What’s Your Preference?

linda68 · #1 (**permalink**) 10-09-2009, 06:35 PM

does anyone know if the opteka 500mm -1000mm telephoto mirror lens for the nikon d40 is any good??? sounds a good buy at £130 any info would be fantastic thanks

Murtasma · #2 (**permalink**) 10-09-2009, 06:37 PM

What do you want to use the lens for?

linda68 · #3 (**permalink**) 10-09-2009, 06:38 PM

wildlife photography

Preacherman · #4 (**permalink**) 10-09-2009, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linda68

does anyone know if the opteka 500mm -1000mm telephoto mirror lens for the nikon d40 is any good??? sounds a good buy at £130 any info would be fantastic thanks

Hi Linda. This cheap mirror lens is quite likey to be a purchase you will regret quite quickly. The old adage "You get what you pay for" applies here, and all the reading I have done on this lens suggests that you would be trying to get rid of it pretty soon after you bought it. If you search the 'Canon digital photography forum' you will find active dicussions about this lens, most of them negative. Have a look and see what you think.
Regards, PAUL

Aegea · #5 (**permalink**) 10-09-2009, 09:25 PM

I've been thinking about a mirror lens for a while, but the drawbacks have so far prevented me. No aperture adjustment, no auto-focus, no auto-exposure, no image stabilization, and strange donut-shaped bokeh. Also, from what I've read, the Opetka isn't even a particularly good example, either. This Russian one seems to get decent write-ups, however:

MC Rubinar 8/500 Macro Telephoto Lens for Nikon

larrysch · #6 (**permalink**) 10-24-2009, 01:26 PM

I am totally new here and have a little experience in photography - but I was very interested in the Opteka 500mm lens - because of the price. I do know that you get what you pay for and with that being said - $89 dollars would not be a great loss if the lens did not work. I first did some research on this lens and came up with this site:
Flickr: Discussing Opteka 500mm f/8 HD Super Telephoto Lens in Photo Lanka
Click on his name -sudheera_silva - beside his photo and see the photos he took with this lens - amazing photographs with the inexpensive Opteka 500mm lens.

After seeing what this man was able to do with the Opteka 500mm lens - I ordered one. So far I have not been disappointed with the lens - my problem is trying to hold the camera and lens steady - and adding a unipod to my arson of camera equipment - have been able to steady my shots with the camera. I found that shooting in the manual mode - and setting the f stop to 1200 - ISO 1600 and 1000 - ISO 800 did the job and with little noise to deal with. Anyhow making a short story long - I do like this lens - and the price was right!!

Aegea · #7 (**permalink**) 10-24-2009, 02:37 PM

Interesting. They are nice shots and do look quite saturated and sharp, at least reduced for web posting, though I think I see some sharpening artifacts. The bokeh is much better than I would have expected from seeing other mirror lens shots. I'd really like to see some 100% crops, though - do you have anything you could post?

larrysch · #8 (**permalink**) 10-24-2009, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aegea

Interesting. They are nice shots and do look quite saturated and sharp, at least reduced for web posting, though I think I see some sharpening artifacts. The bokeh is much better than I would have expected from seeing other mirror lens shots. I'd really like to see some 100% crops, though - do you have anything you could post?

I really have nothing with this type of detail - still trying to get everything right - which I have not done due to my lack of ability. Sudheera_silvaI did say that he would show the original files during an upcoming Photo Lanka meet-up. I did Google up "Photo Lanka" but was unable to find his original files that he was speaking of. I also think he did say that he did some sharpening with these photos - but still - doing some minor tweaking - those photo's came out great - at least I think they did.