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The Nikkor 500mm mirror "C" lens is a brilliant long focus lens that focuses easily with digital Nikon bodies. The C lens is the older 1970's version which is multicoated but not as compact as the last version from the mid 80's. This Nikkor is very well made and does weigh over two pounds. It is not auto focus and works best on a sturdy tripod for long range photos of birds and wildlife. On my D200 the effective focal length is equivalent to 750mm and that is a super telephoto length. These lenses exhibit a "hot spot" in the center which is less of a problem with a digital camera than it is on film since the sensor only uses the center portion of the image circle! Shooting with a super telephoto lens is very demanding since there is no depth of field and fast moving subjects are hard to capture in focus. The best results come on sunny days and high ISO/ film speeds so that a shutter speed of less than 1/1000th sec can be used. It may be possible for some people to hand hold such an exposure, but for me a tripod is necessary. When everything falls into place this Nikkor 500mm is tack sharp!Read full review
The Nikkor 500mm f/8 Reflex C has the quality of a Nikon. It is really built well, very impressive. Optical quality appears to be excellent. The lens is manual focus only and has a fixed f/8 aperture, so it can be used in either manual or aperture priority exposure mode. So far I am pleased with the build and optical quality.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I'm just now writing a review because I wanted to use it a little first. It takes some getting used to, it helps to shoot through the viewfinder instead of using the flip down screen on the back of the camera because of the very high magnification. You can find your subject much faster. I use it on a Nikon D5000. I am used to shooting with a fully manual camera, Olympus OM1, but have been getting comfortable with the automatic cameras. Manual focus, which I often use as the auto focus often doesn't focus on what I want it to focus on, is difficult with the new cameras. The viewfinders are smaller that they used to be and the screens used on the back do not have enough resolution to determine if the focus is good. With this lens, I put the camera in manual mode, set the shutter speed to 1/500 and go for it. The focal range is very narrow and to change focus required a lot of turning of the barrel. That is good for fine focus but takes longer to get to the course focus. But once focused, the pictures are amazingly sharp. I did some shots of birds feeding on the snow today and 4 out of 5 pictures were perfect. One I didn't get focused fast enough, but the bird was not very cooperative, he would not stay in one place very long. With my other telephoto, a 55-300 zoom with autofocus, he would have been too small to work with in the picture. Getting a really long lens can be very expensive. There are only two reasonably priced options, the cheap 800mm mirror lenses from China and a used quality lens like this one. i have read a lot of reviews about the poor quality of the cheap Chinese lenses so I went this route.Read full review
This is going to be a love / hate relationship - not going to be much gray area in between for most users. It fits the new DSLR's with modifications to the non ai versions (check to see if it's been "modded" first) or maybe you get lucky and it's a newer version. (Orange stripe around lens usually means it's good to go out of the box) Bokeh is unique, has fall off at the periphery, fixed aperture (Cadiotropic lens), and depth of field is TIGHT. But I love it. Gives a unique perspective and "look" you just can't get with any other lens. Is it for everybody? Nope! But if you want a really lightweight high power lens that's actually more useful in the digital world than it ever was in film this may just be a lens to add to your collection.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I bought this lens because I was going on a safari in Botswana and needed a big telephoto. The choice was renting a standard Nikon 400mm or 500mm lens weighing in at around 9 pounds (weight was a factor) and $1500 for a month-long rental or buying the 500mm reflex, which weighs a bit under two pounds, for a little under $400. Clearly there were disadvantages to the reflex. It is slow, hard to focus in a hurry and a little less sharp than the standard Nikkor telephotos. Still, the price and weight differences more than made up for those advantages in my mind. I used a monopod with the lens and on the whole it worked well. In 10 days I took over 1000 photos with the lens and was generally happy. I did not have much trouble with the dreaded "donut boke" for which these lenses are somewhat infamous, and since most of the shooting was done in morning sunlight, the lack of contrast problem was largely mitigated. I'm an amateur photographer and difference in quality between this and the high-end telephotos wasn't critical. This lens did everything I needed and met my expectations.Read full review
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