Sorry if I'm Johnny-come-lately here but I'm several days behind on the
digests. I have an Orion (Orion telescopes) 500mm f5.6 which I believe
to be the identical optic since the compartment case and accessories
that come with the Orion are also identical to what Adorama sells as
options for the Pro-Optic f5.6. As a matter of fact the orignal owner
of this lens used it only as a lens so I purchased the Pro-optic spotter
scope add-ons from Adorama. I didn't do it for fit since it's standard
1-1/4" telescope stuff but the quality appears to be good and the price
was right.
This is really a spotting scope and only secondarily a lens. I
recommend it as a spotting scope but as a lens, while sharp, it suffers
from low contrast due to the (necessarily) large size of the secondary
mirror. Also, despite the large size of the secondary, it's still not
large enough to prevent some vignetting. As a spotting scope, the
secondary only has to fully illuminate a circle about 25mm or less in
diameter. As a lens it has to cover the film diagonal. The vignetting
is not dramatic but definitely there.
If you need a spotting scope or something approximating a
"richest-field" telescope I think you'll be pleased. You'll get a nice,
very portable scope which can also take some pictures. If you won't be
satisfied with other than excellent contrast then buy a shorter glass
lens. William Clark suggested a Vivitar 400 f5.6 as an affordable
option complete with diaphragm. I've never owned one but would guess
that's a suitable alternative.
Chuck Norcutt
Woburn, Massachusetts, USA
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Has anyone had any experience with the Pro-Optic 500mm f5.6 telephoto
lens?
I know it's heresy to use non-Zuiko lenses but I'm looking for a lens in
this range for some nature photography. This is a catadioptic lens with
a
mirror and folded light path. These type of lenses seem to have bad
reputations.
I'm contemplating a purchase but would like some opinions first.
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