Portraits with a Mirror lens? You bet!

[Robert Lane]

If you've got a Nikon and can get a hold of the Nikkor 500mm f/8 (latest version) you've got an amazing portrait lens on hand. Why? Any out-of-focus point-light or reflections turn into halos or rings which creates quite the mood.

And the stigma that mirror lenses aren't sharp? The off-brand cheapies that sell for around $100 most certainly are, but this older Nikkor and a few others (Sony is remaking the old Minolta 500 Mirror for the Alpha series) most certainly bust that old, unsubstantiated myth. Here's a couple examples:

[Lisa Shofner]

That creates a really interesting effect and well done! 500mm, nice :) I have a mirror lens (one of the cheep ones and it is sharp) but never thought to try portraits with it.