Customer Reviews

Opteka 650-1300mm High Definition Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon EOS 1D, 5D, 7D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, 60D, Rebel XT, XTi, XS, XSi, T1i, T2i, T3 and T3i Digital SLR Cameras

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I used this lens quite a lot before I purchased a Canon 400mm prime lens. Although the Opteka lens is somewhat soft and has some chromatic abberation, the images are quite good if the subject has good contrast. I've used this lens with a 1.4X tele extender as well. The resolving power at 1200mm is about 85-90% that of the Canon 400mm used with a 3X tele extender(giving the same 1200mm). I used a test chart similar to the ISO12233 chart to check the resolving power. Where the Canon shines is that it has next to no color shifts in the shadows or on the edges of images. Small black areas will go deep blue and small bright areas (like an egret against a dark background) will have a litttle blue edge on one side and orange edge on the other with the Opteka, but this not normally noticeable unless the image is blown up. Normal subjects will not usually show the chromatic abberation, except on the edges of an image WHEN BLOWN UP.

The focusing on the Opteka is CRITICAL and gets difficult past 900mm, since the light gets prettty low. I made and put a Vernier scale on my lens and got pretty good focus by splitting the slightly out of focus near and far focus distances. I have some excellent hawk and egret images taken with the Opteka 650-1300 mm lens (email me at
harold-moore@sbcglobal.net for some images if you like). I also made some cardboard STOPS for this lens which work well. It is not practical to go much beyond F22 because of diffraction. A 2X tele is NOT recommended--F32 at max focal length--because diffraction is becoming significant and will blur the image AND, of course, the focus is very difficult. A high quality 1.4X teleconverter will give you 1800mm at f22 with fair images--but the focus is critical and DIFFICULT. If you learn to focus this lens--gets much more difficult past 650mm--then you can get some
pretty good images.

The Opteka is a good starter lens IF you cannot afford the Canon or long focal length Tamrons etc. The main advantage of this lens is its very low cost. The Tamron 200-500mm is close to $1000 and the resolving power is similar. I had fun with Opteka lens and now I don't need it since I have
purchased the Canon 400mm (I can stack 3X and 1.4X teles on the canon to get around 1700mm--again the focus is MANUAL and very difficult past 1000mm since the light levels are so very low (on both lenses). I have also put a Vernier scale on my canon, and it is handy for distant birds that are very far away and must be, therefore, shot at 1700mm. This works well IF THEY WILL JUST STAY STILL.

The Opteka is about 4 1/2 pounds and takes a litle time setting up on a medium sized tripod--this sized tripod will work satisfactory--although I like my heavier duty tripod with Cullmann ball head. Again the
lens is not as sharp as a canon, but similar to that of the Tamron. I compared test chart images of the Opteka at 650mm and my Tamron 70-300mm zoom with a 2X Tamron teleconverter at distances where
the image was the same size. The Opteka resolved as well as the Tamron, but I had to really get it in focus, which I did with the Vernier scale.

There are many positive features about this lens and there are a few negative this too. I have used this lens on Canon and Nikon cameras, it can be adapted to any mount with the correct t-adapter.

-This lens produces very sharp pictures only if you have your camera on a tripod. With all lenses, the more zoom, the less area of view. Do not think you will be holding this lens in your hands shooting.
-This lens needs light. It works great outdoors. I have taken many shots of birds, houses, trees, ect)

Overall, it is the only lens under $600 that can zoom as far as it can. You just need to understand want it can and cannot do. I am happy with it.

If considering this lense, it is important to be realistic. You can't by a high quality telephoto lense of this size for such a low price. For a good lense of this size a couple of zeroes would need to be added to the price. You will also a need substantial tripod and that will be fairly expensive. You will not be able to get by with the 30 dollar ones, so don't fool yourself. Everything on this lense is manuel. If you are using it on a digital camera as I have on a Canon XTi, none of your automatic features will work. You will have to manuelly zoom, manually focus, and you cannot set the apature at all. The longer you extend the lense the more light will be need, of course, and the poorer the quality. The 2X converter that comes with the package is a nice gesture, but it is really obsolete because the picture quality will be so bad that it is not worth using.
Even with all this in mind, the picture quality is my biggest concern. You will be able to zoom in from a far distrance, but picures will be full of noise and muted colors. I can easily tell if pictures have been taken by this lense as opposed to others.
Having said all this, I am reasonably happy with the lense because I did not expect perfection at such a low price. The simple fact is, I don't have thousands of dollars to spend on a lense and I do believe the lense is worth the money that it cost.

I never expected to be able to afford a lens of this power. When I saw it, I figured at the price, how could I go wrong? (Admittedly, lenses are vastly cheaper than when I purchased the best film-camera I could afford--$600--in '94 and a mere 210mm lens cost as much as the camera.) I live in a rural river valley and the minute this lens arrived I tried it out on the distant hills across the river. WOW!! they look like my backyard and the lens found features my eyes haven't seen in 17 years in this house. A tiny speck on a distant hillside I thought for all these years must be an air-quality monitoring station (it was a rectangular shape, not tall) turned out to be an old water tower made of stone, looking like a castle tower (wish I could show it to y'all). I could see the individual stones. My best binoculars didn't show me this. If you can afford the moderate price, are not a professional (if you've read their reviews, you know they like it but find it less than optimal; but as an amateur, all I know is WOW), then by all means purchase this lens. A guy at work told me yesterday he spent $300 at an "exotic dance bar" night before last and this lens cost less?? And I get more than one night's excitement for the money? And it makes things MILES away visible? BUY IT! If you can afford it, you won't regret the purchase. One caveat? My first photo was WAY bright, and (my camera is quite new to me) not knowing yet how to set the aperture manually (and this is a manual lens), had to set the "film" speed (ISO?) to, like 1600 (3200 might have been better, but I didn't have time to really play with the thing as I'd liked) to get a good, but slightly washed-out, photo. So be prepared to adjust aperture or speed as best as you know how. As I said, I am an amateur. Have fun!

Good Lens. Very Heavy, Had to find a steady tripod to mount it, Moon photo's come out clear and sharp with this lens.You can hook up a 2x converter with this. Can you imagine 2600mm? WOW !!

Fun lens as long as you do not expect sharp images. I bought this lens for the huge zoom knowing the images will be noisy and unsharp. To get the sharpness and quality you will expect to spend thousands (canon's 500mm runs $7000 and the 800mm will set you back $12,000) so to get 1300mm for this price, expect low quality.

The Cons: This lens needs alot of light, the contrast in photos will be low (zoomed out you can't really make out the line from the subject and the backround.) expect noise and poor colors. You will not hold this lens to shoot and get anything good! You will also need a strong tripod as this is a heavy piece of glass. Everything is manual so don't expect auto anything.

That set aside, The Pros: This thing can zoom! I shoot the moon and can clearly see the craters. Tripod mounted, with real slow shutter speed, night shots of the sky are great. I also shoot over water and as you can see the haze, You will also see things on the other side that you could not see with your eye. You will be amazed with the zoom. add a 2x and it's crazy long. The 2x will however make the images alot worse in quality.

All in all, I will keep this lens as it is fun but I do not use it much as I shoot with the canon L lenses and I like sharpness. But for the price, you can not beat this lens.

Was as advertised. Purchased it due to price, works well. I am new to photography and did not want to spend thousands for a really nice lens. This worked however I can not use any of the automated features of my Canon camera, but I knew that going in. My learning curve is slowly coming together and have had some decent photos. Mostly, I wanted wildlife and close ups. I found I absolutely have to have a tripod, a good one, lens is heavy, and a remote switch gives me more stability. I am satisfied with the product and the price.

This lens is fun! If you are like me and can't afford, or rationalize, thousands of $ on some really long glass this lens is for you! I was actually quite impressed by the build quality, considering the price. Regardless, their is nothing that even comes close to beating the angular resolution of this lens! When it comes to angular resolution it's even better than my 135mm f2.0L + 2x teleconverter! It's like having a telescope! Until I can afford the Canon 1200mm f/5.6L I will have this lens!

I fought with myself a bit over whether to order this lens, but ultimately relented. I'm not sure what actually made me decide to go ahead and order it, but I'm glad I did. I'm a budding amateur astronomer who wants to image the heavens. The photo I submitted above of the Great Orion Nebula was literally about the 10th one I took with this lens. It's a bit fuzzy, but I am VERY happy with how it turned out. Since this was my first time out with this lens, I wasn't concentrating very much on focus, so I can't say the fuzziness of the image is the lens's fault. The biggest complaint I have with this lens is that you have to manually set the zoom. That's just a procedural thing that I am happy to deal with after the first few pictures I've taken. It would be nice if I could find a source to buy an extra lens cap so I could make a decent Hartmann mask for it, but I can fabricate something fairly easily. For my money I am very impressed with how this lens worked the first time out and can't wait to aim it up to the heavens again! I also took a couple of daytime photos with a 35MM lens on the camera, then this lens at full zoom and can't believe how much it magnified! The fuzziness of the fully zoomed image was more due to all the haze between the camera and the distant trees than it was focus. I'm really looking forward to putting this lens through its paces. I'm mainly curious if anyone might know what the knurled chrome knob on the side of it is for?

I was looking for a telephoto lens for wildlife photos. This lens works great. I use it on a canon EOS 40D. The adapter works well. The manuel focus takes a little time to learn to use. I have used it several times with no problem even in low light. The only thing I would say you need is a very steady tripod it will not work with a cheap one. I have also used this without a tripod but it is a bit of a challenge. If you zoom all the way out the lens does bend a little but not enough to worry about. I would buy this lens again. Can't beat it for the price.