The (In)famous Spiratone 400/6.3

[luisalegria]

This is of course about that most celebrated of all long lenses, the iconic cheap mail order special, the "girl-watching lens", the subject of decades of more-or-less sleazy ads in the camera magazines. For a certain generation of camera nut (in the US anyway), there probably isn't a more recognizable lens.



I have to admit I have one - in some parts that was almost a mark of shame ! And it may still be !

These things are still around, there are always a few Spiratones on ebay, and even more of them under other brands. And they are cheaper than ever - I got mine recently for @ $20, and that seems to be the going rate. If yours doesn't come with a 72mm UV filter (which usually was in the original package), you will be missing half the value of your purchase ! They are all T-mounts, so they can be used (or misused) on anything.

So what are they like ?

I have to say that - oh the shame ! - I like it.

Its a very light lens, half or less the weight of my Komura 400, and a fraction of anything modern of that focal length, save a mirror. And this thing is even lighter than a lot of mirrors, certainly the Russian MTO's I used to see. It feels cheap, and looks cheap, but mechanically it works very well. It handles very nicely in fact, once you get used to the length.

Focusing is smooth, light, and quick, and I would be more confident of trying a moving situation with this than the Komura. Its a pre-set, and that is good, because you really do want to get the best depth of field with these, but you will want the brightest image you can get to focus with in the first place. I have usually treated pre-sets as manual, but on this type of lens the pre-set is valuable. F/6.3 is a pretty small aperture by modern standards, but its DOF on a 400mm can seem tiny.

I handheld every shot, and its at times like these that the Pentax shake reduction shows its value - it can get more DOF for a given amount of light.

As for the optical quality- I have to say it doesn't seem up to the Komura, but that doesn't mean it can't give reasonably good results. The worst problems with long lenses are focusing errors and shake, and getting past these is hard enough that optical quality seems to be a minor worry.











And of course, the bird -



100% crop -

[Jesito]

Luis, it seems you have worked out all those mentioned shaking and focusing problems... Nice series!.

Jes.

[Richard_D]

These non tele long lenses give surprisingly good results

[Attila]

I guess you are lot better photographer than these lenses.. you can produce wonderful result with a simple tube too.. I don't believe this lens this good
Many thanks for sharing!

[Attila]

Full size images are here

[poilu]

the full size look quite good for a 400mm and for 20$

[Attila]

Yes indeed.