Stacking the Moon with the Tamron SP 500/8

Two days before full moon in September 2007 i wanted to try the Tamron SP 500/8 against the moon. Armed with an adapter for Olympus OM to Canon EOS, a Tamron 1.4 TC (EOS) and a good solid Manfrotto tripod i set out for - well - just the garden.



With the combination of Canon's 30D Body and the TC, the whole setup compares to a 1120mm lens at about f/11 or more.

To avoid any shaking i used a remotecontrol and mirror lock-up. After some test shots i took a whole series - to be exact, 27 images of the moon. And the shooting session was already over.


Here is one sample, 1/160 @ iso 500. 50% cropped. (click for 1:1 size)


Here the same 100% cropped. (click for 1:1 size)

Well the quality is not that impressive, but for starters it's ok.

This is where "Stacking" and the 27 images fits in.

Using the Software Autopano pro i stacked all the images into one image.


From this image (click for 1:1 size), which looks blurred, you are able to sharpen your way to a much better image of the Moon. But you'll need the right software, i used the freeware Registax 4.

Registax has the wavelet sharpener, which really improves the sharpness of your Moon photo.

Sharpening is always a bad idea due to the, in the process, introduced grains. But with the help of Noise Ninja you can make this picture worth looking at.


Here we see the original and the Wavelet sharpened images plus Noise Ninja.


And this is the 100% cropping. (click for 1:1 size)

As you can see, much more detail is available from all these shots as just from one image. One thought came to me during the processing: Why not resize the 27 images from 8 megapixel to 32? Then stack these monsters and do the Wavelet and Noise Ninja, the result must be much better, right?

Well i tried it.


The first image is the original 8mp, the second is the 8mp with wl+nn and the last is the 32mp with wl+nn scaled back down to 8mp!

I must say it's much better. But this seems to be the limit, a least with 27 images. The downscaling of the end picture has a nice sideeffect, it reduces the grains times 4.


This is the end result, scaled down to 33,3% of the 32 mp image and cropped.

Links

• Read more about Stacking with Autopano Pro
• Get the Registax 4 software - freeware
• Check out the Noise Ninja Software from Picturecode

Reflex Nikkor 500/8s

Nikons third and newest 500mm Mirror Lens. The older lenses doesn't have the orange line. Many people on the internet claims that this is the one of if not the best 500/8 mirror lens. Technically it has one of the shortest minimum focus distances found in 500mm, which is 1,5 meters or just around 5 feet.

If you want this lens at eBay, you must be ready to pay around 400 Euros for this third version. The second version goes for about half the price. The first version could have a much higher price because it goes back to 1961 (vintage).

Technical Data

Released year	1984
Discontinued year	-
Minimum aperture	8
Elements/groups	6/6
Minimum focus distance	150 cm
Maximum magnification	1:2.5
Minimum length	109.0 mm
Maximum length	-
Diameter	89.0 mm
Weight	0.840 kg
Front Filter diameter	82mm
Rear Filter diameter	39mm (screw-on)
Hood mount	screw-on
Autofocus (AF)	no

Links

• Information about the Nikkor Reflex 500/8s at the "Photography in Malaysia" website
• The Reflex-Nikkor 500mm f/8 at Nikons Archives

Canon Reflex 500/8 new FD

Canons second Mirror Lens, the first was for FD, this one is the new FD mount. To my knowledge Canon never made one for the EF mount. So how can you tell the difference between the older version and this one? Well, the old one is labeled S.S.C. (Super Spectra Coating).

The old lens is a rarity and sells at eBay (buy-now) for around 500 Euro, this newer lens goes for about 250 Euro. (Sept. 2007)

Technical Data

Released year	1980
Discontinued year	-
Minimum aperture	8
Elements/groups	6/3
Minimum focus distance	400 cm
Maximum magnification	1:7 (Calculated)
Minimum length	146.0 mm
Maximum length	-
Diameter	90.0 mm
Weight	0.705 kg
Front Filter diameter	-
Rear Filter diameter	34mm (slot-in)
Hood mount	Built-in slide out type
Autofocus (AF)	no

Links

• Direct link to the Museum page of the Canon Reflex 500/8
• Canon Camera Museum
• Information about the Canon Reflex 500/8 FD (the old one) at the "Photography in Malaysia" website

Links of interest

• www.photodo.com Photodo provides news, discussion, in-depth user reviews & ratings on all types of photographic lenses.
• www.the-digital-picture.com featuring... Photography equipment reviews.
• www.photozone.de Photo equipment tests, reviews & articles.
• www.canon.com/camera-museum Canons up-to-date camera-museum - buy a new lens and it's already history.
• www.pws-online.nl An opinion about mirror lenses. Quote: "The digital age has made a revival of the mirror lens possible!"
• www.its-network.de Sharing experience and giving tips about the Maksutov MTO-11CA (in german)
• www.mir.com.my/rb/photography Photography in Malaysia - more than 10 years online with a huge database of nikkor/nikon stuff, but also Canon and others...

Olympus Zuiko Reflex 500/8

Olympus Zuiko introduces this lens in 1982. I haven't really found much about this lens - so i guess it's pretty rare. Rumors says that this lens is one of the best - and that second hand prices still are pretty high (eBay - buy now price Sept. 2007: 699 Euros !!!). Interesting is that it only has 5 elements in 2 groups where most have 7 in 4 groups or more.

Technical Data

Released year	1982
Discontinued year	-
Minimum aperture	8
Elements/groups	5/2
Minimum focus distance	400 cm
Maximum magnification	1:7 (Calculated)
Minimum length	97.0 mm
Maximum length	-
Diameter	81.0 mm
Weight	0.590 kg
Front Filter diameter	72
Rear Filter diameter	only front filter
Hood mount	Built-in slide out type
Autofocus (AF)	no

Links

• Additional Information on Olympus Zuiko lenses (Zuiko Telephoto lenses - 500mm f/8.0 Reflex (Mirror) lense)

Sigma 600/8 for Canon EF

This is the latest of Sigmas Mirror lenses. This was the only Mirror lens born with a Canon EF mount. That is - you don't need any adapter to mount this on your Canon EOS body.

This lens does work with newer Canon bodies like the EOS 30/33 and any of the new digital bodies. I do know that some older Sigma lenses (before 2001) needs a chip upgrade (it's free - or almost) to work on the newer bodies. So better check this if you want to buy a used older Sigma lens at eBay - you digital EOS might display Error99 when using it.

The new version (this one) has a focusing rubber grip with inclined lines. The older lens has straight lines.

The eBay prices are somewhere between 200 to 400 Euros. But be carefull, some photos of the lens are "stolen" from other sellers. They are easy to detect due to lines of the rubber grip. Sometimes, funny enough, the "fake" sellers at ebay are using images of two different lenses to sell one lens.

Technical Data

Released year	-
Discontinued year	-
Minimum aperture	8
Elements/groups	7/4
Minimum focus distance	200 cm
Maximum magnification	1:2.9
Minimum length	121.0 mm
Maximum length	134.5
Diameter	99.0 mm
Weight	0.830 kg
Front Filter diameter	95
Rear Filter diameter	30.5
Hood mount	-
Autofocus (AF)	no

Links

• PBase gallery on Sigma 600/8 images (Not all were taken with the newer EF mount)
• Dyxum.com User reviews and sample gallery

Ohnar 300/5.6 Mirror

I have very little information about this Lens. But the big thing is: you can set the aperture between 5.6 and 16 in full steps. The iris diaphragm has by the way 15 blades. See also the link below to the photo of the diaphragm.

It seems to me that the diaphragm really doesn't have any or just little effect. Use the link "Ohnar 300mm Test Page with 4 photos" to see for yourself.

With Babelfish i was able to squeeze these tech data out of the Japanese website below. Ohnar also made a 300mm mirror lens with a fix aperture. I guess this is the customized version - must be rare.

Technical Data

Released year	-
Discontinued year	-
Minimum aperture	5.6
Maximum aperture	16
Elements/groups	9/7
Minimum focus distance	250 cm
Maximum magnification	-
Minimum length	66.0 mm
Maximum length	-
Diameter	79.5 mm
Weight	0.335 kg
Front Filter diameter	67
Rear Filter diameter	-
Hood mount	-
Autofocus (AF)	no

Links

• Ohnar 300mm Technical Data in Japanese
• Babelfish translation of the Ohnar 300mm Technical Data
• Diaphragm photo of the Ohnar
• Ohnar 300mm Test Page with 4 photos to compare the dof
• Ohnar Image Gallery


• Olympus Mount (OM) website 3nd Party Lens review page (in Japanese with rarity indicator)

Tamron SP 500/8 Tele Macro model 55BB

This is the latest of Tamrons Mirror lenses. There was an earlier model called 55B which did have some optical problems due to mirror design. All that was optimized in this 55BB model.

Technical Data

Released year	1983
Discontinued year	2005 (Tamron.de told me that)
Minimum aperture	8
Elements/groups	7/4
Minimum focus distance	170 cm
Maximum magnification	1:3
Minimum length	87.0 mm
Maximum length	91.5 mm (dependent of the adapter)
Diameter	84.0 mm
Weight	0.595 kg
Front Filter diameter	82
Rear Filter diameter	30.5 (screw-on)
Hood mount	screw-on
Autofocus (AF)	no

Gallery

The Images below were taken using a Canon 30D (equiv. to 800mm) with Olympus OM to EOS adapter.

• 1: Taken handheld indoors @ iso 1600, f/8 and 1/100 s.
• 2: Taken handheld @ iso 200, f/8 and 1/500 s.
• 3: Taken using monopod @ iso 160, f/8 and 1/500 s.

• 4: Taken using monopod @ iso 160, f/8 and 1/400 s.
• 5: Taken using monopod @ iso 500, f/8 and 1/400 s.
• 6: Taken using monopod @ iso 160, f/8 and 1/500 s.

• 7: Taken using monopod @ iso 1250, f/8 and 1/400 s. This is the size of the moon on a APS-C Chip uncropped (equiv. to 800mm) .
• 8: 100% Crop of picture 7. Sharpened. Noise was removed with Noise Ninja.

Links

• Adaptall-2 on the Tamron SP 500mm 1:8
• Tamron website on MF SP 500mm F/8 (Model 55BB)
• Bob Atkins - Mirror Lenses - how good? Tamron 500/8 SP vs Canon 500/4.5L
• PhotoZone.de Tested the Tamron on a Nikon D200
• David Ruether's SUBJECTIVE Lens Evaluations (Mostly Nikkors) SLEMN for short. (Tamron is listed - but is it the SP model?)
• Tamron.com about the Tamron SP 500/8
• Picturecodes Noise Ninja Plug-in for Photoshop

Sony Alpha 500/8 Reflex

Sony still has a Mirror lens on the market, the only one with Autofocus. This was release when Sony took over the Minolta SLR. Minolta introduced this lens to the market in 1991 - and it seems that Sony hasn't changed anything except the logo and the finish of this Mirror lens.

Technical Data

Released year	2006
Discontinued year	-
Minimum aperture	8
Elements/groups	7/5
Minimum focus distance	400 cm
Maximum magnification	1:7.69
Minimum length	118.0 mm
Maximum length	122.0 mm
Diameter	89.0 mm
Weight	0.665 kg
Front Filter diameter	82
Rear Filter diameter	42 (Slot-in)
Hood mount	screw-on
Autofocus (AF)	yes

Links

• Sony SAL-500F80 - 500mm f/8 Reflex Super Telephoto Lens
• Lens tech data for Minolta AF 500/8 Reflex

Mirror Lenses

Mirror lens, Reflex lens, Catadioptric Lens or just Cat.

Much hated among professional photographers, due to the donut shaped bokeh, the fixed aperture (except one lens) and the missing AF, these lenses are all history - except for some Korean and Russian models and Sony/Minolta's which is still produced (2007) and comes with AF as the only one.

When Mirrors were introduced to SLR's i.e. analog photography for more than 30 years ago, there was one limitation not often discussed and that was film speed. With todays digital age you can easily, from image to image, change the iso settings to get the wanted shutterspeed. So i believe that Mirror lenses today, with the introduction of DSLR's, has become easier to use.

This is the single source you ever gonna need to find information about Mirror lenses (Well, sometimes you must have goal to reach for - im trying). Filled with links to other website - and a list to compare many of the best Mirror lenses. The technical data of each lens will be shown if these can be found.

You can use this blog as an anchor for your own research. Your research, so far, has already driven you to this place - hope you will find peace in your mind.