Opteka lenses?

[della14991]

I'm wanting to buy a fisheye lens for my Nikon D5000.
Just wondering if anyone has owned/used Opteka lenses in the past?
I've always stuck with Nikon and Tamron lenses so I've never really heard a lot about Opteka.
A few opinions and past experiences would be much appreciated :D

[markta]

The question has been asked many times before..

They're manual focus lenses, have a very small maximum aperture so the viewfinder will appear dark, built like a toy telescope and the optical quality very poor...

You get what you pay for. If you just want record shots of birds etc. (not in flight but stationery) then it'd do for that, otherwise expect mediocre results..

If they were good, we'd all have them but a lens costing even £500 will out perform an Opteka quite significantly

[Flash In The Pan]

The question has been asked many times before..

They're manual focus lenses, have a very small maximum aperture so the viewfinder will appear dark, built like a toy telescope and the optical quality very poor...



The fisheye "lenses" that Opteka sell are actually just screw-on adapters, not acual lenses - they're much less expensive than a real fisheye lens, but the image quality is nowhere near as good.

[Pedro Photosport]

I've got a fisheye adapter from them on my sony.
To be honest the quality of the image is what you'd expect for a £40-50 no-name brand piece of glass.

On the other hand for £40 it's alright for the occasional use and for a laugh

[della14991]

I thought as much, the first thing I thought about was the cheap price. I should think the fisheye edit on my D5000 would do about the same job as the Optika lenses then!
I'd much rather pay more for better quality.

Would love to see some pictures taken by you guys using fisheyes?

[Pedro Photosport]

Haven't had much opportunity to use it, bought it as the season was winding down and couldnt get a good location.
note though that with my lens, any wider than about 28mm and you get a traces of, up to a full black ring around the photo which can be effective in come extents.
It's a good'un if you like being a bit creative or different on a budget.
Hope I could help, first time I've been on this end of the topic

[roofowler]

Would love to see some pictures taken by you guys using fisheyes?

You asked...here's a few from my 16mm:

http://www.rupertfowler.co.uk/site3/gallery/mtbgallery/20.JPG

http://www.rupertfowler.co.uk/site3/gallery/roadgallery/1.JPG

http://www.rupertfowler.co.uk/site3/gallery/mtbgallery/3.jpg

And one from my old 10.5mm:

http://www.rupertfowler.co.uk/site3/gallery/othergallery/21.JPG

[della14991]

Very nice :D
Definately think I'll be investing in one!

Pedro, if you get some decent shots from that fisheye I'd like to see them, just to see what they're like.

[Pedro Photosport]

I'll take it with me to autosport on the 17th to see what I can do

[HarryL]

I've got a Russian made Zenitar 16mm f/2.8 fisheye. It's built like a tank (or a grenade to be more precise! :)). You get f/2.8 max aperture. It's manual focus but in reality I shoot at infinity most of the time, so no big worry there. I think you can get them new for under £100 off fleabay nowadays. Great bargain in my opinion, as a fisheye is more of a novelty toy for me. Having said that, the image quality is actually pretty good.

[della14991]

I'll take it with me to autosport on the 17th to see what I can do

Sounds good :D

[della14991]

HarryL, have you got any shots you've taken with the lens?
Would be good to see the quality of the images.

[HarryL]

HarryL, have you got any shots you've taken with the lens?
Would be good to see the quality of the images.
Ah, I'm not on my normal computer, so it'd take a few days before I can dig up any photos unfortunately.

[della14991]

Ok :)