Opteka 500mm / 1000mm High Definition Mirror Telephoto Lens for Pentax K-2, K-M, K-5, K-R, K-X, K-7, K-2000, K20D, K100D, K110D, K10D and 645D Digital SLR Cameras
- f/8-16, High-index / low-dispersion optical glass, Fully multi-coated, every element, Anti-reflection coating
- Incredibly compact and lightweight, Fully Multi-coated, Manual Focus
- Soft pouch and three (3) rear mounted, 30.5mm filters, (ND-2X, ND-4X & Skylight)
- 500mm Mirror Lens, 2x Multiplier, Carrying bag, and lens caps included!
- 10 Year Warranty
The Opteka manual focus mirror lens is incredibly compact and lightweight. Using an advanced reflex design, this is a mirror lens that is ideally suited for wildlife and sports photography. It has a fixed aperture of f8. It comes complete with a soft pouch and three (3) rear mounted, 30.5mm filters, (ND-2X, ND-4X & Skylight). Opteka mirror lenses incorporates advanced computer designed optics and the latest in multi-coating techniques.á The process of multi-coating assures virtually flare free
List Price: $ 299.99
Price: $ 114.95
What an incredible piece of glass !!!,
Being an optical systems designer by training, with some of the finest glass on the market in my inventory (including the past purchase of a $70K aerial lens), I was amazed by the quality and capabilities of this reflection based 500mm T-mount lens. When shipped through an Amazon reseller, the package included a 2x teleconverter and a T-K mount Pentax adapter.
An important consideration behind this lens is that it is a fixed aperature (f/8 with supplied 2d (f/16) and 4d (f/32) neutral density filters). I found this lens to be worth ever dollar of the original $400.oo list price, instead of the very attractive package that Amazon put together.
Having worked with other reflector based tele lenses and telescopes, including Celestron optics which I am very familiar with, I found this lens to be at the top of it’s class. Along with it’s solid metal construction and light weight, this lens also surprised me by it’s macro capabilities, focusing down to about 5′, amazing for a 500mm lens. Keep in mind, that on a Pentax K camera, with an approx 80% sensor size of a 35mm format, this lens is comparable to a 600+ mm lens on a 35mm camera, with the 2x adapter doubling that.
I have tried this lens out in a number of situations with my Pentax K100 and K200D cameras, letting the shutter priority (default in Auto mode) take care of the proper exposure. With the body based stabilizer capability of the Pentax K200D camera, at 500mm, this lens provided motion free images in a pee-wee league football game which I tested it at. That would have been a 4 figure investment for a Canon or Nikon order, for a comparable auto stabilization function.
In shooting some images cross a very neutral field, I noticed some brightness falloff from the center to the edges, but for most subject situations, this is not a factor, and can actually make for a nice effect on landscape and some of the yacht race pics that I expect to put this lens to use for.
So, if you have a Pentax DSLR, with the auto stabiliztion feature, and want a great high power tele lens, for a surprising low price, this is the one to get. Keep in mind that with the power of this lens with the 2x converter, a sturdy tripod becomes a must.
My other addition to this lens will be a 72mm Skylight and Polarizer filters, to both protect and expand on the capabilities of this fine piece of optical glass.
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|Not worth even $115,
I have on two occasions in full sunlight taken long distance shots (10 yds to 75 yds) with this lens on a Pentax K10D (around 30 shots). I was not ever able to get a picture in focus and it is not a depth of field issue—the whole picture was blurry. All shots were taken with the camera on a tripod and with 2 second delay. At the same time I took the pictures with my Tamron 28-300 on the same camera body and tripod set up. All the shots at 300MM cropped looked considerably better than anything shot with the Opteka 500MM. I would not recommend this lens to anybody. A lens that doesn’t produce clear pictures is not worth any price. (Maybe the issue is the K10D plus lens combination. There is no way for me to check that variable.)
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|for this price, it quite good,
I’ve never heard of Opteka before I bought this lens, but I said why not try it? And I’m quite happy with it. I did not have the time to thoroughly test it but for the first looks it quite ok. I use it with a Pentax K-x.
Pros:
- good focus range
- 2x tele converter and 3 filters
- decent size good handling
- despite its big focal lenght good close focusing (less then 2m!)
slight Cons:
- requires a lot of light (fixed f/8) – but open doors there’s almost always enough sunlight.
- manual focus only – can be advantage as well – but can be hard when not enough light.
Over all it’s not the best lens, but for a hundred bucks it’s quite good. Also it requires some experience to take good pics with it, because even if you see the image in the viewfinder bright it still might produce underexposed pics. Ergo use manual shutter speed.
Glass and lens quality is fine for this price.
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