Archive 2015 · EDIT: The moon w/ Samyang 800mm f/8 mirror lens & D810 100% crop

Todd
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · EDIT: The moon w/ Samyang 800mm f/8 mirror lens & D810 100% crop

I posted this in the Nikon Forum originally and meant to post it here...

I see a lot of negative reviews on this lens, but it is actually a good one. Yeah it is a tad soft and low in contrast, but that can be fixed. Tonight I took a photo of the 1st quarter moon with this lens attached to my D810 and I like the detail I got from it. I did have to use live view to focus though and I mainly bought this lens ($189 from B&H) for use on my AstroTrac. It is about 4" in aperture so there is a good bit of light grasp. Anyway, here is my shot of the moon from this evening.
This lens is also good for video recoding of distant scenes and objects. Anyway, I thought I'd share. The slight bluish color at the terminator (shadow line) is from the blueness of the sky. It was not totally dark yet when I took this, it's not an issue with the lens.

Todd

1. full frame image

http://www.toddhargisphotography.com/Nature/Astrophotography/i-P54qBXG/0/X2/iOS-461999904-X2.png

2. Crop

http://www.toddhargisphotography.com/Nature/Astrophotography/i-kpntL3k/0/X3/iOS-461999920-X3.png

New shots from Tonight:

3. Just past 1st quarter:

http://www.toddhargisphotography.com/Nature/Astrophotography/i-QD24ZSk/0/X3/_THP2115-X3.jpg

4. 100% crop

http://www.toddhargisphotography.com/Nature/Astrophotography/i-5jqmSdc/0/X3/_THP2115%20crop-X3.jpg

Edited on Aug 23, 2015 at 09:53 PM · View previous versions

Aug 23, 2015 at 12:39 AM

mysh
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · EDIT: The moon w/ Samyang 800mm f/8 mirror lens & D810 100% crop

You own the nikon 500mm reflex as well, which one do you think is better for this type of shooting? I been looking for a longer mirror tele to play around with

Aug 23, 2015 at 01:28 AM

Todd
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · EDIT: The moon w/ Samyang 800mm f/8 mirror lens & D810 100% crop

To be honest, the Nikon model (I have the one with the orange ring) which is the latest of the Nikon mirror lens models, is sharper than the Samyang, but they are both nice. The Nikon lens and Samyang lens are tough to focus handheld, I use a tripod and turn live view on to get the best focus. 500mm is easier to to focus than 800mm when hand holding. Samyang also makes a 500mm f/6.3, but I haven't tried it yet.

The Nikon mirror lens can be found in eBay and maybe Craig's list, I bought mine at my local camera store. Nikon made two models of the 500mm, as I mentioned, I have the latest model with the Orange stripe.

Todd

mysh wrote:
You own the nikon 500mm reflex as well, which one do you think is better for this type of shooting? I been looking for a longer mirror tele to play around with

Aug 23, 2015 at 08:31 AM

JimFox
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · EDIT: The moon w/ Samyang 800mm f/8 mirror lens & D810 100% crop

Hey Todd,

That's a pretty cool looking shot of the moon. Since I almost always shoot wide, long lenses are not much on my mind, but it would be handy to have one around once in a while like with this. The Samyang seems like a very nice inexpensive option.

Jim

Aug 23, 2015 at 01:06 PM

Todd
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · EDIT: The moon w/ Samyang 800mm f/8 mirror lens & D810 100% crop

JimFox wrote:
Hey Todd,

That's a pretty cool looking shot of the moon. Since I almost always shoot wide, long lenses are not much on my mind, but it would be handy to have one around once in a while like with this. The Samyang seems like a very nice inexpensive option.

Jim

Thanks Jim, it's not bad for the low cost of this lens. The Nikon Model is sharper though, but probably not by much. The front diameter of this lens is 105mm or 4.13 inches. It's not very heavy and requires a T-mount adapter to connect to the Nikon body. The lens is built very well for it's price and this lens is my second one, my first was stolen and from what I can see, the quality control is consistent. I have the white body, ordered it from B&H, the metal screw in hood was ordered from Amazon. Of course you can get both from amazon, I just like B&H. Samyang also makes a 500mm f/6.3 model, I'll have to try one of those. If you do purchase one, you almost always have to use a tripod and live view to focus because the focal plane is very thin/shallow. Here are more photos of the lens.

Oh... I also use a remote cable release with Mirror up to cut down on vibrations. My moon shot was in manual mode, Mup, and front curtain sync.

OTHER CARRIERS SELL THIS LENS ALSO, ROKINON, BOWER, OPTECA, ETC...They are all the same lens though, made in the same factory.

http://www.toddhargisphotography.com/Other/Miscellaneous/i-wsbdr4T/0/X2/iOS-462052951-X2.png

http://www.toddhargisphotography.com/Other/Miscellaneous/i-HVcxtjX/0/X3/iOS-462052938-X3.png

http://www.toddhargisphotography.com/Other/Miscellaneous/i-QDj5Cbh/0/X2/iOS-462052920-X2.png

Aug 23, 2015 at 03:15 PM


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