I'm back in London these days, and the only couple of places I've seen that repair Nikon lenses quote about £65 upwards for a Nikon lens re-grease on their websites. But, the focus is too solid, practically immovable, it needs fixing properly. When I showed it to my friend who owns and likes the sigma 50-500 and is not a fan of mirror lenses (I heard you either love them or hate them), he said I've got this old mirror lens, its yours. I recently bought the Tamron 500mm and I absolutely love it for what it is, and the picture quality with my D700 is beyond my expectations. The DSLR has breathed new life into the reflex lens as far as I'm concerned. I'm a believer in the rejuvenation of the mirror lens in the DSLR age. JDM, I've only just become a fan of mirror lenses. *At least the quality ones, the cheap lenses did achieve "silky smooth" by packing something like cosmoline into them. At the most, a touch of watch oil with graphite dust. My suggestion is, whatever you do, don't "re-grease".
My guess is that a lot of these old lenses* got this way because somebody once decided to "lubricate" it. Ferchrissakes don't flood it or you will be really sorry. Introduce it into the focus ring as it is extended. With some of these older lenses, I do know that exercising the focus by working it back and forth can often loosen it up somewhat.Ī tiny, tiny drop (the least you can imagine and then take half as much) of my favorite, naphtha (not for nothing am I "Lord Naphtha, King of the Petroleum Wastes") can help dissolve some old 'grease'.
Fortunately it still works well, but if it were to seize up, I'm not sure what I would do. I really have no personal experience with the Reflex-Nikkor 1000mm, but I do have the corresponding 500mm version. These filters cost $100 from Sony.Over the years here at P.net, I have found some good friends, but not quite so good as your friend. The reason I’m telling you this is because for some reason you lose the “normal” or clear filter and still need to shoot with decent shutter speeds, you can just tape over the hole with electrical tape or other dark tape. The only issue would be a gaping hole in the lens. I took the filter out and fired off some shots, and didn’t notice any difference in exposures or focusing. I can’t think of too many situations where you would need it though. Note: Sony says these filters are figured in to the element count for the lens, and you have to have a filter installed to have the lens function correctly. The neutral density filter is good for two stops down, have your tripod ready. You should be using the “normal” filter for just about everything. These slide in (picture above) just in front of the lens mount area.
#PHOTOX SUN REFLEX ISO#
You really need a tripod for sharp images or bump your ISO up.Ībout the included filters: the lens comes with two filters, a “normal” and a “ND4” or “ND4X” Neutral density filter, Sony uses the two names interchangeably. Expect about half your shots to be sharp, and about a quarter to be tripod sharp. Normal daylight here in southern AZ allows shutter speeds around 1/125s to 1/400s at ISO 100 with this lens. At 500mm and F/8 in daylight, most people will need at least 1/300 sec for a sharp picture (or more) and that includes the use of image stabilization or Super SteadyShot, whichever you prefer. It has a fixed aperture (just a round hole), so you have to live at F/8.
If you look down through the lens front, you’ll see yourself in the mirror at the bottom. If this lens design looks familiar, then you probably own a compact telescope or have seen one in a store, it’s basically the same thing. The Sony 500mm F/8 reflex lens (made in Japan) is meant for people who don’t have a lot of money, but want to bring their subject up close. If you want an auto-focusing super telephoto lens for your Sony DSLR body and don’t have much coin, this may be your only hope.