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Nikon 500mm f8 Mirror Reflex Lens + others
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<blockquote data-quote="BF Hammer" data-source="post: 844424" data-attributes="member: 48483"><p>I bought a Reflex NIKKOR C version of the 500mm f/8 around 15 years ago. I never used it that seriously, and partly because I felt it was kind of soft and fuzzy in general. There was a while when I used a D80 that I installed a focus-assist chip (Dandelion module) that gave me the ability to meter. Then I removed that modification after buying a D7000 with it's non-CPU lens ability.</p><p></p><p>Many weeks ago on a lazy winter weekend I decided it was time to try cleaning the inside of the this 45 year old lens. There is next to no information for this online. I did finally find a brief mention of which screws to look for and the order to follow in disassembly. It went OK, only had to backtrack and fix a mistake once. I cleaned out old grease, cleaned all mirror and lens elements with a mild glass cleaner. I applied some new grease in the focus ring, and now that operates with with some resistance instead of the way it was before, kind of sloppy and loose-feeling. Then because it was cold and dark, I put the lens away and did not think about it. Today I took it out and fit to my Zf + FTZ. Unfortunately I forgot about turning on focus-peaking, so I could have done much better. I will confirm the Zf's focus confirmation maybe a bit later with that now turned on. It was very difficult to dial in focus zoomed to 1:1 view due to hand-holding and being shaky. But IBIS did work here.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]427609[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]427610[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]427611[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]427612[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Photo 2 and 3 are the same photo, I just cropped in. I did not nail focus on #4 unless you consider the tree bark as my focus point. Needed peaking there.</p><p></p><p>I think the lens cleaning is a success. I won't call this soft and fuzzy anymore. Contrast is also a bit improved too. Still have the not-so-smooth out of focus elements that is inherent to a reflex lens. But 500mm in a small and lightweight package is still pretty neat.</p><p></p><p>Now if I want to get nuts later, I have a 2x F-mount teleconverter (manual focus, no AI contacts) for 1000mm reach. The exposure may get kind of ugly though.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="BF Hammer, post: 844424, member: 48483"] I bought a Reflex NIKKOR C version of the 500mm f/8 around 15 years ago. I never used it that seriously, and partly because I felt it was kind of soft and fuzzy in general. There was a while when I used a D80 that I installed a focus-assist chip (Dandelion module) that gave me the ability to meter. Then I removed that modification after buying a D7000 with it's non-CPU lens ability. Many weeks ago on a lazy winter weekend I decided it was time to try cleaning the inside of the this 45 year old lens. There is next to no information for this online. I did finally find a brief mention of which screws to look for and the order to follow in disassembly. It went OK, only had to backtrack and fix a mistake once. I cleaned out old grease, cleaned all mirror and lens elements with a mild glass cleaner. I applied some new grease in the focus ring, and now that operates with with some resistance instead of the way it was before, kind of sloppy and loose-feeling. Then because it was cold and dark, I put the lens away and did not think about it. Today I took it out and fit to my Zf + FTZ. Unfortunately I forgot about turning on focus-peaking, so I could have done much better. I will confirm the Zf's focus confirmation maybe a bit later with that now turned on. It was very difficult to dial in focus zoomed to 1:1 view due to hand-holding and being shaky. But IBIS did work here. [ATTACH type="full" alt="2026-04-16A.jpg"]427609[/ATTACH][ATTACH type="full" alt="2026-04-16B.jpg"]427610[/ATTACH][ATTACH type="full" alt="2026-04-16C.jpg"]427611[/ATTACH][ATTACH type="full" alt="2026-04-16D.jpg"]427612[/ATTACH] Photo 2 and 3 are the same photo, I just cropped in. I did not nail focus on #4 unless you consider the tree bark as my focus point. Needed peaking there. I think the lens cleaning is a success. I won't call this soft and fuzzy anymore. Contrast is also a bit improved too. Still have the not-so-smooth out of focus elements that is inherent to a reflex lens. But 500mm in a small and lightweight package is still pretty neat. Now if I want to get nuts later, I have a 2x F-mount teleconverter (manual focus, no AI contacts) for 1000mm reach. The exposure may get kind of ugly though. [/QUOTE]
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Nikon 500mm f8 Mirror Reflex Lens + others
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