Table of Contents

introduction
specs
reviews

Sigma 600mm f/8.0 mirror lens

see also:

super telephoto mirror lenses

introduction

this super telephoto lens is a catadioptric mirror lens, and as with all such mirror lenses, share the following characteristics:
- manual focus
- fixed aperture (in this case f/8.0)
- virtual elimination of chromatic aberration as uses mirror rather than lenses
  - also means focus position for infrared photography is the same as for light photography
- central mirror:
  - allows much more compact lens length as the optic path is reflected internally twice
  - by necessity, blocks some of the light and thus causes:
    - decrease in image contrast
    - characteristic “doughnut” shaped bokeh imagery in out of focus areas

specs

600mm focal length and field of view (4.2°)
fixed f/8.0 aperture
3 groups, 6 elements (including mirror), multicoating
closest focus 1:3 macro
86mm front filter thread
rear section filter holder, drop-in type (with 22.5mm exclusive filter)
screw on sun-shade / lens hood
90mm diameter, 135mm long and 753g (compare this with 255mm and 1.3kg for a 400mm refractor style lens)
~50% heavier and bigger than the Olympus OM 500mm f/8.0 mirror lens

reviews