Opteka Lenses (1 Viewer)

Yes i know they are cheap and probably C**p but has anyonr tried these lenses ? They are advertising on Ebay a 100 - 400 f4.5-6.7 zoom for £114 !
Spec is-:


Advances in high-index / low-dispersion optical glasses, new barrel materials, and exotic anti-reflection coatings, along with the latest in computer-aided-design / computer-aided-manufacturing), are combined to produce lenses of unprecedented quality. Diamond-cut from crystal-clear, water-white optical glass, Opteka lenses are ground and polished to a precise precision.

Because all Opteka lenses are designed and manufactured with the highest possible degree of consistency, you can swap lenses mid-shoot with no discernable variation in color or effect. The unprecedented purity, color saturation and repeatability of Opteka lenses virtually eliminate the need for lab color timing corrections caused by other lenses. This puts more creative control where it belongs, in your hands.

The built-in macro feature allows you to take close up shots as powerful as 1:4 magnification. This lens fits on all Canon EOS Autofocus bodies. Getting spectacular zoom-effect shots takes a super telephoto zoom like this 100-400mm lens and a little creativity.
Lens Construction: 12 elements in 9 groups
Optics: Multi-Coated High Definition Glass
Picture Angle: 24°-6°
Minimum Focus Distance: 6.5 ft.
Macro Magnification Ratio: 1:4
Focus Modes: Fast Autofocus and Manual focus
Aperture Range: Maximum = f:4.5-6.7 | Minimum = f:22-32
Filter Size: 67mm
Dimensions (diameter x length): 2.9 x 6.5 in.
Weight: 21.10 oz.

Anyone know anything about them ?

Yes I've seen them on ebay too - the sales blurb is typical of all lens sales talk. Your never see a lens say how bad it is.

A good gauge is to look at web sites that give scores for tests. If 2 or 3 sites give a lens a high score then it must be OK. A google of opteka does not bring up any reviews, it only finds people like yourself asking if they are any good.

In general reviews are very subjective to the users experience, what maybe very good to one guy maybe rubbish to a pro.

Don't forget by the time you get the lens it will infact cost you best part of £160 after you have paid postage, import duty, vat and so on.

Cosina are known to make lens for Vivitar etc.
As this lens looks very much like the Vivitar/Cosina I suspect Cosina are the real manufacturer.

A website scores (2.3 out of 5 ) sub average for this group brand of lens @ 100-400mm. Yes your get a reasonable image in good light (stopped down to f8 to f11). However if you are critical your notice in poor light.

Low contrast.

Blur, not a sharp edge step between light and dark areas especially in the corners of the frame.

Colour fringing in the corners of the frame especially on shots with sky and tree branches.

Compared to a top notch Canon L lens scoring 4 out of 5 used wide open.

The question is do we have enough bright sunny days in the UK to use a 400mm lens at f11 @ 1/500 sec.

I've been looking for a zoom lens in this range.
Basically the cheapest half decent lens start from £300-500 mark.
e.g Sigma 135-400mm
Sigma 170-500mm
Tokina 80-400mm

Next band up in quality and price at £600 -800 mark
Sigma 50-500mm
Sigma 80-400mm
Tamron 200-500mm

Then the Canon 100-400 L at £1100 mark which by all accounts is a good lens but there are those who beg to differ that it is worth £1100.

So with a cheap lens you can get fair results if the light is good.
Otherwise it's down to paying for better quaility glass.

Robert

robski said:

Cosina are known to make lens for Vivitar etc.
As this lens looks very much like the Vivitar/Cosina I suspect Cosina are the real manufacturer.

A website scores (2.3 out of 5 ) sub average for this group brand of lens @ 100-400mm. Yes your get a reasonable image in good light (stopped down to f8 to f11). However if you are critical your notice in poor light.

Robert

Click to expand...

I believe Optika are Vivitar in a different wrapping as some of the lenses advertised by optika direct are in Vivitar boxes just seems strange that in all searches people are asking about thelenses but nobody has reviewed them ! Think i might save up for a Bigma or tamron

Hi,

I have two Opteka screw on lens converters for P&S cameras, a 0.5 wide angle and a 2x teleconverter. The converters performed terribly. Only half the photo would be in focus, the optical quality was the worst and the lenses had really bad chromatic aberration.

I got the lenses before I knew much about photography in a kit with an Olympus C-750 from 47th Street photo. I later got an Olympus Tcon-17 which performs much, much better than the Opteka lenses.

I really think you could do better elsewhere.