Very high contrast, I can shoot straight into the light. Small dark details remain
very dark in comparison to the results obtained with Nikon's mirror optic.
You can add a 1.4x converter to get the equivalent of a 1120mm lens
which is quite acceptable, but camera shake problems become all the more
obvious.

The lens is very satisfying overall, even with my D200, but dont expect the same sharpness as from a 50mm lens.

Built very ruggedly, mine fell on a stone floor and was repaired: the shade took most of the shock.

You can focus quite close with this lens, I cant remember but I've never been
disapointed on this point.

Very heavy and tiring at the end of the day.
Attracts too much attention.
Not autofocus, means you spend a lot of time trying to get the focus just right.

Mild chromatic abberation on the edges, but I am told this can be fixed in
software.

I bought a much used version of this lens. The shop said that it was tired, mechanically speaking but optically fine.
Well, it turned out to be hard to evaluate. Taking shots of distant subjects which this encourages may look not so sharp owing to air turbulence, so you had
better take notice of the weather.
Taking shots of close subjects highlights the inevitable very small depth of field of this lens. I wish I could tilt the film/sensor plane to accomodate for tilted view.
Focusing this lens takes a lot of skill and I used a Nikon F4 with a magnifying angle viewer as well as a Nikon D200, where the focussing assistance
indicator gave me very good results.
Another problem is camera shake. Raising the mirror and a delay after that is essential for sharpness if you are going to use moderate or slow exposure times.
What's more you need a big tripod and tripod head to match.
The combination weighs so much I can only carry this a few hundred yards before my back hurts.

I've used this lens to take thousands of architectural details in old churches.

Customer Service

I had this lens repaired after it fell, for a reasonable fee.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon 1000 mm mirror lens
Olympus 600mm lens.