BetterPhoto Member |
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What to do with 800mm RF
I am just taking up photography and purchased some used minolta equipment. One of the lenses is a 800mm rf lense that seems like it might be overkill for me. What are the strong/weak points of this lens? would I be better off selling it and getting something else?
October 03, 2007
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Jon Close |
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Minolta RF Rokkor-X 800mm 1:8 (ie. f/8) is a reflex or mirror lens. Strong points:
Better build and image quality than most reflex/mirror lenses. Should be pretty sharp. This lens has longer and faster aperture than is typical for this type of lens. More common is 500mm f/8 or 1000mm f/10. You would need a very large and expensive 400mm f/4 lens + 2x teleconverter to match this lens. It is the least expensive way to get 800mm reach, also very compact and lightweight for this focal length. Very useful for shots of the moon and distant subjects/wildlife. If you go digital with the Sony Alpha DSLR line, you can get an adapter to fit the old MD mount lens to the new camera. Weak points:
Like all mirror lenses, the aperture is not adjustable and the center obstruction for the secondary mirror will tend to lessen contrast and give "doughnut" shaped out of focus highlights (can be distracting or an artistic plus depending on your point of view). The combination of extremely long focal length and weight will necessitate use on a tripod. Manual focus is more difficult with an f/8 lens since the center split-prism will be too dark to use. Minimum focus distance is 8m (26 ft).
October 04, 2007
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