Sigma 600mm F8 Mirror Lens
I've been swept up in a bit of a gear fever lately and I started picking up a few cheap vintage lenses in the past week in order to test out different focal lengths. Inspired by long range shots and the desire to take nice pictures of the moon I turned my gaze to mirror lenses though usually way out of my price range that I'm willing to move out of on the whim of getting a lens that felt like for lack of a better term, a bit of a meme. However I managed to find this Sigma 600mm for less than a third of its usual going rate.
I expected it to be in dubious condition at best and for there to be at least some fungus or dust buildup as most mirror lenses in the price range have, however what I recieved was what I can only describe as a near pristine condition lens without any skratches to the paint or marks or fungus on the lens and even minimal dust buildup and even came with the set of filters. It's quite astonishing the condition it's in despite not even having a case and I'm super happy to have bought it.
I haven't had much chance to use it yet as the conditions in my city are much too wet to go out shooting, but what I have managed to take with it has been a whole lot of fun even if the photos themselves are probably none to impressive though I am proud of what I've managed to take despite not having a tripod yet, and having to very finely focus the lens is in itself a very dubious challange but none the less I look forward to using it even more in the times to come!
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I've always wanted to play with a mirror lens, despite the difficulty focusing them.
Interesting! I have always wanted to try a mirror lens. I've never even seen one in person.
I think you will be able to get nice shots of the moon. I've seen some good results from mirror lenses and the moon. Of course you will probably need a tripod despite the brightness of the moon. My understanding of mirror lenses is that they have a fixed aperture, what is the f-stop of that sigma 600? My guess is pretty small, which makes it tough to get a fast enough shutter speed. I'll really impressed with your sample shots handheld. Does the shake reduction on the K5 even have an input for something as high as 600mm? I've never looked 😄
Quote from Snappy on May 17, 2021, 1:51 pmInteresting! I have always wanted to try a mirror lens. I've never even seen one in person.
I think you will be able to get nice shots of the moon. I've seen some good results from mirror lenses and the moon. Of course you will probably need a tripod despite the brightness of the moon. My understanding of mirror lenses is that they have a fixed aperture, what is the f-stop of that sigma 600? My guess is pretty small, which makes it tough to get a fast enough shutter speed. I'll really impressed with your sample shots handheld. Does the shake reduction on the K5 even have an input for something as high as 600mm? I've never looked
Yeah it's got a fixed aperture indeed. This 600 is fixed at F8 which I think allows me to get a decently fast shutter speed depending on the lighting conditions in the afternoon. I'm not sure if the shake reduction has much of an effect on the lens but it does allow me to input 600mm, but I think the shutter speeds I've fired at so far better compensate for my shaky hands when holding this thing.
Here's some more snaps I took while waiting for the weather to clear up a little more. The first is at 1/2000 at 800 ISO and the second is 1/2000 at 1000 ISO.
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I'm trying to get a feel for the character of the lens. All the pictures you have shared so far have a really unique look to them. Does it seem fairly low contrast to you as well? That's easy enough to add in post or even in the in-camera jpeg setting when you wanted it. Otherwise it gives off a very dreamy feel which could be nice for certain effect.
Quote from Snappy on May 18, 2021, 2:05 amI'm trying to get a feel for the character of the lens. All the pictures you have shared so far have a really unique look to them. Does it seem fairly low contrast to you as well? That's easy enough to add in post or even in the in-camera jpeg setting when you wanted it. Otherwise it gives off a very dreamy feel which could be nice for certain effect.
Yes I have noticed that it is fairly low contrast and I'll have to learn how to mess around with photos a little more in post, but I do see what you mean about the dreamy feel now that you mention it and I think that's a fairly accurate way to describe it, which I do think is rather comfortable to view so far.
