New toy - Mamiya Sekor C 500mm Reflex

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Kirks518

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I've been pimping out my M645, and the other day a guy on CL was selling a Mamiya Sekor C 500mm f/8 Reflex Mirror lens. I like tele's just as much as I like wides, so seeing as the price was right, I went and grabbed it. Came with the original case, instructions, and all 5 of the drop-in filters (awesome).

It seems to be a somewhat hard-to-find lens. There isn't much out there about it.Anybody else have one? What's your opinion of the lens? I know the shortcomings of a mirror lens (oof highlights are doughnuts), but that doesn't bother me, and sometimes I like it.

I took it out yesterday to a park and a bald eagle's nest to experiment with it, and shot 1+ rolls with it. The first roll was the end of a color roll, which I haven't developed, and the other was a roll of Arista EDU 100. Developed that last night, and seems pretty decent.

My shutter speeds were way slow (1/30 - 1/125), so there was some camera shake (I was sitting in my car). The bald eagle, along with his girlfriend and nest, are at the top of a cell phone tower, which is 160' tall, which put me about 226' away from the bird (a² + b² = c²) (I was approx 160' away at ground level). The other bird was about 75' away.

How would you rate the sharpness of these? I know how to pixel peep digital, but with film, I struggle with distinguishing between grain and lack of sharpness.


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gone

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They sure look sharp to me Kirk! I like the Arista films a lot too. Great value for the money, and unlike some other bargain priced films I've shot, the Arista products have never given me any quality control issues. What developer did you use for these? As you know, I'm not that far from where you are, and I've missed several opportunities to take eagle shots (have a car load of osprey pics though). I can't even find any eagle nests up here, only osprey. We get a lot of hawks too.

Very interesting idea, a 500 mirror lens on a medium format camera. That combo never crossed my mind. I assume the lens is relatively light and small for a 500 because it's a mirror design.
 
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Kirks518

Kirks518

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Developed in D-76 1+1 for 10 minutes.

I don't bother with Osprey any more. Like you, I have a millions shots of them. Hawks I can never seem to find. There are a few eagle's nests around here, but this fellow is always there, and it's right near my store.

Try checking this out for bald Eagle nests near you: https://public.myfwc.com/FWRI/EagleNests/nestlocator.aspx
 
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