Camera Lenses

User Reviews about Opteka 800mm f 8 Telephoto Mirror Lens for Canon EOS Digital SLR Cameras

I really don't like this lens because of the limitations of manual focus only, fixed F8 aperature and needing lots, lots and lots of light to use it. However to be fair and hones it is an amazing lens for the price. I use a Canon 70-200 2.8L to shoot sports and distance. I add a Kenko 2x teleconverter to it and I get great shots. I compared my 800mm shots with this Opteka lens to the Canon 70-200 with and without the 2x Kenko teleconverter when enlarged to the same size. Looking at 300% enlargement on the monitor the Opteka was just a hair sharper. This does not mean anything because at 800mm on a tripod your stomach growling can make the hair shake difference happen. When printed to 4x6 and shown to different people they could not tell the difference between the two images. However...the Opteka image was 1.1 MB and the Canon was 233.9 KB. To get an image the same size I would have to use a lens costing thousands more. Plus the lens is so small and light for a 800mm lens. Be aware that F8 is very shallow on this lens as well.

Will I use is for sports? Probably not. It is too hard to focus to shoot moving objects unless you can prefocus and shoot when the object hits your focus area. If you do this a lot then you may like this lens for the money. I will keep it for stationary objects that I want to make larger prints of. Did I mention how hard it is to focus this lens? Actually I did stack a 1.4x teleconverter and a 2x teleconverter on my Canon 70-200 2.8L just to play with it. Pictures were a little soft and the manual focus was about the same as with this lens. It is not that this lens had a problem focusing but if you are using manual focus on a 800mm lens it comes with the territory.

I hope this review helps someone. And yes I did shoot the photo above through my front door glass. I may reshoot outside later. -- Opteka 800mm amazing for the price