10,000 asked. Still, I would hate to think what a 1600mm refractive version would weigh (and cost).

It may be coincidence, but the only ones I have ever seen on sale were all from South Korea.

Unless it is the same lens being passed around between South-Korean sellers & buyers, it does make me wonder if the South Korean army once bought a lot of them to peek over the demilitarised zone, and which have now ended up in private hands there.


This lens should be perfect for wedding photographers who wants to work from home...

Joking aside, does anyone know how well it compares to modern telescopes for astro work?



I'm no astrophotgrapher, but if you're considering a similar catadioptric 'mirror' lens, then your choices narrow a bit for those which cover and illuminate full frame.

1600 / 11 = 145.454mm aperture, or in telescope terms 5.726 inch aperture. That's not actually an awful lot..

The length of this lens is listed as 325.5mm.

Even looking in the manual/specifications, I can't find full frame compatability, but https://www.firstlightoptics.com/meade-telescopes/meade-lx85-6-f10-acf-uhtc-telescope-ota.html



This Meade 1524mm f/10 (6 inch f/10) "Advanced Coma-Free" design (going to mean larger than usual flat field) is 420mm in length:



They follow a traditional Schmidt-Cassegrain design, no Mangin mirrors which are passed through twice, or any of the things the Tamron 500mm f/8 Cat had to be compact.

.
.

Catadioptric lenses for terrestrial photographic use have always had an edge over their telescope counterparts for compactness, and they cover full frame too. But compared to telescopes their central obstruction often quite large, due to need to focus close - not an issue for imaging but for viewing, sure.

But I am not sure what side to fall on here. You could say telescopes work under much higher magnification than wide, 35mm film. But then if your optical prescription in design software for a 35mm mirror lens tells you it's got great performance, then how can it suck under high magnification?

I'm guessing looser tolerances are what got them to be cheaper, + no ability to collimate?

Finally

Ratio of length, to focal length

Vivitar 600mm f/8 'Solid cat': 0.140
Tamron 55BB 500mm f/8: 0.174
Minolta RF 1600mm f/11: 0.203
Meade 1524mm f/10: 0.275


PostPosted: Sun Aug 07, 2022 1:48 pm    Post subject: Re: Minolta RF 1600 (1600mm mirror lens) on eBay Reply with quote
lattesweden wrote:
RokkorDoctor wrote:
This lens comes up for sale only very rarely, Minolta's 1600mm Mirror lens.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284596864151

Almost 6.3kg and near US$ 10,000 asked. Still, I would hate to think what a 1600mm refractive version would weigh (and cost).

It may be coincidence, but the only ones I have ever seen on sale were all from South Korea.

Unless it is the same lens being passed around between South-Korean sellers & buyers, it does make me wonder if the South Korean army once bought a lot of them to peek over the demilitarised zone, and which have now ended up in private hands there.


This lens should be perfect for wedding photographers who wants to work from home...

Joking aside, does anyone know how well it compares to modern telescopes for astro work?


I don't do astro work, but ignoring the issue of photographic mirror lenses having to accommodate a wide range of subject distances, it would seem to me that telescopes and photographic mirror lenses of similar construction should be comparable in term of optical quality.

In practice I would expect atmospheric disturbance to pretty much level the playing field here anyway...
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Manual Focus Lenses
Page 1 of 1