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

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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

What do you think about this lens?

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Airy

sent on October 08, 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 November 15, 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 November 15, 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 November 07, 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 January 11, 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 »

Photos taken with Nikon 500mm f/8 N Reflex

Lerici

by EnricoGiuliani
107 comments, 1993 views

HI RES 45.4 MP

Rome Zoo: Condor

by Antonvito Paradiso
15 comments, 3951 views

HI RES 12.1 MP

Catadioptric snowdrop

by Elia Ferro
2 comments, 1759 views

Lunar eclipse July 28, 2018

by EnricoGiuliani
4 comments, 1316 views

HI RES 4.2 MP

Transit of Venus in front of the Sun, June 6, 2012

by EnricoGiuliani
6 comments, 1063 views

Déjà-vu - September 29

by Cmg
12 comments, 601 views

HI RES 12.3 MP

Rinaldo

by Marino Bozzi
12 comments, 1364 views

HI RES 12.2 MP

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Roman ottobrate

by Cmg
3 comments, 1205 views

HI RES 10.2 MP

Pylons suburban

by Cmg
2 comments, 1605 views

HI RES 11.3 MP

CalambronePI

by Imageshop51
3 comments, 1055 views

HI RES 31.4 MP

Wild sage

by Elia Ferro
0 comments, 1137 views

Jupiter and Moons

by Zeev
0 comments, 1957 views

Dreaming of the savanna

by Enzo Biggini
2 comments, 1997 views

Orion Nebula M42

by Zeev
2 comments, 2826 views

Solar Eclipse

by Zeev
3 comments, 1666 views

Swan

by Enzo Biggini
3 comments, 1552 views

HI RES 4.3 MP

The scooter

by Cmg
0 comments, 992 views

HI RES 12.2 MP

Common crane

by Enzo Biggini
0 comments, 2440 views

HI RES 4.6 MP

Lungarno-022

by Imageshop51
0 comments, 1055 views

HI RES 11.7 MP

Sweet Arpeggios

by Cmg
0 comments, 550 views

HI RES 16.2 MP

Fishermen in silhouette

by Fabio Matacena
2 comments, 337 views

HI RES 22.7 MP

Germano Catadiottric

by Elia Ferro
7 comments, 1044 views

Hunter's Moon

by Zeev
0 comments, 1640 views

HI RES 3.8 MP

Details

by Gioberfoto
1 comments, 370 views

Mercury Transit

by Zeev
0 comments, 1447 views

Woodcock

by Valeum
6 comments, 1658 views

Great

by AleSa86
4 comments, 572 views

HI RES 5.2 MP

Blackbird chick waiting for the jelly

by Cmg
6 comments, 1135 views

HI RES 16.1 MP

Dandelion

by Gsabbio
2 comments, 132 views

HI RES 4.2 MP

Jay 1

by AleSa86
3 comments, 432 views

HI RES 5.5 MP

Violet

by Gioberfoto
1 comments, 357 views

HI RES 24.3 MP

Cat

by Gioberfoto
1 comments, 284 views

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Knight of the Italian female

by Valeum
0 comments, 1423 views

Feline Colony of Cecina Porto

by Calderof
0 comments, 582 views

HI RES 42.2 MP

Orion Nebula

by Zeev
2 comments, 1759 views

Moorhen

by Enzo Biggini
5 comments, 1418 views

Swan on parade

by Enzo Biggini
0 comments, 1094 views

HI RES 4.3 MP

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Reviews » Lenses » Lenses Nikon » Nikon 500mm f/8 N Reflex

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

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Reviews

What do you think about this lens?

Photos taken with Nikon 500mm f/8 N Reflex