Offering a compact alternative to standard telephoto lenses, the SZ 500mm f/8 Reflex MF Lens from Tokina is a 500mm catadioptric optical design super telephoto lens with a fixed f/8 aperture. With its lightweight and compact design, it fits easily inside a pocket or small bag and is suitable for travel, wildlife, and outdoor photography. This lens features a universal T-mount, and in this configuration includes an adapter for T-mount cameras.
- T-Mount / Full Frame Format
- Fixed Aperture: f/8
- Catadioptric Telephoto Lens
- Manual Focus
Tokina SZ 500mm f/8.0 Reflex Overview
Tokina SZ 500mm f/8.0 Reflex Specs
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Tokina SZ 500mm f/8.0 Reflex Reviews
A great return on money spent
I wanted something light weight with some power. I was able to carry this on a full frame EOS without feeling that I was carrying a boat anchor. It is a bit tricky to use with the manual focus and fixed aperature, but once you get the hang of it and hold it ..... really really still, you can get some great shots with it. Did I know it would be a bit softer than my L series 300mm..... yes, but they were sharp enough to make me happy. A bit of post processing and the shots that were in focus, lol, were great!! I need to work with it more, but I like it. Also, good build quality as well.
The little 500 SZ that could!!
Years ago I had a Sigma 600mm f8 in the camo green color with a canon T70 and found it a bit large and wieldy. This version is super light and about half the size if not smaller and takes a bit of practice to get the best out of it. Tripod important and I also use a minimum of a 2 second timer on the shutter to ensure no movement when pressing for the picture. Using a Canon EOS T6s APS-C so actually getting about 800mm in 35mm format conversion. Also found that the sharpness is better without a UV or similar filter on the front. Possibly a more expensive filter would not degrade the result however I keep the filter on for protection and take it off for shooting. It helps to have the back display screen used to help focus the image and when you enlarge the image you can much easier set the proper focus as the long telephoto is inherintly sensitive. It's taken a bit of time to get used to using a mirror lens again and I'm looking forward to many more good shots. Some recent outings catching the moon at near full have created some excellent results. . Cheers all!!
