Samyang PRESET 500mm MC F8.0 Pentax

The Samyang 500mm f/8 Preset ED IF MC is a telephoto refractor lens specifically designed as a super-telephoto for discerning amateur and enthusiasts on a tight budget. Perfect for photographing wildlife and nature, astrophotography, or long distance observational photography.

The construction of the lens is of a high standard, made of high class metal exterior. Despite its length it is relatively lightweight at only around 640g. A tripod collar is included, giving better balance when used on tripods.

It features optical design of 4 elements arranged in 4 groups, and a variable aperture, from f8 - f32, which offers surprisingly good optical performance. When the low price is considered the lens offers a superb performance to price ratio. The optics also feature Multi-coated (MC) coatings ensuring high light transmission.

As the Samyang 500 mm f/8 Preset IF MC is a standard refractive optical lens design, the optical performance equal, or exceeding the Samyang mirror lens range, at the cost of the convenience of the small size of the mirrors, this Samyang 500 mm f/8 Preset IF MC Lens is approximately 300mm long. The bokeh produced by the Samyang 500 mm f/8 Preset IF MC is also more natural than compared with the mirror lenses, and generally preferred in many shooting scenarios. Best images are produced at f11 with excellent sharpness and contrast, helped by good technique of the user.

The Mounting system uses the T2 mount adapters, meaning the lens can be easily adapted to most digital or film SLR bodies by way of low cost T2 universal adapter mounts (available separately). T2 universal mounts are available to mount to most systems, including Canon, Nikon, Sony A mount / Sony E Mount, Pentax, 4/3 etc. If you are a photographer who has various camera bodies from different manufacturers, then another low cost T2 adapter is all that is required to mount the same lens to other camera bodies, thus giving the lens great versatility.

The Samyang 500mm f/8 Preset IF MC lens can be also used as a spotting scope, field-scope or telescope with use of an optional eyepiece (available separately). The versatility, and performance of this lens is exceptional considering the low price, and offers a great introduction to wildlife photography.

There is also an optional 2x converter (available separately) increases the actual focal length to 1000mm. (giving an effective focal length equivalent of 1600mm on a Canon 1.6x cropped sensor). However it is worth noting that using any converter on any lens there will a loss of quality and light transmission (of 2 or more effective EV stops).

The Samyang 500 mm f/8 Preset IF MC is a manual lens with smooth manual focusing , with an internal focusing (IF) design. Due to the very narrow depth of field with such a long focal length it is recommended to focus with live-view to achieve accurate focus where possible. As with all long telephoto lenses a combination of sturdy camera support / substantial tripod, good technique, fast shutter speed, and use of remote / mirror lock up is recommended to avoid camera shake to achieve the best results.

The 500mm preset features f8-32 using a separate ring, and a separate using the ring marked O - C (open to close) opens the aperture for focusing. Ensure the ring is moved back to C (Closed) position before metering or taking pictures to allow the correct aperture setting to be taken, as per the setting on the f8-32 aperture ring.
Suitable for both full frame and cropped sensors, on a 1.5x cropped sensor such as Nikon will yield a 750mm focal length equivalent, or 800mm on 1.6x cropped DSLRs such as Canon EOS digital series of cropped sensor.

Also suitable for HD video recording on Video DSLR cameras.