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500mm f/8 Reflex-Nikkor (1)
Lenses I've looked through...
The first 500mm Reflex-Nikkor was announced in August 1961 only two years after the launch of the revolutionary Nikon F system. The lens was a monster due to the extremely fast aperture of f/5 - which actually made it too unwieldy for most users. Weighing in at over 1.7 kilos and with a closest focusing distance of 15 metres (49 feet) the lens always had to be used on a tripod and was only suitable for photographing distant subjects. Focusing was done via a knurled ring on a smaller diameter tube behind the lens. It was also supplied with five dedicated 39mm filters (L39, Y52, 056, R60 and ND) one of which always had to be mounted in the optical system to maintain accurate focus.
Production of this 500mm f/5 lens continued until the end of 1970, but it was concurrently superseded by a much lighter - although slower by 2/3rds of a stop - f/8 Reflex in late 1968. This new lens was to be the basis of a line of 500mm Reflex-Nikkors which are still in production according to the 2005 Nikon Product Guide. (Note: It may not be in production as of 2007 but available from sufficient inventory at the factory).
The notable operational advantage of the first 500mm f/8 Reflex-Nikkor was a substantial reduction of the minimum focusing distance to 4 metres (14 feet). The weight was reduced to 1 kilo thus making the lens just about suitable for hand-held photography.
In 1974 the lens was upgraded with coated elements and designated as a Reflex-Nikkor "C". Ten years later, and in time for the 1984 Photokina exhibition, it was completely redesigned as a "compact" lens. The weight dropped to 840 grams and, more importantly perhaps, the minimum focusing distance was reduced to around 1.5 metres (5 feet) in "macro" mode with a reproduction ratio of just over half-life size.
What is a Mirror lens?
The terminology for this type of reflex lens varies in magazine articles and conversation. Some writers call them "mirror" lenses, while others refer to them as "cat" lenses. "Cat" is short for catadioptric, which defines an objective using both refracting (glass) and reflecting (mirror) elements. The first reflecting lenses were used in telescopes in the 17th century as an alternative to conventional long-focus telescope optics.
The first catoptric mirror lenses for camera use appeared as early as 1840 for Daguerreotypes, although the fast and newly introduced Petzval lens superseded them soon afterwards.
In early telescopes the single mirror reflecting surfaces worked quite well because only the centre of the mirror was utilised for image-forming star examination. However, for photographic use, higher quality than simply "good central definition" was, of course, required and glass lens elements were added to the construction; thus catoptric became catadioptric.
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