It’s now been a month since I got my Canon T3i and I’ve been having a blast learning all the in’s and out’s of it… the more I learn the more I realize how much I don’t know! I have been trying to build a collection of lenses to cover a large focal range. The camera came with a 18mm-55mm kit lens, I then bought a Canon 55mm-250mm, then a Canon 40mm pancake lens. Those lenses, plus a set of macro filters give me a pretty good range to work with, but then a couple days ago I came across a deal I just couldn’t pass up. A 500mm Mirror lens made by a company called Rokinon.

The Rokinon 500mm mirror lens with 2x doubler attached to my Canon T3i

I found it online, for $135 and it came with the lens, a 2x doubler (teleconverter pushing it to 1000mm), leather pouch, a set of 3 rear mount filters and a T-Ring adapter. One of the things I liked about this lens, other than the price, was its short length. Without the doubler it’s only about 4″ and is very light. Since I’ll be using it mostly for wildlife photos while hiking those two factors alone made it a no brainer.

I just spent a little time with it in the backyard, and while I’m learning it’s quirks, I’m pretty happy with it. Here’s a few pics I took, these are without the 2x doubler as my backyard isn’t really big enough to need it.