Carl Zeiss Mirotar 500mm F/4.5
Super telephoto prime lens • Film era • Discontinued • Collectible
- Announced:
- · 1963
- Production type:
- · Small-batch production: 200 (two hundred) units
- Availability:
- ● Sold out
- Country of design:
- · FRG (Federal Republic of Germany)
- Original name:
- · Carl Zeiss Mirotar 1:4,5 f=500mm
- Class:
- · Slow full-frame super telephoto prime lens
- · Mirror/Reflex lens
- System:
- · Contarex (1958)
Model history (2)
| ■Carl Zeiss Mirotar 500mm F/4.5 (200 units) | -- | 5 - 5 | 4.00m | -- | 1963 ● | |
| ■Carl Zeiss Mirotar 500mm F/4.5 | -- | 5 - 5 | 3.50m | -- | 1974 ● | |
Specification
| Optical design: | |
| 35mm full frame | |
| 500mm | |
| F/4.5 | |
| 5 elements in 5 groups | |
| Contarex [46mm] | |
| 5° (35mm full frame) | |
| Diaphragm mechanism: | |
Diaphragm type: | Fixed |
Aperture control: | None |
| Focusing: | |
| 4m | |
| 1:5.5 | |
Focusing modes: | Manual focus only |
Manual focus control: | Rack-and-pinion mechanism |
| Physical characteristics: | |
| 4500g | |
| ⌀193×235mm | |
| Accessories: | |
| Removable front filters are not accepted | |
Additional features: | Drop-in filter holder (49mm) |
| Not available | |
| Not available |
Sources of data
- Zeiss Ikon Contarex booklet (25 pages).
- Zeiss Ikon/Voigtlander. Photographer: from beginner to pro booklet.
Manufacturer description
A long telephoto lens based on a mirror-reflex design. Its outstanding features are the complete absense of chromatic aberration which means unsurpassed definition, very short overall length of lens mount and comparatively wide aperture.
Typical characteristics of mirror (reflex) lenses
- Catadioptric system consisting of curved mirrors and optical glass;
- Much shorter, lighter and less expensive designs than conventional super telephoto lenses;
- Outstanding correction of chromatic aberrations;
- Since the aperture is fixed, neutral density filters are used to obtain a smaller aperture;
- Doughnut-shaped out-of-focus highlights.
From the editor
The lens was designed in 1960 by Helmut Knutti and Alfred Opitz, and patented in September, 1960 in Germany, Switzerland and France. It was produced in a batch of 200 units only.
G, GR, O, UV filters, a turret with 2 neutral density filters and a leather case were part of the package.
Other super telephoto prime lenses in the Contarex system
| ■Contarex mount (1) | |||||||||
| Carl Zeiss Mirotar 1000mm F/5.6 (23 units) | -- | 5 - 5 | 12.00m | -- | 1964 ● | ||||