Any mirror lenses autofocus for Canon?

[AprilForever]

Anyone ever come up with an autofocus mirror lens for canon? I used to have an old 500f8 catadiiptric lens which sucked in every way imaginable. This would be a great walk around casual birding lens. I often see birds I would like an image of in places I just can't haul my 600f4. Will this ever be likely?

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

No.
The only Autofocus Mirror lens was the Minolta 500mm f/8 which was revived in a later release by Sony for A mount cameras.

I think that the Minolta Mirror lenses made long ago with Manual Focus are about as good as any, the Nikkor reflex is good as well. Even at their best, they are no match for the resolution of todays DSLR's and tend to have weird donut shaped highlights which detract from a otherwise sharpish image. If you can avoid a scene which has highlights, then they are ok but not great. I have had numerous mirror lenses that came with used equipment, or were found cheaply on Craigslist. I have a Minolta that I picked up cheaply last year sitting in my studio. Its about the same as the others I've owned. If the image is bad, the lens can be collimated which may help.


I've attached a couple. Nikon 500mm reflex. I was near MFD, the DOF is very shallow, it is a sharp image only on the head:

Minolta 600mm F/8 which shows the donut shaped highlights:

 

[Hesbehindyou]

I used to have an old 500f8 catadiiptric lens which sucked in every way imaginable. This [but with autofocus] would be a great walk around casual birding lens.

I'm curious - could you tell me more about your experiences with the 500 f8?

I've always assumed they were total crap by modern standards but never wanted to spend the money to find out just how bad

 

[KeithBreazeal]

OK, I found an old mirror lens and put it on the M5. Good grief!

Canon EOS M5 with Vivitar 500mm Mirror Lens © Keith Breazeal by Keith Breazeal, on Flickr

IMG_1419_filtered by Keith Breazeal, on Flickr