Tamron Adaptall SP 500mm F/8 Catadioptic

It is a catadioptic tele-lens with its natural strong and weak features. Very handy and lightweight, handheld shots are no problem with it. Not really suitable for a safari trip due to its maximum nominal fixed aperture 1:8 (truly about 1:9.5), but excellent for architecture details in a town, for discreet street shots from a wide distance or for an excursion to a zoo. If someone likes to discover beautiful architecture details on the housetops or to build up a collection of interesting people in the streets or in the parks it is the right lens for that. With a 400° ASA film the exposure is about 1/1000 - 1/4000 in the summertime. With a 2x teleconverter one gets a 1000mm lens, with tripod good results.

Lightweight, but very good build quality. Good sharpness and contrast up to picture corners! With adaptall-2 ring the lens can be used on almost all cameras. Macro 1:3 from distance 1.7m. Price!

Fixed aperture 1:8 (really about 1:9.5). Bookeh not good, light spots in the backround should be avoided. But in some special situations one gets an interesting effect in such case! Slight vignetting, not disturbing.

None.

This time it is not simple to get a Tamron adaptall-2 ring.

I wanted the extra magnification to photograph high school baseball pitchers during games. This lens allows me to position myself behind the backstop and use the batter/catcher/umpire as foreground framing elements while focusing on the pitcher during his release. The F8 aperture suffices to limit depth of field, since the plate is 60 feet away from the pitcher''s mound. Outstanding images resulted, with out-of-focus foreground elements leading the viewer to direct his attention to the pitcher, with baseball suspended off his fingertips. Players'' parents go ape when they see their kids printed in such a "Sports Illustrated" action photo. The ring blur caused by the catadioptric lens construction also helps to turn the background (outfield and wall) into a softly rendered pastel of color. An excellent lens choice if utilized primarily for daylight conditions, but slow aperture limits lens ability during evening games. Still, a specialty item which performs its function beautifully. Build quality is excellent, a perfect match for my Pentax equipment. I designed and built infrared catadioptric optics for military and space applications, so I understand the strengths and limitations of the reflective optical system. For the price, it can''t be beat.

Optical Quality Finish Results

Slow aperture (f8)

The only Tamron lens I currently have. I have designed many "cat" lenses for space-based missile warning systems.

Not required so far.