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3M-5A 500mm f/8 Russian mirror lens
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 1:45 pm    Post subject: 3M-5A 500mm f/8 Russian mirror lens Reply with quote
Identical to the one pictured here

(I think Gordon is a member here, username fergus)

Came with case, set of 4 77mm filters, built-in hood.

The lens is almost pristine. No scratches/haze, focus is smooth.... but... no mount! You can see scratches where someone twisted it off.



No aperture control on a mirror lens so that makes things very easy. I've got a busted old m42 lens so I'll try to extract that mount and attach it. The helicoid turns well past minimum and well past infinity so calibrating a mount shouldn't be too hard. This Russian is quite a beast, do you think Crazy Glue will hold a ~1.2kg lens?

I set the lens on a tripod and took some quick shots holding the camera up to the back of the lens. I'd say it looks darn good considering.




I just had to try a 2x teleconverter. Now this isn't fine art especially at high ISO, but that house is half a block away.




Anyway, looks promising. Before bidding I did some googling and saw several positive comments about the lens here, can't wait to get this baby mounted.


PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 2:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have one of these which is a good performer, altough a bit sturdy for a walkabout lens Smile.

It came with a Pentax K - T-mount adapter fitted. But not screwed onto a T thread (M42x0.75), instead it was directly mounted onto the collar you show. I thought that it would be no problem to change it for an EOS T-mount or even an M42 T-mount, but every one I owned or bought was the wrong size for the lens collar! I still use the lens sometimes (although not recently), but with a pentax k - EOS adapter Sad


PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 2:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I remember reading from someone that they used a camera body cap as an adapter for a lens; I thought that was very clever.


PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 3:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
martyn_bannister wrote:
I have one of these which is a good performer, altough a bit sturdy for a walkabout lens Smile.

It came with a Pentax K - T-mount adapter fitted. But not screwed onto a T thread (M42x0.75), instead it was directly mounted onto the collar you show. I thought that it would be no problem to change it for an EOS T-mount or even an M42 T-mount, but every one I owned or bought was the wrong size for the lens collar! I still use the lens sometimes (although not recently), but with a pentax k - EOS adapter Sad


Nice shots, Martyn.

She's "sturdy" for sure, I see they made a compact version later. But it focuses smoothly and seems built to last forever. My Takumars feel like precision instruments, something a jeweler might use. My Helios 44 feels downright "agricultural"! This is somewhere in the middle, a heavy industrial or military tool, overly rugged but well made.

We'll see how much use I get out of it. I think most people at some point wish for more zoom more zoom, and then comes the reality - it's technically difficult to get good super-tele shots. But now I have my high quality super-tele for a hundred bucks + shipping so that itch has been scratched, and any shots I miss are my own fault.


PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 3:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yes, I use body caps a lot, they are very useful for making DIY mounts.

Here is one I just made from some waste pipe fittings and a body cap:



Last night I mounted an Industar-23U 110mm enlarger lens the same way, the screw fitting does allow focussing but it's not quite as good as a proper helicoid.


PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 3:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
fuzzywuzzy wrote:
martyn_bannister wrote:
I have one of these which is a good performer, altough a bit sturdy for a walkabout lens Smile.

It came with a Pentax K - T-mount adapter fitted. But not screwed onto a T thread (M42x0.75), instead it was directly mounted onto the collar you show. I thought that it would be no problem to change it for an EOS T-mount or even an M42 T-mount, but every one I owned or bought was the wrong size for the lens collar! I still use the lens sometimes (although not recently), but with a pentax k - EOS adapter Sad


Nice shots, Martyn.

She's "sturdy" for sure, I see they made a compact version later. But it focuses smoothly and seems built to last forever. My Takumars feel like precision instruments, something a jeweler might use. My Helios 44 feels downright "agricultural"! This is somewhere in the middle, a heavy industrial or military tool, overly rugged but well made.

We'll see how much use I get out of it. I think most people at some point wish for more zoom more zoom, and then comes the reality - it's technically difficult to get good super-tele shots. But now I have my high quality super-tele for a hundred bucks + shipping so that itch has been scratched, and any shots I miss are my own fault.


Ah yes, but, you see, there is also the 1100mm version.

Mine can be seen here and here.

You will, now you have got the small brother 500mm, have to get the big brother as well Smile Russian mirrors are like rabbits. They tend to breed Smile


PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2011 3:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
martyn_bannister wrote:
Ah yes, but, you see, there is also the 1100mm version.

Mine can be seen here and here.

You will, now you have got the small brother 500mm, have to get the big brother as well Smile Russian mirrors are like rabbits. They tend to breed Smile


Yikes!

Well I'm going to try to get this one mounted and master it before going for that howitzer.


PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 2:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Alright, I've scavenged and attached a mount (which is a tale in itself, I'll post about it later) so here are some samples.

Some of these are a little washed out. It does have a wee built-in hood, maybe 3 inches. I plan to rig up a really long hood and see how much that helps.

This is my first super-tele, I'm getting a rude lesson on the weak spots of my technique Shocked Beanbag + live view seems to work best for me, my tripod is far too flimsy. I've gotten some good handheld shots, almost by accident Embarassed my next camera purchase will probably be a better focus screen for the 1000D.

The focus turns about an inch past the minimum mark, and about an inch past infinity. On the bright side my homemade mount easily reaches infinity, on the bad side finding infinity is a guessing game. I don't know if I'm brave enough to attempt an infinity adjustment, maybe I'll just to make a couple of marks to use as a guideline.

I've tried to shoot birds/squirrels in trees, but I haven't been able to even find the little beasties in the damn viewfinder with all the branches and donuts Laughing Hopefully practice will improve this.

PP limited to crop/resize, just trying to get a feel for this beast right now.

1) Looks alright, but a darned cumbersome way to take a flower shot.



2) A bit of my neighbour's flower garden



3) I tried a bunch of bird shots, not great but my best so far.



4) At least this little guy doesn't move around!



5) My daughter working hard on the monkey bars.



6) This plane was doing figure 8s over the river so I had time for several shots. I guess 1/1600 is enough to freeze the props Shocked I was surprised when I downloaded the pics to see it was a Government of Canada surveillance plane, Google tells me it detects various kinds of water pollution. This is almost a 100% crop.



PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
You might find that a monopod or a tripod will help with this lens. Even more to carry though!


PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Is your one with the built in hood?
A hood is a must for contrast. You'll find the lens uses what the Russians call an A mount, used a bit like a T mount but slighlty different specifications. A pity I didn't bookmark the seller, but one of the Russian Ebay shops carries them in M42 and Nikon.


PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
xjjohnno wrote:
Is your one with the built in hood?
A hood is a must for contrast. You'll find the lens uses what the Russians call an A mount, used a bit like a T mount but slighlty different specifications. A pity I didn't bookmark the seller, but one of the Russian Ebay shops carries them in M42 and Nikon.


There's a built-in hood, but it's only 1 3/4". I'll rig up something deeper and do a comparison.

This particular lens didn't have any mount at all when I bought it, I guess that's why no-one else bid on it Wink



PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
martyn_bannister wrote:
You might find that a monopod or a tripod will help with this lens. Even more to carry though!


My $12 tripod feels pretty flimsy and wobbly with this guy attached, but I'm sure it's still much better then handheld. It's hard to make fine adjustments, I bet a heavy-duty pistol-grip ballhead would make a huge difference.

I made a beanbag with a ziplock freezerbag and a handful of beans from the pantry, it seems perfect.

Actually I'm so impressed with the extra stability that the next time I'm out target shooting with the lads I'll make a big beanbag and try it with a rifle Twisted Evil


PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 6:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
[quote="fuzzywuzzy"]
xjjohnno wrote:
This particular lens didn't have any mount at all when I bought it, I guess that's why no-one else bid on it Wink



The "A" at the end of the lens name makes me think this is an A mount. You can buy a T2 adapter for your camera and take only the outer part. It will be held on the lens by three screws. That's how Jupiter 37A or Tair 11A work. Of course, you can just take the mount off any Jupiter-37A lens Smile


PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
This lens continues to confound and captivate me.

A few dozen geese migrate overhead every day now, fall is coming quickly.

Those guys move very quickly, you've got about 5 seconds from the sound of the first honk until they're overhead.

My best capture, handheld of course-



The focus is better here, too bad about the power lines Evil or Very Mad Evil or Very Mad



100% crop of the above



So yeah these aren't great but I think I'm improving. If nothing else practicing the 500/8 makes the shorter focal lengths seem very easy to shoot...
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