Maker | Minolta, Sony |
---|---|
Technical data | |
Type | Special Prime |
Focal length | 500 mm |
Aperture (max/min) | f/8 fixed |
Close focus distance | 4 m |
Max. magnification | 1/7.7 |
Diaphragm blades | No blades, circular |
Construction | 7 elements in 5 groups |
Features | |
Ultrasonic motor | No |
Macro capable | No |
Unique features | AF capable Mirror Lens |
Application | Telephoto |
Physical | |
Max. length | 118 mm |
Weight | 665 g |
Filter diameter | Front 82mm & Rear drop-in (Clear and NDx4) |
Accessories | |
Lens hood | Front threaded |
Angle of view | |
Horizontal | 4.9° |
History | |
Introduction | 1989 |
Discontinuation | 2010 |
Successor | Minolta version succeeded by Sony version in 2006 |
Retail info | |
MSRP | 699 USD (as of 2006) |
Originally produced by Minolta , then by Sony , the AF Reflex 500mm f/8 was a catadioptric photographic lens compatible with cameras using the Minolta A-mount and Sony A-mount lens mounts.
The Minolta/Sony Reflex 500mm lens still (2024) is the only mirror lens designed and produced to auto focus with a 35mm film SLR camera. There are other mirror lenses that can mount onto current mounts such as Canon EF or RF and Nikon F or Z, but all other mirror lenses are manual focus only. Only the Minolta/Sony Reflex 500mm lens lens can have its focus controlled by the camera's autofocus motor in conjunction with TTL autofocus sensing. In terms of the Minolta AF and subsequent Konica Minolta and Sony α DSLR systems, this lens is an exception, being the only lens guaranteed to autofocus at f/8 on SLRs and DSLRs relying on dedicated PDAF sensors. Current mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras with PDAF and CDAF sensors integrated in their imaging sensor can provide AF with even lower aperture values. None of the current camera and lens manufacturers offer an AF Mirror lens, though.
Minolta also produced a V-mount 400 mm f/8 Reflex lens that can autofocus at f/8, which only fits the dedicated Vectis APS Minolta Vectis S-1, Minolta Vectis S-100 and Minolta Dimâge RD 3000 cameras.
The mirror design does not utilize aperture blades, and thus the aperture of the lens is fixed at f/8. Exposure may only be controlled by shutter speed, film or sensor sensitivity, or a slot-in neutral density filter. The lens possesses a filter holder to that avail.
By using a mirror design similar to that of a telescope, this lens uses very little glass compared to traditional telephoto lenses and is thus much smaller, lighter, and far less expensive than traditional lenses in the same focal length. However, like all mirror lenses, it can produce donut-shaped bokeh in images, due to the secondary mirror partially obstructing the front element.
The lens is quite sharp corner to corner. Like other lenses of catadioptic design it has no color fringing, but lacks some contrast (contrast can be enhanced in image post processing). It does not work well at close focus (closer than 6 m) and the fixed slow aperture f/8 means it can be used handheld mostly on sunny days. The small size (14cm long) and low weight (700g) makes it a 500mm lens that can easily be carried around. [1]
The rendering of out of focus details can result in a busy background, but this is generally not a problem with smooth backgrounds. The lens can be good for photographing waterbirds, aircraft and landscape details. [2] A teleconverter can be added for images of the moon.
Using this lens on a Sony E-mount camera requires an adapter such as one of the Sony LA-EA series, not all of which are compatible with all E-mount cameras [3] or A-mount lenses. [4] The LA-EA2, LA-EA4 and LA-EA5 adapters have the screw drive required to enable autofocus, which is however limited to select cameras for each adapter. [5] Otherwise, the lens will be manual focus only. The latter proves a very viable solution, even despite the shallow depth of field of the long focal length.
Since 1977, i.e. before the introduction of its autofocus system, Minolta also made manual focus, SR-mount 500mm f/8 catadioptric lenses, designated RF, RF ROKKOR, and RF ROKKOR-X successively. Their optical schemes of 6 lens elements in 5 groups differ slightly between each other, and are not the same as this autofocus lens, [6] [7] using 7 elements. Still, it can of course be used (fully manually) on modern cameras such as Sony E-mount, but requires a different adapter type.
Minolta Co., Ltd. was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta Co., Ltd., which is also known simply as Minolta, was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as Nichi-Doku Shashinki Shōten. It made the first integrated autofocus 35 mm SLR camera system. In 1931, the company adopted its final name, an acronym for "Mechanism, Instruments, Optics, and Lenses by Tashima".
The Minolta MAXXUM 7000 35 mm SLR camera was introduced in February 1985. It was the first camera to feature both integrated autofocus (AF) and motorised film advance, the standard configuration for later amateur and professional single lens reflex cameras.
An autofocus (AF) optical system uses a sensor, a control system and a motor to focus on an automatically or manually selected point or area. An electronic rangefinder has a display instead of the motor; the adjustment of the optical system has to be done manually until indication. Autofocus methods are distinguished as active, passive or hybrid types.
A digital single-lens reflex camera is a digital camera that combines the optics and mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a solid-state image sensor and digitally records the images from the sensor.
The Canon FD lens mount is a physical standard for connecting a photographic lens to a 35mm single-lens reflex camera body. The standard was developed by Canon of Japan and was introduced in March 1971 with the Canon F-1 camera. It served as the Canon SLR interchangeable lens mounting system until the 1987 introduction of the Canon EOS series cameras, which use the newer EF lens mount. The FD mount lingered through the release of the 1990 Canon T60, the last camera introduced in the FD system, and the end of the Canon New F-1 product cycle in 1992.
The Minolta Vectis S-series comprises two APS system models of film SLR cameras made by Minolta, the flagship model Vectis S-1 and the Vectis S-100. The cameras feature a compact design, owing to the use of mirrors instead of prisms in the viewfinder.
The Nikon F-mount is a type of interchangeable lens mount developed by Nikon for its 35mm format single-lens reflex cameras. The F-mount was first introduced on the Nikon F camera in 1959, and features a three-lug bayonet mount with a 44 mm throat and a flange to focal plane distance of 46.5 mm. The company continues, with the 2020 D6 model, to use variations of the same lens mount specification for its film and digital SLR cameras.
Sony α is a brand of digital camera. This line has been active since 2006, building upon the Konica Minolta camera technologies, whose assets were acquired by Sony.
The Minolta AF Zoom 70–210mm f/4 lens is an autofocusing telephoto photographic lens compatible with cameras using the Minolta AF lens mount.
The Minolta A-mount camera system was a line of photographic equipment from Minolta introduced in 1985 with the world's first integrated autofocus system in the camera body with interchangeable lenses. The system used a lens mount called A-mount, with a flange focal distance 44.50 mm, one millimeter longer, 43.5 mm, than the previous SR mount from 1958. The new mount was wider, 49.7 mm vs. 44.97 mm, than the older SR-mount and due to the longer flange focal distance, old manual lenses were incompatible with the new system. Minolta bought the autofocus technology of Leica Correfot camera which was partly used on the a-mount autofocus technology. The mount is now used by Sony, who bought the SLR camera division from Konica Minolta, Konica and Minolta having merged a few years before.
This article details lensesfor single-lens reflex and digital single-lens reflex cameras. The emphasis is on modern lenses for 35 mm film SLRs and for "full-frame" DSLRs with sensor sizes less than or equal to 35 mm.
The Minolta AF 50mm f/1.7 is a discontinued lens with autofocus that was produced by Minolta for A-mount single lens reflex cameras from 1985 through 2006. It is still in use today by users of digital and film SLRs from Minolta and Sony. The relatively large maximum aperture allows the photographer to take shots indoors even when operating at ISO 100 - 200.
The Minolta SR-mount was the bayonet mounting system used in all 35 mm SLR cameras made by Minolta with interchangeable manual focusing lenses. Several iterations of the mounting were produced over the decades, and as a result, the mount itself was sometimes referred to by the name of the corresponding lens generation instead.
The Micro Four Thirds system is a standard released by Olympus Imaging Corporation and Panasonic in 2008, for the design and development of mirrorless interchangeable lens digital cameras, camcorders and lenses. Camera bodies are available from Blackmagic, DJI, JVC, Kodak, Olympus, OM System, Panasonic, Sharp, Logitech Mevo and Xiaomi. MFT lenses are produced by Cosina Voigtländer, Kowa, Kodak, Mitakon, Olympus, Panasonic, Samyang, Sharp, Sigma, SLR Magic, Tamron, Tokina, TTArtisan, Veydra, Xiaomi, Laowa, Yongnuo, Zonlai, Lensbaby, Venus Optics and 7artisans amongst others.
The Minolta SR-2 was presented in 1958 as the first 35mm SLR camera from Chiyoda Kogaku. Popular cameras of this type at that time were mainly from Europe but a few from Japan, including the Asahi Pentax, the Miranda T and the Topcon R. The miniature SLR camera concept was conceived in the 1930s at Ihagee in Dresden, resulting in the 1936 Kine Exakta. Influential cameras designs like that of the 1939 KW Praktiflex, the 1949 ZI Contax S, and 1952 the KW Praktina marked the steady progress toward a perfected SLR. Several features of the latter seem to have influenced the design of the SR-2 although dissimilar in many respects. The obvious similarities are the stepped top plate, the carrying strap lugs, the self-timer lever and some general body features.
The E-mount is a lens mount designed by Sony for their NEX and ILCE series of camcorders and mirrorless cameras. The E-mount supplements Sony's α mount, allowing the company to develop more compact imaging devices while maintaining compatibility with 35mm sensors. E-mount achieves this by:
The Sony α NEX-5 is a digital camera launched on 11 May 2010. It is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with the body size of a larger model fairly compact point-and-shoot camera with a larger sensor size (APS-C) comparable to that of some digital single-lens reflex cameras. Its major competitors in the market are the cameras based on the micro 4/3 standard created by Panasonic and Olympus, and a few low end Canon, Nikon, and even Sony α DSLRs. The NEX-5 shoots 14.2 megapixel stills and has a 7 frame/s continuous shotmode. It has the capability to shoot 1920×1080i at 60 frame/s in AVCHD or 1440×1080p at 30 frame/s in MPEG4. The NEX-5 was replaced by the 16 megapixel NEX-5N in August 2011.
Rokkor was a brand name used for all Chiyoda Kōgaku Seikō and later Minolta lenses between 1940 and 1980, including a few which were marketed and sold by other companies like Leica. The name was derived from the name of Rokkō (六甲山), a 932 metre (3058') high mountain, which could be seen from the company's glass-making and optics factory at Mukogawa near Osaka, Japan. The company's founder Kazuo Tashima wanted the name to symbolize the high quality in optics.