New lens for my Nikon D5300
Oct 8, 2017 08:21:18 #
I am thinking about getting a new lens for my nikon d5300. Does anyone know about the Opteka 650-1300mm (1300-2600mm) Telephoto Lens? Are there better ones to consider? Any pros and cons would be extremely helpful. Thanks!
Mary
Mary
Oct 8, 2017 08:31:10 #
It's over a foot long and weighs more than 4lbs. Best have a heavy duty tripod & Gimbal to balance it. It's also manual focus only.
Oct 8, 2017 08:34:50 #
Mary, it seems to me that you are after a tele-zoom. Perhaps you want to use it for bird photography?
I am not familiar with Opteka but very familiar with the 150-600 made by Tamron and Sigma, both of very good optical quality.
I guess you meant as digital factors 975-1950 which will be the result of multiplying 650-1300 X 1.5.
I am not familiar with Opteka but very familiar with the 150-600 made by Tamron and Sigma, both of very good optical quality.
I guess you meant as digital factors 975-1950 which will be the result of multiplying 650-1300 X 1.5.
Oct 8, 2017 08:37:28 #
camerapapi wrote:
Mary, it seems to me that you are after a tele-zoom. Perhaps you want to use it for bird photography?
I am not familiar with Opteka but very familiar with the 150-600 made by Tamron and Sigma, both of very good optical quality.
I guess you meant as digital factors 975-1950 which will be the result of multiplying 650-1300 X 1.5.
I am not familiar with Opteka but very familiar with the 150-600 made by Tamron and Sigma, both of very good optical quality.
I guess you meant as digital factors 975-1950 which will be the result of multiplying 650-1300 X 1.5.
The Opteka comes with a 2x extender....
Oct 8, 2017 08:48:21 #
murby1 wrote:
I am thinking about getting a new lens for my nikon d5300. Does anyone know about the Opteka 650-1300mm (1300-2600mm) Telephoto Lens? Are there better ones to consider? Any pros and cons would be extremely helpful. Thanks!
Mary
Mary
Hi Mary. When I read your OP, I'd never heard of this lens so I googled it. Suggest you go to the B&H site and do a read-through on the Overview, Specs, and Reviews sections. IMO, it will cause you much frustration and not produce acceptable results.
If you want a super zoom for birds and wildlife, I would seriously consider the Tamron 150-600. Three years ago, I purchased the original version of that lens and it is almost always on my D7200. My subjects are almost exclusively birds (both perched and in flight) and wildlife. Prior to owning the D7200, I used it on my D5200. It has not dissappointed me. I shoot with it in low light as well as bright sunlight. You can probably get a used one at a good price from B&H or Adorama. There may even a UHH member with one for sale.
Oct 8, 2017 08:50:00 #
General Rule applies here.... "You get what you pay for". I am not at all familiar with the Opteka. I just know that I have been disappointed whenever I tried to reach out further than my wallet permitted. I would have been better off to not have spent the money. Please let us know if you get the results you are looking for. I am just wanting you NOT to copy my mistakes.
Oct 8, 2017 08:50:34 #
murby1 wrote:
I am thinking about getting a new lens for my nikon d5300. Does anyone know about the Opteka 650-1300mm (1300-2600mm) Telephoto Lens? Are there better ones to consider? Any pros and cons would be extremely helpful. Thanks!
Mary
Mary
Mary that lens is more of a novelty lens than any sort of serious optical device. Its extremely slow (F8 at 650mm) and being manual focus only is extremely difficult to focus with your penta mirror viewfinder. Its a bit easier to focus using live view but if there is enough light to use it your live view screen will be hard to see.
I suggest saving your money for a better lens rather than waste it on a toy lens like the Opteka.
Oct 8, 2017 09:19:11 #
Oct 8, 2017 09:45:08 #
Some reviews on Amazon like the lens even with its drawbacks. Some didn't like it because of its drawbacks. Try it, you might like it. That is the ONLY way you will truly know. It's a subjective call you see and you can only be subjective if you have actually experienced using the lens. If you hate it you will only be out the difference between what you bought it for and what you can unload it for. If you are one of the few that love it then all's well as you have a super telephoto lens for under $200 bucks.
Oct 8, 2017 09:50:47 #
I have purchased a few of the novelty ultra tele zooms over the years mainly as toys to experiment with, to see what I could do with them. I never considered them as quality optical devices which realistically they are not. This lens is large and heavy, about 18 inches long and weighs over 4 pounds. Granted the Sigma 150-600 Sport weigh more but it also has image stabilization and auto focus, the opteka does not. It's also comparing a $250 lens to a $2000 lens; there is no comparison.
Will the lens do what they claim it will do? In the hands of someone who knows how to get the best image out of a lens like that, it will produce decent photos but it demands a lot of light a very sturdy tripod and a bit of post processing to achieve decent results.
It does not have the image quality of the Sigma or Tamron super telephoto zooms. It is not a bad lens for $250 but you would be much better off picking up a used Sigma 150-600 contemporary or Tamron 150-600. They will cost you more but the end results are well worth the extra expense.
Will the lens do what they claim it will do? In the hands of someone who knows how to get the best image out of a lens like that, it will produce decent photos but it demands a lot of light a very sturdy tripod and a bit of post processing to achieve decent results.
It does not have the image quality of the Sigma or Tamron super telephoto zooms. It is not a bad lens for $250 but you would be much better off picking up a used Sigma 150-600 contemporary or Tamron 150-600. They will cost you more but the end results are well worth the extra expense.
Oct 8, 2017 09:58:29 #
Y'all make some really good points. I'm going to research it a bit more. It'll make a good Christmas gift from my husband. 😉
Oct 8, 2017 10:05:40 #
This is intended to be humorous.... and maybe thought provoking:
Consider if you will... There is a reason that the Top manufacturers don't even offer lenses in this focal range (I don't think so, anyway). You would need a great tripod weighted down with sandbags, the exposure time would be a minumum of about three seconds, you would have to lock up the mirror, you would have to use a remote release or timer, and you would have to stop the rotation of the earth during the exposure. And yes, I have been told, at least a billion times, not to exaggerate. Seriously, I believe a lens in this range would be all but unusable, almost regardless of the quality. I can't even (very often) use a doulbler on my Nikkor 300mm 4.0, with a Gitzo tripod, for these reasons.
Consider if you will... There is a reason that the Top manufacturers don't even offer lenses in this focal range (I don't think so, anyway). You would need a great tripod weighted down with sandbags, the exposure time would be a minumum of about three seconds, you would have to lock up the mirror, you would have to use a remote release or timer, and you would have to stop the rotation of the earth during the exposure. And yes, I have been told, at least a billion times, not to exaggerate. Seriously, I believe a lens in this range would be all but unusable, almost regardless of the quality. I can't even (very often) use a doulbler on my Nikkor 300mm 4.0, with a Gitzo tripod, for these reasons.
Oct 8, 2017 10:38:50 #
Hi, I got Sigma 150-600 Contemporary last year around Black Friday for $750 at the store that claims that their Buy is the Best. Their price match policy works well. Anyway I'm very happy to use it on my D5500 mostly for shots of wild birds (hand held) and moon . Stabilisation and auto focus are fine things to have when shooting with something this heavy and big. Please don't take this as a professional opinion, I'm just throwing in my 2 cents...
Oct 8, 2017 11:45:24 #
I've been using the Sigma 150-600 Contemporary since it was released about 2 years ago, first on a D7200 and now on a D500 and it rocks as long as you have a reasonable amount of light, since its wide open aperture starts at F5. I've tried extenders, they cut the light down by another stop or two and really mess with the autofocus and quality of the image. Better to have a good camera body with low light sensitivity (think D500 or equivalent Canon or Sony) so you can crop to get a little extra reach. My 2 cents...
Oct 9, 2017 06:31:44 #
You would probably be disappointed and frustrated with the Opteka. I would recommend Nikon's 200-500mm f/5.6 lens. You'll get excellent results. The Sigma and Tamron 150-600mm lenses recommended by UHH members would also be excellent choices.
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