Kenlock 300mm f5 vintage mirror lens review

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Many people despise the look of catadioptric lenses, but I find it interesting and in the past I have owned a 500 and a 1000mm.

I ended up selling them because they were, well, too much for me, and I was looking for something smaller and shorter and a few months ago I found this Kenlock 300mm, in the original box no less, so I had to give it a try.


The lens is made of metal, it weighs 300g, it is 58 to 67mm long and it has an external diameter of 82mm, with a 77mm front thread.

Mirror lenses usually have a fixed aperture, but this has a cylinder that goes up and down inside of the lens and apparently between f5 and f11.

The focusing ring is rubberized, it turns 260 degrees and the minimum focusing distance is 1 meter. The front element turns when focusing.

It uses the m42 mount.

Get your adapter here:

Global: https://amzn.to/4gi9OR7

ITA: https://amzn.to/4f5smST

(As an Amazon affiliate I earn a commission from eligible purchases)


Mine also has a metal sunhood, but I’m not sure it came as standard as it is a different brand and a slightly different finish.


As all mirror lenses, it is a bit chubby, but also much lighter than you would expect, so it doesn’t throw off the balance even on smaller cameras. It is overall smooth and well built.


Sharpness is quite poor throughout the aperture range. In fact, there is very little difference between f5 and f11

Mirror lenses technically can’t produce chromatic aberration, but if you pixel peep you can see just a little bit on the very edges, along with blooming.

Colors are a little cold and low on saturation

Specular highlights have the characteristic torus shape and backgrounds tend to be busy and nervous.

It is very prone to flares and ghosting when shooting towards strong sources of light.


In all honesty I cannot recommend this lens. Sure, it is well built and very compact, but the image quality leaves a lot to be desired.

Nevertheless, I am gonna keep it because I was specifically looking for something like this to use on my project FAE, so maybe you’ll see more of it in the future.

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