Earthshine

[Todd H]

I purchased another Tamron SP 500mm f/8 mirror lens off eBay since it was mint, $150. Great price. The lens is fantastic and really sharp. I bought it for astrophotography with my Sony A7RV and Skywatcher Star adventurer 2i tracker. This is a 30” exposure, ISO 100. Edited in Lightroom mobile on my iPad Pro

moon properly exposed with Tamron 500mm

 

[Dan Moorehead]

Wonderful

 

[JimFox]

Hey Todd,

What a great deal on that Tamron 500mm. And you got some really great images from it! Great job on these.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Have not seen images from a mirror lens in quite a while. I would say either they have really improved these or you must have gotten a great copy, as these images look very very good!

ML

 

[Todd H]

Wonderful

Thank you Dan…

 

[Todd H]

Hey Todd,

What a great deal on that Tamron 500mm. And you got some really great images from it! Great job on these.

Yes… a good deal indeed. Thanks Jim

 

[Todd H]

Have not seen images from a mirror lens in quite a while. I would say either they have really improved these or you must have gotten a great copy, as these images look very very good!

ML

Hi Mike. Thanks…

I have a few of these, two of the Nikon models (latest model with orange ring around the barrel) and now two Tamron models. The Nikon and first Tamron lenses I bought at a local camera store when I was living in Austin. The Nikon and Tamron brands are the best, the other “Cheap” brands like Bower, Opteka, etc that you find on Amazon, don’t waste your money. If you want to buy one, get either the Nikon or Tamron from eBay and make sure it’s mint or near mint. This last Tamron was from Victory Camera in Boulder Colorado on eBay. I’ve not had a bad experience with either brand. Both are really sharp. I will buy them if I find a near mint model. I don’t need that many, I just think they look cool and I enjoy using them. They are usually no more than $200 for a near mint or $250 for mint depending on the seller. I used a Nikon model (one I still have) with a Nikon D800 at ISO 2000 for a single 8 minute exposure from Big Bend national park. Guided on an older AstroTrac. Surprisingly the tracking was spot on.

And a different edit

another 500mm Nikon reflex lens. Nikon D800E

 

[JimFox]

Hi Mike. Thanks…

I have a few of these, two of the Nikon models (latest model with orange ring around the barrel) and now two Tamron models. The Nikon and first Tamron lenses I bought at a local camera store when I was living in Austin. The Nikon and Tamron brands are the best, the other “Cheap” brands like Bower, Opteka, etc that you find on Amazon, don’t waste your money. If you want to buy one, get either the Nikon or Tamron from eBay and make sure it’s mint or near mint. This last Tamron was from Victory Camera in Boulder Colorado on eBay. I’ve not had a bad experience with either brand. Both are really sharp. I will buy them if I find a near mint model. I don’t need that many, I just think they look cool and I enjoy using them. They are usually no more than $200 for a near mint or $250 for mint depending on the seller. I used a Nikon model (one I still have) with a Nikon D800 at ISO 2000 for a single 8 minute exposure from Big Bend national park. Guided on an older AstroTrac. Surprisingly the tracking was spot on.
View attachment 61538
And a different edit

View attachment 61539

another 500mm Nikon reflex lens. Nikon D800E

View attachment 61541

That lens really performs well Todd.

I think the biggest negative to mirror lenses is that the bokeh turns everything that's out of focus into doughnuts in the background. Since everything is in focus in your image, that negative isn't seen. I hadn't looked too much into using mirror lenses for Astro so I am not sure if there are other negatives usually associated with them.

Whatever the case, your images look great Todd.

 

[Todd H]

That lens really performs well Todd.

I think the biggest negative to mirror lenses is that the bokeh turns everything that's out of focus into doughnuts in the background. Since everything is in focus in your image, that negative isn't seen. I hadn't looked too much into using mirror lenses for Astro so I am not sure if there are other negatives usually associated with them.

Whatever the case, your images look great Todd.

Thanks Jim. You will not get those out of focus donuts when shooting objects in outer space because it’s too far away and the lens is focused to infinity. However, you will see them shooting landscapes, Portraits, or anything else close to you. Using them for astronomy is no different than using a Cassegrain telescope. They both behave in the same manner when shooting images in space. They are nice, lightweight and compact and since many of the refractors out there are either f/6 or f/7, f/8 isn’t too far off and most of your Schmidt Cassegrain scopes are f/10 or f/11.