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Soligor C/D Mirror Lens 500mm f/8
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 29, 2023 7:45 am    Post subject: Soligor C/D Mirror Lens 500mm f/8 Reply with quote
My first serious attempt at using a catadioptric lens. Turned out to be more challenging than I anticipated and I realized I'm not at all used to hand-holding telescopic focal lengths. I really liked the versatility of the lens, though. It can really get up close, with an MFD of a little over 2m. And I also really like the weird bokeh. But I wasn't ready for the very narrow DoF at what seemed like any distance. All images are SOOC raw exported to JPEG using DxO Photolab w/o any PP. More available at my Flickr, including all the processed versions.








PostPosted: Sat Jul 29, 2023 12:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
While I do have a couple of mirror lenses and I like them, I don't quite get what you call versatility. 🤔😊
That specific lens doesn't have a special reputation for good sharpness. What is your opinion please ?


PostPosted: Sat Jul 29, 2023 4:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Phalbert wrote:
While I do have a couple of mirror lenses and I like them, I don't quite get what you call versatility. 🤔😊
That specific lens doesn't have a special reputation for good sharpness. What is your opinion please ?


I came to this lens with low expectations. I expected poor magnification at the near end (where I mostly like to hang out) and a lot of ugly flaring. Was pleasantly surprised at the range of useful distances and near-end magnification. Its sharpness seems to elude me mostly due to my own quick and sloppy technique, but were I more patient and careful I think it'd suit my fairly low sharpness standards pretty well. I wish the IBIS in the ILCE-7M3 had the kind of stability my Olympus E-M10III has, because this lens was way jumpier in the viewfinder than I'm used to.

So, versatility to me exhibits itself in the small and lightweight package for which this and many other mirror lenses are known, coupled with the wide range of available focusing distances and nice color and bokeh rendering. It's also nice to be able to reach so far with 500mm without having to break out my Sigma 60-600 monster.

To be honest, I only got this and my Spiratone mirror lens for the bokeh donuts. Any other positive characteristics are a bonus. So perhaps I just have low standards as I try to love any (mostly cheap and quirky) lens that comes my way Wink
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