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High and Dry II
High and Dry II
HarveyG


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Camera: Nikon D90
Lens: Vivitar MF 500mm f/6.3 Mirror (Reflex)
Location: Lake Panic Bird Hide, Kruger National Park
Date: May 5, 2010
Aperture: f/6.3
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/800
Galleries: Nature, Birds
Date Uploaded: Feb 20, 2012

Viewed: 434
Comments: 6
Favorites: 1 (view)

 African Darter (Anhinga Rufa)

Image shot with a $180-00 500mm Vivitar Series 1 Mirror Reflex Lens. Manual Focus, manual metering, fixed aperture. Uncropped, unsharpened, 5% extra colour saturation, EV -0.3, no other PP at all and best of all no CA (Chromatic Abberation) noramlly found on cheap glass :) The 95mm Hoya UV filter cost half the lens price at $90-00 and then about $80-00 to USPS to Africa ;)
Think of this image when reading negative reviews on mirror lenses...and there are lots of uninformed "reviews" and opinions out there.

The "lens" is a fully multicoated, catadioptric (reflex), fixed aperture “Super” Telephoto Mirror. It is light and unobtrusive and was very popular in the 80's. Read my Mirror Lens article here.

Mirror's can still be bought new and 2nd hand today and come in ranges from 250, 300, 500, 800 and 1000mm. The biggest two ever made were a Nikons Reflex-Nikkor 1000mm f/11 and 100cm f/6.3 Mirror lens and Canon's TV-800mm 1:3.8, TV-2000mm 1:11 and TV-5200mm 1:14!

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AuthorThread
Nikon D90
Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8
 10/14/2013 08:05:34 PM
I think I need to get one of those mirror lenses! Great shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/03/2012 12:51:49 AM
Amazing shot! Very nice capture of lighting and fabulous contrast.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-7D
Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro for Canon
 02/26/2012 07:58:30 AM
That bokeh is delicious!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Nikon D3000
Nikon AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6G ED
 02/22/2012 12:41:44 PM
I love the colors! This is amazing! The bokeh is also quite lovely.
Did I mention that I love the colors? :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS
 02/21/2012 09:13:02 PM
Wow - that's magnificent! The way the light falls on the wing feathers is beautiful.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Canon EOS-6D
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS
 02/21/2012 06:31:45 PM
Pretty good sharpness here. The bokeh is good too for that lens. I have one for my minolta film camera. It's pretty good too if there is a LOT of light.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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