Junior Member Registered: August, 2009 Location: Lexington, KY Posts: 30 | | Review Date: October 20, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $150.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Well made, tiny, nearly macro | | Cons: | Mirror bokeh | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 6
Handling: 9
Value: 5
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I don't really like mirror lenses, but I wanted to try a couple for some computational photography research I've been doing. 500mm mirror lenses are fairly common, but the 250mm-300mm ones have become rare, and the pricing is usually even a bit worse than what I paid. Actually, I'm giving the complete eBay lot price as the price of this lens because it is why I bought the lot, but there were 6 lenses and 3 cameras in the lot, so it could be argued that I paid much less for this one lens....
This lens is in beautiful condition. Focus is a tad stiff, but it is clearly a well-built lens despite being quite light. As is common with mirror lenses, it focuses from past infinity to a macro-like magnification (although I wouldn't call it close focus, given the distance). Much easier to hand-hold than my 500mm mirror (because that has a huge diameter), but still needing high shutter speeds. Really nothing to fault mechanically. Optically:
Really, not bad. Contrast is low, no CA, double-line bokeh, ... in other words, it's a mirror lens. 
Here's what you can get with just a touch of post processing:
The colors are not pumped here, just a little sharpen and levels brought-out the really intense shades of the actual scene.
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