Suddenly got the GAS for a mirror lens

[dpitt]

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[dpitt]

My conclusion is that, in this situation the 500mm Leica has the advantige. It almost resolves the wire peaks used to chase the pigeons on the roof tops. Contrast and resolution are lower on the Tamron, and contrast is fine with the APO 180, but it can not make up for its shorter length to resolve the finest details.

[Mr.Prime]

You must have better eyes, I really can't give any advantage at all to the Leica. Having said that, I can't really see much difference. What differences I can see, I do prefer the Tamron  colours and subjectively I think it does better in the shadows too.  I'd take the Tamron.

Edited December 12, 2023 by Mr.Prime

[TomB_tx]

This thread reminded me that back in the 1970s I picked up a (cheap) Spiratone (USA Importer brand) 500 f8 mirror, which was quite usable for postcard-size snapshots. The lens was small, inviting hand-holding, but on film blurry hold was the norm. But I dug it out of long-term storage and put on a mount to my Sony A7 III with stabilization. Now, without camera shake, I can see the images are still only suitable for small prints, The rear optics got very hazy in storage.  I've also tried my 250 f4 Telyt-R which is a large heavy lens, and the difference is amazing. The Telyt is wonderfully sharp on a tripod, but hand holding has been a chore. But with the stabilization on the A7 III I've gotten very sharp pictures hand holding a 1/30 second! That stopped my desire to get another mirror lens...

[Mr.Prime]

I had a zoom lens like that back in the day. I really enjoyed using it but the images were often soft. It was a stupid thing to do in hindsight, I should have held out for a better lens but I was young with no earnings. There was no internet and I had nothing but a photo magazine article to go with, no advice from a community of photographers on-line, etc.

Edited December 12, 2023 by Mr.Prime

[dpitt]

4 hours ago, Mr.Prime said:

You must have better eyes, I really can't give any advantage at all to the Leica. Having said that, I can't really see much difference. What differences I can see, I do prefer the Tamron  colours and subjectively I think it does better in the shadows too.  I'd take the Tamron.

First, this test was not about colors at all. Light was changing rapidly so there is nothing I would dare to say about colors from this test. Both Leica's seem to give more saturated colors to me. I took three shots with each and selected the best to eliminate movement issues as much as possible. There was no time to set up a tripod.

Did you click on the images and open the JPG in an other tab, full size?
I double checked using the forum to see if the LUF JPG can still show what I see on my originals. I can confirm that I can still see what I see in the originals in terms of resolution, but only if I open and maximize the files of the LUF.

I agree there is nothing spectacular to it, but differences in resolution at F8 rarely are. I know now for myself that I will take the Leica 500 mm when I need to shoot something nearly out of reach. If you prefer the Tamron then you are lucky. It is much cheaper than the Leica 500 and even more compared to the APO 180 + APO 2x extender.

[Mr.Prime]

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No, I didn’t click on the images but, I clicked the images just now. It maybe that I prefer the lighting on the first, it is less saturated, a bit cooler, and gives me a feeling of being ‘fresher’ Being a bit brighter the tiles in first image may have reflected a teeny weeny tad more light into the shadows. So it would perhaps be safer to say I prefer the first image, but as to which lens, that remains undetermined in this ‘test’.

 

I don’t think I’d want to use any 500mm lens on a rangefinder, but the 180mm Apo without extender sounds as if it would be a very nice lens to own. If you have the choice between these different lenses then you have a collection many will be jealous of. I don’t own many lenses, in fact not any Leica lenses longer than the 50 Lux pre E46 in black. 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Mr.Prime