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Samyang/Falcon/Kenko/Opteka etc 800mm F/8 mirror lens.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 12:27 am    Post subject: Samyang/Falcon/Kenko/Opteka etc 800mm F/8 mirror lens. Reply with quote
I had always assumed this lens was total garbage but I found this guys photostream on flickr.

Some of his images are mis focused or have motion blur but on the whole I am amazed by what he can do with this lens, he has several photos of butterflies and moths caught in mid flight! with an MF 800mm mirror lens!

Like I said not all of them are perfect but images such as the one below have made me think I might pick up a copy of this lens if I see one for the right price, it looks like it can be quite sharp for a CHEAP 800mm mirror!

DSC_8333 by nkenji, on Flickr


PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 12:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
YES! Thank you for sharing!


PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 12:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
This one is not as good under close inspection but I don't think I could ever pull this off with an 800mm mirror lens!

DSC_5424 by nkenji, on Flickr


PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 12:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
fatdeeman wrote:
This one is not as good under close inspection but I don't think I could ever pull this off with an 800mm mirror lens!

DSC_5424 by nkenji, on Flickr


With any lens above 400mm would be hard.


PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 1:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I think pretty hard with any lens.


PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 7:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
fatdeeman wrote:
This one is not as good under close inspection but I don't think I could ever pull this off with an 800mm mirror lens!


If I had ISO 2000 and 1/8000s then I might Smile

No, seriously, superb shot and excellent technique. This guys photostream sure has some really good stuff. I wouldn't even begin to come close Sad


PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 7:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I just won one, I have no idea what the sample variation is like.

Expect some "not as good as this guy's" samples soon!

Last edited by fatdeeman on Sun Oct 03, 2010 1:42 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Sun Oct 03, 2010 12:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Congrats Dave! Let we see...


PostPosted: Sun Oct 03, 2010 5:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
congrats! half body of butterfly was oof, I wait from you a better one Very Happy


PostPosted: Sun Oct 03, 2010 1:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
poilu wrote:
congrats! half body of butterfly was oof, I wait from you a better one Very Happy


HAHA I'll try but I doubt I could have taken that shot with an AF lens!


PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 6:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Well it turned up today, I probably won't be able to try it till the weekend but I was impressed by the build quality!

The paint finish is textured and does a pretty good impression of a Canon L lens and the whole thing feels very sturdy and well put together.

The only thing that let's it down IMO is the little golden metal name plate held on with 4 tiny screws, it looks like a slightly too desperate attempt to inject some class and it ends up doing the opposite. It's not so much how the plate looks but the fact that the metal is paper thin and cheap looking.

Overall though I was surprised by the finish!

Hopefully it will be as acceptable as this guys is, after further research it appears that there is a lot of sample variation so we shall see how it goes.

I'm wondering now if a rear screw in filter is needed to complete the optical formula, I think I have one the right size somewhere so I will see what effect it has.

Hopefully the sun will be shining on the weekend and I can attempt to get some shots without any camera shake!


PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Pls be so kind and show a pic of the lens itself too. thanks in advance

Wink


PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 7:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I found some samples taken with the 500mm F/6.3 version too:

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/2927/sam01.jpg

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/6089/sam02f.jpg

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/4057/sam04.jpg

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/3937/sam05.jpg

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/2479/sam06.jpg

Not bad! Much better then the samples I have seen in online reviews of this lens!


PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2010 8:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
fatdeeman wrote:
Well it turned up today, I probably won't be able to try it till the weekend but I was impressed by the build quality!

The paint finish is textured and does a pretty good impression of a Canon L lens and the whole thing feels very sturdy and well put together.

//
Hopefully it will be as acceptable as this guys is, after further research it appears that there is a lot of sample variation so we shall see how it goes.

//
Hopefully the sun will be shining on the weekend and I can attempt to get some shots without any camera shake!


Congrats with your lens. Be prepared that it will take some time to learn to work with a mirrorlens so do not think that the first results are representive for your sample of this 800mm.
The main challenge is to keep the thing stabile as the lack of weigth doesn't help a lot. After some disappointing experiences with tripods and monopods, i started using my mirrorlenses in combination with a shoulderstock. The second challenge is learning to focus a mirrorlens. This also will take quite some time and failshots.
After some hard practice, one can manage to get the results from the flickrstream mentioned above.
Fiddling around with mirrorlenses trying to get the best out of it has a pleasant payoff. Once you put a 'normal' telelens on your camera, you will get to good results much easier. Using an AF-supertele after some mirrorpractice will make you feel unleashed.


PostPosted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 10:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Just to update you, the weather was supposed to be bright and sunny during my three days off (Friday Saturday and Sunday) but so far it has been dull, cloudy and windy so I haven't had much opportunity to try the lens yet Evil or Very Mad


PostPosted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 2:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
A bit more sun today so I had a little play.

First I tried it on the G1 and couldn't get anything near a sharp image, I'm sure this is partly a matter of pixel pitch but I'm beginning to suspect the G1 produces a significant amount of shutter slap, I had experienced similar with the MTO-11CA and my Tamron 500mm mirror. I have tried using a sturdy tripod, high shutter speeds and even placing the camera and lens on the solid ground gently and using the timer but I still get soft images. I would put it down to technique etc but The one thing that makes me suspicious is that I see more detail in liveview under max magnification than I see in the photos, in a lot of cases I can see things in liveview that don't show up in the photos at all, even when using high shutter speeds of 1/2000 or more.

I will investigate the matter more in due course.

I then tried the lens on my Samsung GX-1S (essentially a Pentax Ds2) and the results were noticeably superior.

Again, this is no doubt partly due to the larger pixels and reduced multiplication factor of the sensor but still I found results instantly superior despite the camera being technically more difficult to focus.

Even with the Samsung I haven't quite reached the results of the guy I started this post about but after a few minutes playing I think I will be able to achieved the same levels of resolution with time.

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