Nikon 500mm F8 Mirror lens

[RVT]

Does anyone have any experience, good or bad, in using this lens and getting the results through quality control on Alamy? 

[Ed Rooney]

I owned that tele for a long time back in the film era, took it with me on trips that involved the sea and sunsets. It's surprisingly light . . . but large. It was sharp and I even used it with a telex tender. But any lens longer than 300mm takes extra careful handling and a serious tripod. 

 

I'm a city shooter now without a car, so I have no use for anything that long. 

 

Edo

[Malcolm Park]

I had the Nikon Reflex Mirror 500mm f8 version for several years, sold only 3 months ago. Interesting lens, bit like a mini catadioptric astronomical telescope. I have a few shots on Alamy taken with it. Can just about be used handheld if the subject is very bright, otherwise need to be secured to a sturdy tripod and use a shutter release. They can be picked up in v good condition quite cheaply, definitely not a lens for fast action. Has slightly odd "bokeh" looking like donut rings which didn’t bother me that much

[Ed Rooney]

 

Oh yeah, Malcolm -- I forgot those donut rings. I considered those a plus. 

[Michael Ventura]

I had one for a brief time in the 1980s but was not a fan of the "donut rings".  Bought it used and sold it pretty soon after.

[RVT]

From original poster: 

Thanks for your input guys - I probably should have been more specific with my request for information. I've just bought one of these lenses at auction - it's in great condition and I'm happy with it and yes, I agree with all the points about it being a bit tricky to use, I wouldn't even think about trying to use it without a tripod - however the nature of the beast does raise some issues around getting it through QC here at Alamy - most notably the fact images taken with it have pretty much zero depth of field - there's one point that's in focus and pretty much everything else could be described as being "soft" to a greater or lesser degree. For some subjects this works very nicely, for others it's a more nuanced issue - and I was wondering if these kind of images are getting shot down by Alamy QC dept. I guess my option is to just submit them and see what happens, but I've got a 5* quality control rating that I'd like to hang onto. I'm encouraged to hear that Malcolm Park has got some images "live" so I guess I'll just start using it. If anyone else has any more thoughts I'd be delighted to hear them - but thanks again for your help. 

Edited November 28, 2022 by RVT