Budget telephoto lens options!

[ron chappel]

I currently have several 500mm manual lenses ,both the mirror type and the 'preset' normal type so i thought i would post some examples for those that want a long lens but are on a budget

For quite some time i've been tentatively recommending the preset type lenses as a decent option because ,allthough they don't come close the the performance of the canon L lenses ,they do give results that tend to be 'good enough' for some users.
When taking pics for this post i completely confirmed my opinion on cheap mirror lenses.
That is...they may be cool (so tiny ) but the image quality is simply too cr*p to contemplate owning one
I have now used upwards of 8 different examples/brands and allways end up with the same lousy results
On the other hand i have found the cheap preset lenses to be really quite good-consistantly getting results that are comparable in sharpness to a consumer 300mm telezoom

Here are the example pics.These are the best of quite a few attempts (to rule out focus issues and camera shake)
I used a good tripod and a remote release (incidentally the mirror lenses gave less consistant results as well as being less sharp-they are very hard to focus accurately).The preset lenses were used wide open (and they get abit sharper still when stopped down)
These images are unsharpened but the mirror lens example has had more contrast applied-because mirror lenses do give very low contrast

Has anyone else had good experiences with other tele lenses? The nikon or sigma mirror lenses perhaps 9i'd like to try these two)?
Would you like to comment on your experiences with your lens and maybe post some examples?


The first pic below is from the PRESET LENS

And the second from the MIRROR LENS



For those not familiar with the lenses i'm talking about, here are some ebay links to such lenses (they are available from many different brand names but probably all come from the same factory )


a preset lens-
http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-EOS-Mt-500...QQcmdZViewItem

a mirror lens
http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-EOS-Mt-500...QQcmdZViewItem

Note that recently a new brand became available (in both types).They're called opteka and i really am not sure if they are better/equal to/worse than the typical ones.They do seem to offer a different optical formula for the preset lens but who knows.Judging by the way they try to sell them though ,they do look REALLY dodgey!

I'll go out now and try to get some more example/comparison shots

[ron chappel]

Oops-just realized those links are to the same seller.
Sorry ,i wasn't trying to sell anything. Do an ebay search for "EOS 500mm" and you'll get several pages worth of different brands

[foxbat]

The sharpness of the preset is obviously miles better, though there is significant cyan CA on the right.

I was sorely tempted by a Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 ED AIS that was on ebay with a start price of £699 last week. It didn't sell, zero bids. Not exactly bargain basement price until you look at what you have to pay for equivalent quality 600mm these days. It was the MF that put me off in the end.

[pfogle]

I once had a Tamron SP 350mm f5.6 mirror lens that I liked a lot - shot several jobs on it. It was fast enough and short enough to hand-hold, and was really sharp and contrasty. I've been looking for a replacement for a while now, but you never seem to see them...