| Author: | | Junior Member Registered: January, 2013 Location: Texas Posts: 32 | | Review Date: May 8, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $460.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Short, well built, Sharp, Close Focus | | Cons: | Mirror Lens typical issues | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 6
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Camera Used: Olympus Pen-F, Fuji X-T3
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This lens is very similar to the Tamron 500/8.0 MR-SP. Same diameter. Superbly built. Very short minimum focus distance.
The sharpness is totally amazing, above average for a mirror lens, and is nearly as good in the corners as in the center.
It has the typical plus and minus of mirror lenses.
Plus:
- No chromatic aberration
- Very short
- Very light
Minus:
- 'Donuts' bokeh
- Difficult to focus accurately
- Large diameter
- No diaphragm - it is f/5.6 and nothing else
- Low contrast, but it does better than other mirror lenses, and that's very easy to correct digitally later
- The real aperture is more like F/6.8, there is a loss due to the mirrors
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Site Supporter Registered: June, 2008 Location: Florida Hill Country Posts: 17,377 | | Review Date: February 14, 2015 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Excellent Mirror Lens, Compact & fast | | Cons: | short focal length for a mirror lens | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 6
Handling: 9
Value: 9
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I rate this lens a 10 for a mirror lens and would rate it at 6 to 7 against regular lenses. This is the best mirror lens I have seen. I realize that isn't saying much. It also is f5.6. The only real downside is the fact it is 350mm which is a short FL for a mirror lens.
| | | | | New Member Registered: June, 2013 Posts: 22 | | Review Date: August 16, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $120.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Light, reasonably sharp | | Cons: | Difficult to focus - or rather, DoF is very small | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 5
Handling: 5
Value: 8
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In short: It gives you nice contrasty sharp pictures - but its very limited Depth of Focus makes rehearsing use a necessity.....
A lot better on my K-5 than on my K1000, as I now have a sensitivity that means I can use suitably fast shutter times.
Highly recommended - its only faults are general to all mirror lenses. The Donut Bokeh, the lack of an aperture and hence lack of DoF.
Jon
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: June, 2010 Location: Central Ontario Posts: 57 | | Review Date: March 30, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | very sharp,easy to hold | | Cons: | sometimes unpleasant broken | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 5
Handling: 9
Value: 9
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Bought this lens used many years ago,mainly for astrophotography but is a pleasure to use any time and very compact to carry.Used first on my minolta but Extremely happy with it on my K10. The focus can be a chore to achive but is very rewarding though I have had nothing else to compare it with.I would recommend it but careful what you pay for it...I have seem them as high as 800.00 on ebay.
edit: I felt I had to explain why I rated this so high while others may have been more bias.For my needs this lens is so fun to wander around with and a workhorse piggy backing on my telescope.   | | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: June, 2010 Location: North Zealand, Denmark Posts: 1,516 | | Review Date: January 27, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Lightweight, compact, good color rendition, no distortions or abberations | | Cons: | fixed aperture, difficult to focus | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 4
Handling: 5
Value: 7
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Note: I bought this from new in 1982, and that's the price shown.
This lens is rather difficult to rate from a general user's point of view. The focussing IS a tedious business - although practise helps a good deal. It isn't really for "action" because one has to turn the focus ring a lot - and then jut a tiny movement of the ring will make an awful lot of a difference. I should say that it IS very sharp, but only when focussed absolutely correctly.
A catadioptric lens is a special piece of equipment; I do recommend this lens, but only for those that will know, what to use it for and why.
Of the many things that I like about this lens I should mention first and foremost its excellent color rendition and lack of any distortions/abberations and next its ease of portability. It is only 8 centimeters long and easily fits into a small shoulder bag as a second lens. (I also have the SP 300mm f/5.6 Model 54B and that lens is much less portable for an easy stroll).
In 1982, I primarily bought my lens for astrophotography and I have never regretted my purchase. I also have the Tamron Teleview Eyepiece from that time and thus, also a nice spottingscope providing 17.5 X 62.5 and 35 X 62.5 with the SP 01F teleconverter.
In the digital age, I have found new uses for it - also thanks to Pentax in-camera shake reduction.
B.R. / Steen G. Bruun
Pentax *ist DL image with Tamron Model 06B 350mm f/5.6
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: January, 2008 Location: Bondi, Australia Posts: 206 | | Review Date: December 12, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $120.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | sharp for a mirror,light for a 350mm | | Cons: | bit slow, dim viewfinder makes focussing difficult | |
Picked this lens up cheaply many years ago.Have a 500 f/8 and 300 f/4, so this focal length a bit redundant. Lens very slow compared to the bright 300 f/4, compactness advantage lost by more difficult focus. Opically, not as sharp as 300 f/4 glass, but considerably sharper than 500 f/8 Tamron. As mirror lenses go, it is very sharp and light /compact. Weight is not too much of an issue for me, so the 300 f/4 Pentax K rules (Tamron 300 f/2.8 weight is an issue though.)
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: March, 2007 Location: TN Posts: 58 | | Review Date: August 21, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $125.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | lightweight; small size compared to more conventional lenses | | Cons: | | |
This is a well-built, rugged lens.
It came with the standard metal lens hood which reverses for storage, and also with a tripod mount. However, because of its small size and lighter weight it is far easier to handhold than AF regular lenses of similar focal lengths which makes it convenient when tripods aren't an option, such as ballparks.
On occasion the lens gives the typical mirror-lens donut highlights in the background, but not nearly as often as one might think. Contrast and color are both good.
While I typically use the 500mm Tamron mirror for birds, I use this one for sports and have been very pleased with the results.
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