The newer, more compact Nikkor mirror is quite good as

mirrors go, but, surprisingly, the bigger old-style

f8 is even better, and is about as sharp (at its

effective f8 1/2...) as the big, fast EDIF lenses are

wide-open (purdy gud!) - and it is good enough to be

still sharp (at 700mm f11) used on the TC14/14B (not

TC14A or C). BTW, a secret: I get better results hand-holding the 500mm f8 mirror! Shutter speed must

be 1/500th or faster, and it takes four frames to

get at least one sharp one, but the damping with

hand-holding is better than with most tripods...

(though the slower-speed oscillations aren't...;-).

(More at: www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/slemn.html.)

On Thu, 2 Jan 2003 13:23:55 +0100, "Max Perl" <max_perl@post11.tele.dk> wrote:

>I have the latest Nikkor 500/8. It take a little practise to make quality

>pictures with such a lens. It requires more than careful focusing because

>the viewfinder is dark and the focus has to be 100%. Then it also requires

>a very study tripod. I think it is up to the photographer how much you can

>get out of the lens. It is possible to get very high quality pictures from

>such

>a lens. And a nice feature witht the latest model is that it can focus down

>to 1.5m. This is close to 1:1 macro.

>

>Max

>"Jerry L." <ski2photo@netscape.net> skrev i en meddelelse

>news:dc01ac7.0301012029.134c8c2@posting.google.com...

>> If you can find an old Nikkor 500mm f8 mirror lens (circa. 1984-1990)

>> then you might have satisfactory results. With the Lenco, you are

>> wasting film.

>> The engineering expertise needed to make a good mirror lens seems to

>> be limited to a few companies: the cheaper the lens, the more likely

>> it will produce poor negatives or slides.

>> = = =