MC Rubinar 1000mm f10 makro vintage soviet mirror lens

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A couple of years ago I showed you the MTO 500mm and since then I’ve been even more curious to try a 1000mm, but let me tell you: they are two different beasts.

The 500 is reasonably small, light and easy to use, while the Rubinar is big, heavy and hard to handle.

The lens is made of metal, it weighs around 1kg 650g, it is 18 to 19,5cm long and it has an external diameter of 13cm, with a 11,5cm front thread. It has a fixed aperture of f10 and no iris. The focusing ring is rubberized, it turns 300 degrees and the minimum focusing distance is 4 meters. It comes with a large sun hood and it has a rotating collar with a tripod mount and soft clicks every 90 degrees. The M42 mount has a flange distance of 45,46mm.

While it does lack some sharpness, it still manages to capture a good amount of finer details, plus, catadioptric lenses do not have chromatic aberration. Colors are natural with good contrast but lacking some saturation.

Specular highlights have the very distinctive torus shape and backgrounds can feel busy. I didn’t have issues with flares and ghosting  while using it and I decided against pointing it at the sun for a test just to be safe.

Using this lens was frustrating for two reasons: shake and focus.

Even on a sturdy tripod and with a stabilized sensor, a gentle breeze would make everything shake and I’ve had to shield the camera from the wind with my own body multiple times.

Focusing was hard because you have to do it while everything shakes and a single degree on the barrel could move the focusing plane of meters.

Overall, using the Rubinar is an interesting experience, but not really a pleasant one and I don't feel like I can recommend it.




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