Mirror, Mirror.....

Well, it came....and it's everything I expected it to be. If the Tokina RMC 500mm f/f8.0 Catadioptrics isn't the smallest/lightest lens of that class, then it's pretty darned close! At 3.95" and 17.2oz, it's amazingly small. When mounted on the Nikon D300, which although not a full-sized pro camera like the D3, is still pretty big (especially with the MB-D10 battery grip attached), this lens actually looks kind of small (relatively speaking of course)! The balance and smoothness of the long-throw focusing mechanism is amazing to someone used to modern AF lenses. Most importantly, it balances extremely well on my camera. There is also one technical issue that makes it (and the Tamron) advantageous for me. Both of those lenses (and the Nikkor of course) having an actual Nikon "AI" mount vs. a "T" mount thus having the mechanism to transfer the lens' information to the camera. You might be asking yourself, "what's the big deal"? After all, these lenses have exactly ONE F-Stop! Well....bear with me here; in this case, since the pro and semi-pro Nikons have the mechanism to take information from older manual focus lenses, AND the ability to "tell" the camera what lens it has on via a menu function, this small, but important piece allows the D300 to use that all important one F-Stop in it's automation. This is far different than not having any lens information when using a "T" mount.

But why this lens, instead of the Phoenix/Samyang that I already own? It's better built, by quite a bit. That's not to say that the Samy is "bad", because it's not. But that lens is made to sell at around $100, 2005 dollars, versus the Tokina which had a suggested retail of around $450 in 1980 dollars. Certainly that would also explain the fitted case, metal reversible lens hood, and the 3 included 35.5mm filters! ....But the feel! Can't explain it.....you'd have to hold it and turn the focusing ring yourself. Some of it might be the very long throw to go from minimum to maximum focus. Surprisingly the Samyang is a wee bit physically longer than the Tokina without the hood.

I don't know that the Tokina isn't going to be any sharper. Only time and lots of photos will tell. And this post isn't about that. It's really about that which I've nibbled around the edge of for a while now. I love mirror lenses....always have. It goes back to the first time I saw a picture of a Russian-made "MTO" lenses in British photography magazines of the 1970's. I was hooked! In today's market, they are commonly listed as Rubinars, but back then, they were called by there correct name: Maksutovs, so named from it's designer, Russian, Dmitri Dmitrievich Maksutov. It actually a derivitive of the Maksutov-Cassegrain variation of the Schmidt camera. You see those names a lot in relation to mirror telescopes of the same or similar types. I love the telescopes too, but can't afford them (as long as I remain with my current hobbies) and am too lazy to learn astronomy....at least for right now. 

These things were huge! However, as modern computer driven designs advanced and production techniques did too, the lenses themselves became smaller and smaller. By the late 70's and early 80's, the Japanese had it down to an the current size, but it was an American company contracting with an American firm using American computer-aided design that would astound the world. This was the Vivitar (Ponder and Best), Series One "Solid Cat" of the late 70's. I remember it clearly, since I thought it was about the coolest thing I ever saw! Although, it's $650 price tag put it in the category of "unobtainable", it was less unobtainable than the Nikkor 500mm which was more like $800-1000 at that time. The lens was actually designed at Opcon, by E. Betensky who had worked for Perkin-Elmer, who ended up doing the production. Fortunately these lenses (600mm and 800mm) turned out right the first time, unlike the Hubble! This was a really interesting design in that instead of simply having mirrors and very few, thin glass elements, it used rather large glass elements and eliminated the air-space making them much more compact than the norm and virtually impervious to atmospheric conditions and damage. So it's no surprise that the U.S. Army used this design for their scopes that the company contracted.

For the starry-eyed teenager of the day, these things were products that we saw in magazine articles and color brochures that we'd send away for, or sneak out of the camera shop while hoping that the scowling sales clerk didn't say something! Then, we'd go home and stare at that "family" picture which showed all the lenses together where the 1000mm and 500mm reflexes would dwarf the others by their girth. But we all dreamed about them of course, since they were at least somewhat obtainable on a per "mm" basis. We all knew that those other (refractor) behemoths with the giant (and exotic) elements had prices with more numbers than would compute in our young brains. 

Then the 90's happened, and Korea (South) came out of the "dark ages" to join the 20th and rapidly approaching 21st century. Their methodology was simple; first to "be the Japanese", then second, to "out Japanese, the Japanese". This happened on all fronts from ship to chip building.....also, cameras and optics. Sure it was the lower end of the industry for a long time. High-end glass elements take a long time to learn how to make. Just ask the Japanese! It wasn't until Nikon in the late 50's and early 60's and Kyocera (Contax) in the 70's that they were thought to be comparable to the Germans. So the Koreans started with the basics that weren't too optically complicated: the 500mm f/8 Preset and 500mm f/8 Mirror lenses were/are staples. Those ubiquitous Samyang/Phoenix/Bower/Vivitar/etc. lenses that cover eBay in that focal length. No, they aren't great, but they aren't terrible either. 

This was tried and true territory. The same path that the Japanese independent giants like Sigma, Tamron and Tokina used to get started. Remember the Spiratones, Cambrons, the Five-Star? There are of course, many more. 

So, today we have a wide variety of mirror lenses to work with on both the new and used market. No, it's not their "hey-day" anymore and even the last of the mainstream camera manufacturers, Sony has ended production of the old Minolta Rokkor design. However, in varying numbers, they are all still available through the miracle that is eBay where the Nikkor can be found in the dozens, the Samyang in the hundreds, and even the Vivitar Series One is regularly present. A few months ago, I bought one of the Samy's for less than $25 and thought I'd be satisfied. That was delusional! For me, where mirror lenses are concerned, there was always the big three: the Nikkor, the Vivitar Series One and the Tamron SP/Tokina RMC.

Of those three, only one is "affordable" in my world, the Tokina. I've seen this sell from a range of below $50 to close to $150. I figured that if complete, I'd be happy to pay up to around $75, which is exactly what this one ended up being. However, it wasn't just the cost though. Although the conventional thought has it as not as sharp as the OEMs and the Tamron. However, most reviewers (who aren't obviously anti-mirror) seems to rate it as being close and adequately sharp performer the type. At this point in time, I'm not quite ready to spend the over $300 that the other ones sell for, but I can completely see myself developing into a mirror collector someday.....if I'm not already!