are these kinds of lenses worth anything?

[Corwyn]

I keep seeing these and a couple of other similar lenses on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/500mm-Mirror-Lens-for-Nikon-D40-D200-D80-D2Xs-D2H-NEW_W0QQitemZ350004551112QQihZ022QQcategoryZ3343QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

Now I know that these are cheap and I am not expecting anything incredible out of them, but if shooting in bright light outdoors and I have time to focus or jsut shooting photo album stuff on the beach - wathing my kids far enough back so they don't know I'm tsking pics. Can you get reasonable results or are these just a complete waist of money?


C

[jcon]

Never heard of the company or that lense. A fixed aperture of F8.... ewww.

Id stay away, spend your $100+ on something worthwhile.

[swpars]

This thread on Nikonians backs up jcon's point.

http://www.nikonians.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=read_count&om=15843&forum=DCForumID17

[hankbeblazin]

get a 50mm 1.8 for 100 bucks it'll help you alot more than a mirror lens

[Corwyn]

thanks for the feedback.

So what's a poor guys alternative to a AF-S 300mm f/4.0D ED-IF for D40?
SIGMA 70-300MM DG
quantaray 100-300mm?

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[erichlund]

get a 50mm 1.8 for 100 bucks it'll help you alot more than a mirror lens

Unless, of course, he's looking for a very long telephoto lens for very little money. Mirror lenses have some interesting flaws. Out of focus areas look really strange (IIRC, donuts), and there's that single aperture thing. But they are dirt cheap, even for much longer focal lengths, and very light for the size. You can literally fill the frame with a moon shot (no cropping), for very little money. They used to have some limited popularity, but I haven't heard of one in a long time until now.

Just because something is not flexible, does not mean it is not useful. I don't know anything about this particular lens, and I don't think I'd try one off Ebay, because I'd want to see what it did for me before I dropped some money on it. But, if you've tried the particular lens and this is (was, now) a good price, then it could be useful for the right person.

Consider the alternative. What does a 500mm lens cost these days...

Nikkor 500mm f4 VR @ B&H, $7899.95, coming soon. Or, 500mm mirror lens, $109.95 on Ebay. Might be worth a test drive. Perspective.

A more comparable deal would be the 70-300VR and a TC-17E-II (510mm f9.5). That will only set you back $899.90, but you give up a little aperture. Still, 9x the cost is not chump change.

[tcadwall]

So what's a poor guys alternative to a AF-S 300mm f/4.0D ED-IF for D40?
LOL uhhh.... Manual Zoom - using your feet, not your lens.

Seriously though, there are a lot of people that like the Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 VR AF-S

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/449088-USA/Nikon_2161_70_300mm_f_4_5_6G_AF_S_VR.html

MUCH cheaper than an f/4.0 prime would cost, but not nearly the quality either.