  The optical manifold method to compute the one-loop effective action in a
static space-time is extended from the massless scalar field to the Maxwell
field in any Feynman-like covariant gauge. The method is applied to the case of
the Rindler space obtaining the same results as the point-splitting procedure.
The result is free from Kabat's surface terms which instead affect the
$\zeta$-function or heat-kernel approaches working directly in the static
manifold containing conical singularities. The relation between the optical
method and the direct $\zeta$-function approach on the Euclidean Rindler
manifold is discussed both in the scalar and the photon cases. Problems with
the thermodynamic self-consistency of the results obtained from the stress
tensor in the case of the Rindler space are pointed out.
