Nikon 500mm f/8 N Reflex : Specifications and Opinions

Nikon 500mm f/8 N Reflex

The Nikon 500mm f/8 N Reflex is a supertele lens for FF and APS-C, manufactured from 1984 to 2005 (discontinued). The focus is done by Manual Focus, it does not have image stabilization. The average price was 150 €;

8 users have given it an average vote of 8.4 out of 10.

Specifications
Focal lenght	500 mm
Angle of view	5°
Format	FF, APS-C
Max. aperture	f/8
Aperture blades
Lenses/Groups	6 elements in 6 groups
Min. focus distance	1.5 meters
Reproduction ratio
Features
Stabilization	No
Focus	Manual Focus
Internal Focus	No
Built and notes
Tripod ring	Yes
Extenders	Yes
Filters	39 mm
Lens hood	Yes, supplied
Weather sealing	No
Weight	823 g
Dimensions	89 x 116 mm
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Reviews

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Airy

sent on 08 Ottobre 2024

Pros: Compactness, close focus, clean image

Cons: monopod is badly needed, stabilized camera too. Max aperture is pretty dark.

Opinion: If you can get the latest mirrorless with high ISO capability and in-body stabilization, then this lens becomes usable: maybe 50% keepers rather than 20% with a good DSLR (such as the Df). The "ring" bokeh is a feature, so is manual focus, so it is pointless to criticize them. Still, at long distances, the DOF is quite narrow and nailing the focus remains difficult, as the slightest movement on the focus grip will ruin the "messa a fuoco". And the ring bokeh is difficult to use properly: it is a special effect, no doubt, and can easily become tiring. Be careful about the backgrounds you shoot. On a mirrorless camera such as the Zf, the focussing aids are really helpful.

The following opinions have been automatically translated with Google Translate.

Cmg

sent on 15 Novembre 2025

Pros: Lightweight, compact, almost pocket-sized, does not suffer from chromatic aberrations, beautiful colors

Cons: Sharpness and focus not easy

Opinion: I've had several over the years, including the Tamron and Sigma. But for me this is the best (orange line and minimum focus distance at only 1.50 meters). It gave me nice sofddisfations that you can find in my galleries. The fun lies above all in being able to wander around with a 500 mm, light and compact that is inconspicuous and fits easily in a medium-sized bag. Currently I also took the 1000mm f/11, just as good, if not slightly superior, but which obviously does not have the same portability. Used on Nikon ML FF gain stabilization which is a great help, especially in the 500mm.

Giacomo1997

sent on 15 Novembre 2025

Pros: Lightweight and compact, fun to use, no aberrations and distortions, color rendering

Cons: Sharpness, difficulty in focusing

Opinion: A particular perspective. I inherited this lens from my photographer grandfather and spent a lot of time experimenting. It is certainly a fun perspective, it forces you to "work" to obtain acceptable results. Focusing is particularly challenging, both on reflex (I used it on a D5300) and on mirrorles (tested with Z50) as the plane of focus remains thin as a razor even at long distances (500m and infinity are still on two different planes). On mirrorless, focus peaking lies shamelessly with this lens, perhaps thanks to the overall lack of sharpness. You also have to pay attention to the relationship between the camera-subject-background distance, as certain combinations result in a very disturbing blur, in others it is very pleasant (beyond the donuts that you may like or not). When everything goes the right way, however, it also gives satisfaction and, at least for me, it was an excellent school.

Gsabbio

sent on 07 Novembre 2019

Pros: image plasticity

Cons: sharpness, hard focus

Opinion: If... look for a long and clear focal point... forget about this lens. Its merits are other, and in comparison with current productions, even economic ones, its sharpness is not comparable. I owned both versions of the reflex 500 f8, currently I use this latest version. Using it always freehand, I can not say that I have encountered problems of micromosso, the real criticality is the focus, which is really difficult. The images obtained are often slightly blurry, but if you reach the perfect focus you get excellent results, where the singular character of the blurry areas returns very plastic images. To some, the 'circle' effect of out-of-focus lights may not please them, but I consider them to be an added value. Remarkable is the absence of chromatic aberrations (thanks to the optical scheme) as well as the minimum focus distance that borders the macro. In my opinion, precisely because of the particular character of the images, it is a complementary perspective to know and use when you want to experiment with different lights, colors and shots. As an assessment - according to the current criteria - it cannot go beyond eight but in reality it is not assessable, it is a category in its own right that comes out of the common schemes.

Aladino56

sent on 11 Gennaio 2018

Pros: Price on the used market also because out of production, light compact (even if the catadioptrics is not the smallest) and I would say fun despite being an F8.

Cons: The only other is to have sold it.

Opinion: I bought this lens used to very few euros and I thought that I would sell it well and so it was ..... I tried in several occasionsio and has always behaved very well compared to other "cata" I had, a Vivitar sold for indecency, a Tamron, however, has defended itself to great but the Nikon was my favorite to the point of having regretted having sold it, in fact now I look for another. Technically we would go the tripod for proper use but I have always mounted on the car when the light was very good and I took only freehand with very satisfactory results, the focus is its strong point you can play as with no ' another lens and at the end with little expense. Do not fool yourself into doing stellar things you have to take it for what is a catadioptric but I have always had one in the kit.

There are 1 more reviews. Show all »

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Nikon 500mm f/8 N Reflex : Specifications and Opinions

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Photos taken with Nikon 500mm f/8 N Reflex