Vivitar Series 1 600mm f8 Solid Catadioptric Mirror Lens
A remarkable lens by any measure. Unlike the normal mirror lens, the Solid Cats are based on large shaped glass blocks with mirrored surfaces, so there are almost no mirror surfaces inside. The folded path is tighter and there are additional lens elements so it is much shorter and more compact than normal mirror lenses - though heavier. They were made by Perkin-Elmer in the USA, apparently for military use at first. They offer a huge focal length for the compact format. They are regarded as the best quality of this type and cost a lot of dollars back in the late 1970's. Many Vivitar lenses are cheap and notsogood but the Series 1 lenses were their premium range of Vivitar lenses at the time. They pulled out all the stops, used a range of specialised manufacturers and so they are still highly regarded, and priced!
The Solid Cats do not show up very often. I hesitate to use the word rare but I haven't seen one on this auction site for quite a while. The last one in similar condition was in the USA and sold for just under AU$350 plus $100 shipping plus 10% import duty - that's close to $500 sight unseen. You can get a clean one on Etsy now for AU$700, plus 10% plus shipping. So I think my ask is VERY reasonable.
Not many were made originally and the price at the time restricted sales, compared to cheap black 3 element telescopes (drainpipes) of horrid image quality. The mount is T mount (not M42 as some assume). You can get a T mount adapter ring to suit almost any modern digital camera such as my Fuji and a Sony e mount. And the style and compact build of the lens looks good on a mirrorless.
Condition: The story is mixed. It came to me looking a bit rough but the internal mirror surfaces and lens elements looked OK. No lens fungus, scratches, mirror foxing and so on. So I had it professionally serviced and cleaned internally. The exterior shows wear and age - edge scrapes to paint and weary but sound rubber grip. It has the original hood but no front cap (105mm I think!) or rear filters (35.5mm) So I'm pricing it as a bargain grade example although it will shoot just fine. I'll try and find a nice soft bag for it. And it's a lovely thing to own. You can improve the exterior with a bit of Armour-All on the rubber grip and marker on the scrapes - I'll leave that to you in the interests of honest dealing. I've not tarted it up.
This is an extract from an article about it -
Vivitar Series 1 600mm f8 solid catadioptric telephoto lens
This lens represents three major advances in catadioptric lens design. it offers the photographer extreme compactness and inherent environmental stability ... The optical design of the aspherical 600mm solid catadioptric lens is derived from the Cassegrain telescope objective used extensively in astronomical work. The extreme compactness of this lens is attributed to the achievement of a seven-to-one ratio between focal length and barrel length. This compares with a 1.2 to 1 ratio for traditional non-mirror telephoto lenses and about four-to-one for previous reflex lenses. The short physical length of this lens helps to lessen the effect of minor in-camera vibrations such as mirror bounce on image sharpness. Highly acceptable hand-held shots at relatively slow shutter speeds are entirely possible. The photographer can safely violate the rule for normal telephoto lenses that minimum shutter speed should approximate focal length in hand held shooting. (A 600mm lens would normally require 1/500 second or faster shutter speed.) Stability has been another major problem in catadioptric lenses. In conventional designs, the optical ] groups of the lens are separated by large air spaces. Temperature variations often create serious optical alignment shifts, decreasing sharpness. Normal mirror lenses are also susceptible to severe mis-alignment caused by minor shocks and vibrations. In the Solid Cat 600mm f8, spherically shaped elements are pieced together to form what is a virtually solid element. As all the optical elements share similar temperature coefficients, the lens is temperature stable even in extreme climates. This near-solid construction also makes the optical alignment highly resistant to damage from impact. The troublesome "hot spot" present in conventional mirror lenses is almost entirely absent in the Vivi tar Series I 600mm. This " hot spot" results from a difference in illumination between axis and corner of 50% or more.
But in the Series I solid catadioptric lens fall-off has been reduced to less than 30%, the equivalent of about 112 .f stop. As with all mirror telephoto lenses, the Vivitar Series I 600mm f8 is a fixed aperture lens. Exposure is controlled by camera shutter speed and the use of neutral density filters. In this lens, filters are placed behind the lens in the T-mount, thus allowing the use. of smaller Series I 35.5mm close tolerance VMC filters. The lens focuses very quickly, since the entire main body of the lens (with primary and secondary mirrors including the afocal double) moves relative to the elements forming the Barlow group which remains at a fixed distance from the film plane. This focusing system requires about one-fourth as much axial travel as would be required if the entire optical system moved as a single unit. The lens can be rotated 360° inside its tripod mounting ring and can be locked in any position. A safety catch holds the lens securely during rotation. One more unique feature of the Vivitar Series I 600mm f8 solid catadioptric lens is its development and manufacture entirely by U.S. sources. Working with the Perkin-Elmer Corporation, a world leader in global science and astronomical systems, Vivitar has incorporated the principles of intricate astronomical optics into photographic lenses for the professional and advanced amateur in 35mm photography. The 600mm f8 is the first of a family of solid catadioptric lenses, with 800mm f11 and 1200mm f1 1 versions scheduled to follow. The production of Series I solid catadioptric lenses, including the 600mm f8 is an exacting, time-consuming process. Optics of this type do not lend themselves to automated, assembly-line manufacture.
They are produced individually, each lens being assembled and tested almost as though it were the first one to be built. For this reason, these lenses will be in limited supply.
Optical Specifications
Construction: 9 elements 7 groups
Angle of acceptance: 4°
Minimum focusing distance: 7 meters (23 feet)
Aperture range: f8 (fixed f stop)
Mechanical Specifications
Length: 8.4cm (3-5/ 16 in.) Diameter: 1 0.6cm (4-3/16 in.) Weight 1.36kg (3 lbs)
Filter provision : 35.5mm at the rear of the lens, inside the T-mount .
T Mounts are available to fit Universal Thread, Nikon/Nikkormat, Canon, Minolta, Konica Autoreflex and Olympus OM cameras.
“This series of lenses was designed by an American company –Opcon Associates, of Stamford Connecticut, whose chief designer,E. Betensky had worked for Perkin-Elmer as a senior optical designer. Perkin-Elmer worked extensively at the time for NASA as well as other U.S. government agencies and is renown as the designers and builders of the Hubble Space Telescope’s optical systems (including the near sighted mirror).”
NOTE:
I am a recognised authority on some camera types and I have written a series of film camera collector’s reference books and other books, through Blurb (print on demand). These are ‘Compendia’ on the Prism SLR, TLR and Half Frame/24 square formats and on early Kodak/Eastman. In each case, they list and describe EVERY camera in that category that I could find (and I'm good at research so that's probably all of them). Search Blurb/afildes to find the books.
Joke of the Day (To keep you going)
I met this bloke with a didgeridoo and he was playing Dancing Queen on it.
I thought, 'That's Abbariginal.
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Important!
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I’m infamous for talking a lot – I used to be a High School teacher so I can’t help it. But most of my regular customers seem to think I’m worth listening to!
Important NOTE:
IMAGES – I try to provide high quality, hi-res images but, if you pixel peep the images, you’ll often find that they seem to show a camera or lens covered in mysterious white spots and whatever. These are usually digital artefacts and reflections, not real. And no matter how well you clean the item, there are always spots and hairs and UFO's. It’s frustrating. I had an image of a camera recently where it looked for all the world as if the lens had a huge crack in it up front. You wouldn’t buy it in a fit. But the crack did not exist and did not show in any of the other images. It was an odd combination of reflections and the lines of shutter blades inside. It was so worrying that I had to go in panic and recheck carefully. Had I dropped it? No, there was nothing there! Perhaps I need to use better light diffusion?
So, please look at all the images carefully and accept my word if I say it’s in good or fair condition. I will refund if there is a problem. In 20+ years I’ve sold well over a thousand items online and I have a 100% record.
For all listings I have described the condition here as best as I can. If it does not measure up, then contact me immediately so that we can discuss it and I can make it good.
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But wait - there's more....
If you want to check me out, put three 'w's in front of - soultheft - and add the usual dot and com after it. I've been in this business full time for over ten years, twice that online and I stand behind all my my stuff - if I say it works I've checked it as best I can and I'll make good any reasonable problems. I deal in gear up to 150 years old so I have to be philosophic about such things. I started using eBay in the dark ages, when it was USA only and only had used stuff! I sold stuff to Americans mostly, back then. In over twenty years of trading on I've had just one negative feedback response - from an irritable French buyer who did not even contact me first. I would have given him a refund, quite happily, but... So any problem, contact me so we can sort it. I try to describe fairly and honestly and I do distinguish between collectible examples in good cosmetic condition, ‘users’, display only collectibles and…a useable beater! I have missed a tiny fungus spot or a mark in a lens before now and of course apologised/refunded where appropriate but every old lens has a few dust motes inside – that’s unavoidable. Please do not expect something that looks perfect unless I say it is! This is mostly quite old gear.
Condition claims? MINT you say?
Be aware that ‘Mint’ strictly means ‘new in the box and never used’. Yes really – it comes from collectible coins where a coin is mint only if it came directly from the mint and was never even touched except with cotton gloves. Anything else is ‘used’ whatever the Tokyo sellers think. Japanese sellers used to be good but now they think that ‘mint’ means 95% of original finish. No it does not and as a collector myself, I’ve had disappointments. Sure, they’ll offer to refund but by the time you’ve fiddled with postage and tried to get the import duty back (!) then it’s all a mess. I’ve had a bit of mint stuff to sell recently, as in never used, but that’s very unusual.
Stock Clearance – Closing Down
Bargains online!
I’ve closed down my store after many years and I’m selling off most of the stock– the better items online. The good stuff and some items perhaps I’d only get an interested customer every few months - so online makes more sense anyway.
I also tend to buy odd and special interest stuff myself sometimes to resell or out of curiosity, and then pass it on. These items are bargains in two senses – either they are really good items offered at a regular, everyday price or they are unusual items at a reduced price on the usual listings I see. Some are things like rather special lenses and cameras that I bought to play with myself for a while. Others are my own personal collectibles or gear that I used myself. Either way, it’s tested, checked, guaranteed.
I will post cheerfully to anywhere in Australia - but only with appropriate insurance cover and tracking for high value items. The ebay postage indicator above only shows basic postage cost calculated by eBay, often inaccurately - insurance is extra and I make no charge for handling/packing of course. I use recycled packaging where possible and I’m known to pack very well. Discuss it all with me if you have special requirements.
Special items, collectibles and so on I'll post overseas but again, tracked postage and insured for high value items to protect us both - so these days it won't be cheap! For very valuable items, I will insist on courier/EMS unless you specifically agree to accept the risk of loss. You are responsible for all import duties, fees and taxes of course and you will have to discuss that with your own national customs agency - they should notify you when an item is ready for clearance but...not always! If you want to reduce GST/VAT import tax exposure, please ask. Sometimes it’s possible, sometimes not.
NOTE – There has been a rise in creative online scamming of various kinds. And eBay is not always particularly good at protecting sellers despite their very high fees – they emphasise protecting buyers, sometimes to my cost! Due to a few actual or suspected or obvious scam attempts on me on eBay, I reserve the right to reject bids from some international 'buyers' - in particular those with zero, low and unrelated previous feedback on cheap items - or from anyone in or outside Australia who asks for the item to be posted to a different address, especially in another country - for however plausible a reason. This would void my seller protection and allows charge backs without my control. I lose. These are almost always scams. I may accept bids from those I deem to be legitimate bidders by personal negotiation – contact me. If you try what appears to me to be a scam bid and then win, I will send an explanatory rejection message and then offer a second chance to what appears to be the last legitimate bidder. If this seems to be a problem for you, please message me through eBay and discuss it.
Oh, and please do not bid if you have no intention of going through with the purchase. It’s annoying, causes me a lot of extra work and I’ve been exploring creative ways of getting my revenge! :-)