{"id":25807,"date":"2023-11-30T20:20:09","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T20:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/?p=25807"},"modified":"2026-01-20T18:26:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T18:26:39","slug":"my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/","title":{"rendered":"My new old 500mm Tamron catadioptric lens"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>I always rather fancied a decent 500mm catadioptric lens. I bought a cheap Korean one off eBay a few years back and frankly it was not very good. But the old Tamron 500mm mirror lens has quite a good reputation. And as luck would have it, one turned up cheap on eBay a few weeks ago&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>ngg_shortcode_0_placeholderI&#8217;ve not had the chance to test it thoroughly. It&#8217;s too cold and damp outside, and the light is terrible. But I hope to take it up on Portsdown Hill in the spring and and gets some shots overlooking Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Editor&#8217;s note 2024-06-29:<\/strong> Finally had a chance to test the Tamron 500mm. For a forty year-old catadioptric lens, the results were surprisingly good too&#8230;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2024\/06\/29\/testing-my-cat\/\">Testing my cat<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I always rather fancied a decent 500mm catadioptric lens. I bought a cheap Korean one off eBay a few years back and frankly it was not very good. But the old Tamron 500mm mirror lens has quite a good reputation. And as luck would have it, one turned up cheap on eBay a few weeks&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1623,1630,19,6,680,752,1619],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-photography","category-photographic-equipment","category-general","category-journal","category-photography","category-studio","category-travelogue"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>My new old 500mm Tamron catadioptric lens - GarfNet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My new old 500mm Tamron catadioptric lens - GarfNet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I always rather fancied a decent 500mm catadioptric lens. I bought a cheap Korean one off eBay a few years back and frankly it was not very good. But the old Tamron 500mm mirror lens has quite a good reputation. And as luck would have it, one turned up cheap on eBay a few weeks...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GarfNet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-30T20:20:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-20T18:26:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/nggallery_import\/20231204-p2510484-tamron-500mm-catadioptric-lens-scaled-e1719494177626.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Garf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Garf\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/30\\\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/30\\\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Garf\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/27529e0ea0460ec8c299743f70c06635\"},\"headline\":\"My new old 500mm Tamron catadioptric lens\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-30T20:20:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-20T18:26:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/30\\\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":146,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/27529e0ea0460ec8c299743f70c06635\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/30\\\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/nggallery_import\\\/20231204-p2510484-tamron-500mm-catadioptric-lens-scaled-e1719494177626.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Digital pictures\",\"Equipment\",\"General\",\"Journal\",\"Photography\",\"Studio Photography\",\"Travelogue\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/30\\\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/30\\\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/30\\\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\\\/\",\"name\":\"My new old 500mm Tamron catadioptric lens - GarfNet\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/30\\\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/30\\\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/nggallery_import\\\/20231204-p2510484-tamron-500mm-catadioptric-lens-scaled-e1719494177626.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-30T20:20:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-20T18:26:39+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/30\\\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/30\\\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/30\\\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/nggallery_import\\\/20231204-p2510484-tamron-500mm-catadioptric-lens-scaled-e1719494177626.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/nggallery_import\\\/20231204-p2510484-tamron-500mm-catadioptric-lens-scaled-e1719494177626.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"500mm Tamron catadioptric lens\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/30\\\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"My new old 500mm Tamron catadioptric lens\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/\",\"name\":\"GarfNet\",\"description\":\"Penguin-powered and full of Unixy goodness, since 1995...\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/27529e0ea0460ec8c299743f70c06635\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/27529e0ea0460ec8c299743f70c06635\",\"name\":\"Garf\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/garflogo-garfnet-1.png\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/garflogo-garfnet-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/garflogo-garfnet-1.png\",\"width\":2420,\"height\":1928,\"caption\":\"Garf\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/07\\\/garflogo-garfnet-1.png\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/garfnet.org.uk\\\/cms\\\/author\\\/garf-admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"My new old 500mm Tamron catadioptric lens - GarfNet","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"My new old 500mm Tamron catadioptric lens - GarfNet","og_description":"I always rather fancied a decent 500mm catadioptric lens. I bought a cheap Korean one off eBay a few years back and frankly it was not very good. But the old Tamron 500mm mirror lens has quite a good reputation. And as luck would have it, one turned up cheap on eBay a few weeks...","og_url":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/","og_site_name":"GarfNet","article_published_time":"2023-11-30T20:20:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-20T18:26:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1706,"url":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/nggallery_import\/20231204-p2510484-tamron-500mm-catadioptric-lens-scaled-e1719494177626.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Garf","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Garf","Estimated reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/"},"author":{"name":"Garf","@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/#\/schema\/person\/27529e0ea0460ec8c299743f70c06635"},"headline":"My new old 500mm Tamron catadioptric lens","datePublished":"2023-11-30T20:20:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-20T18:26:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/"},"wordCount":146,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/#\/schema\/person\/27529e0ea0460ec8c299743f70c06635"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/nggallery_import\/20231204-p2510484-tamron-500mm-catadioptric-lens-scaled-e1719494177626.jpg","articleSection":["Digital pictures","Equipment","General","Journal","Photography","Studio Photography","Travelogue"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/","url":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/","name":"My new old 500mm Tamron catadioptric lens - GarfNet","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/nggallery_import\/20231204-p2510484-tamron-500mm-catadioptric-lens-scaled-e1719494177626.jpg","datePublished":"2023-11-30T20:20:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-20T18:26:39+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/nggallery_import\/20231204-p2510484-tamron-500mm-catadioptric-lens-scaled-e1719494177626.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/nggallery_import\/20231204-p2510484-tamron-500mm-catadioptric-lens-scaled-e1719494177626.jpg","width":2560,"height":1706,"caption":"500mm Tamron catadioptric lens"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/2023\/11\/30\/my-new-old-500mm-tamron-catadioptric-lens\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"My new old 500mm Tamron catadioptric lens"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/#website","url":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/","name":"GarfNet","description":"Penguin-powered and full of Unixy goodness, since 1995...","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/#\/schema\/person\/27529e0ea0460ec8c299743f70c06635"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/#\/schema\/person\/27529e0ea0460ec8c299743f70c06635","name":"Garf","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/garflogo-garfnet-1.png","url":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/garflogo-garfnet-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/garflogo-garfnet-1.png","width":2420,"height":1928,"caption":"Garf"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/garflogo-garfnet-1.png"},"url":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/author\/garf-admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25807"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26441,"href":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25807\/revisions\/26441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/garfnet.org.uk\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}