How a mirror lens works
The red lines illustrate the path light takes through a mirror lens. The blue and yellow areas are the lens elements and mirrored surfaces.
Light enters through the front of the lens and bounces off a mirror that's positioned near to the camera end of the lens. The rays are then bounced off a smaller mirror at the front and then directed back to the camera's film plane or CCD.
The light is folded so that the lens can be halved in length. This is why mirror lenses are fat and compact.
Mirror Lens Guides
Articles and Techniques showing you how to get the best from your mirror lens.
Walimex 500mm f/6.3 Mirror CANON EOS
The Walimex manual focus mirror lens is incredibly compact and lightweight. It has a sturdy metal casing and is ideally for travel, nature and wildlife photography. Also available in Olympus OM, 4/3, micro 4/3, Canon AF, FD, Nikon AF/MF, Minolta AF, MD, Pentax, Praktica, Samsung, Sony A, Leica R/SL mounts
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Danubia 500mm f/6.3 T2 Mount
The Danubia 500mm f/6.3 is a compact and lightweight lens with a t2 mount so adaptors can be purchased for any camera body. It has a 95mm filter thread and is suited for wildlife and sports photography.
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Vivitar 500mm f/8 mirror lens
The Vivitar manual focus mirror lens is compact and lightweight aluminium bodied model with Super Spectra Lens Coating. It has a T2 mouint so can be attached to just about all camera systems.
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Opteka 500mm f/8 Mirror CANON EOS
The Opteka 500mm f/8 is a manual focus mirror lens with 7 low dispersion glass elements in 6 groups. It compact and lightweight making it ideal for travel, nature and wildlife photography.
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Yuhtech 500mm f/8 Sony Mount
Yuhtech 500mm f/8 Mirror Tele is a compact and lightweight ultra telephoto lens with a Sony Alpha mount. It comes complete with a soft pouch and three (3) rear mounted, 30.5mm filters, (ND-2X, ND-4X and Skylight).
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Andoer 500mm f/8 mirror lens
The Andoer 500mm f/8 is a manual focus mirror lens with a 6 Elements in 6 groups construction. It has a T2 mouint so can be attached to just about all camera systems and comes with ND2, ND4 and skylight 1A filter set.
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