Reflex Nikkor 500mm f8

[Warren]

I just came across this lens from my Uncle's old Nikon collection. What can you tell me about this lens? Can it fit a Nikon D7000 without conversion? Is it worth spending the money to have it converted? Thanks for the advice.

[JonathanC]

It will fit no problem. I have one and have used it on my D70s and D90. It will be manual only if your camera is like mine, though you MIGHT get shutter priority as yours is higher spec.
Obviously there is no aperture to set and you'll notice that there's almost no depth of field either. Focusing is a pain, and quite critical due to the DOF, and obviously manual only.
For a lightweight super telephoto it is very good if you can live with the limitations.
You'll get donut type blur on OOF highlights which some people hate.

[slm]

You should definitely try this lens out. It's a lens that i way better than its reputation.

Yes, it has a shallow depth of field. But so has all other 500mm at f8. That's a plain fact working with long lenses. If you're looking for big depth of field, put on a wideangle.

It's manual focus and focusing manually -- well this is manual focus. Not the brightes lens (fixed f8) when focusing. But it's a fact of life working with lenses this long it take a bit of work (and practice) to get it right.

Donut type blur can occur, having bright objects on dark background. Whether or not its ugly or cool -- thats actually a subjective matter.

What you do get is a very lightweight 500mm with pretty good color rendition.

As with every lens it take a bit of practice to learn the ins and outs. If this is your first 500mm, practice a bit and do not give up. You will be rewarded.

Back in time manual focus was the only option for birds in flight. It can be a challange, but not impossible. But there's many other uses for this lens. The perspective and ability to isolate an object is really cool.