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Archive 2015 · Thoughts on the Opteka 6.5mm f/3.5 HD Aspherical Fisheye Lens

  
 
Andre Labonte
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Thoughts on the Opteka 6.5mm f/3.5 HD Aspherical Fisheye Lens




Saw this lens on Nikon Rumors and wonder if anyone has an information or thoughts on it. I've never owned a fisheye and could never bring myself to get one because I just don't see using it enough to justify the cost. But for the cost of this thing, I'm thinking "what the hell" assuming it's any good and won't damage my camera.


Opteka 6.5mm f/3.5 HD Aspherical Fisheye Lens

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KGE4VS2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00KGE4VS2&linkCode=as2&tag=nikorumo-20&linkId=72GPCAFVUY6IA5CZ



Mar 07, 2015 at 11:29 PM
Andre Labonte
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Thoughts on the Opteka 6.5mm f/3.5 HD Aspherical Fisheye Lens


Anyone?




Mar 08, 2015 at 03:25 PM
Lauchlan Toal
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Thoughts on the Opteka 6.5mm f/3.5 HD Aspherical Fisheye Lens


If memory serves, Opteka is the cheap version of Samyang, so I wouldn't expect much in the way of optics. Of course, the lens looks a little nicer than their other ones, and I imagine they'd have access to Samyang's plants, so it might not be as bad as some of their past offerings.

As for a fisheye, if you think you'd have fun with it, go for it! If not, save the money for something you would enjoy/need more. Personally, I'd probably end up deleting all the photos I take with it, and not using any for my portfolio, so I'd invest it in something else. But if you like doing fun/zany shots, this might be worth a go.



Mar 08, 2015 at 03:44 PM
Two23
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Thoughts on the Opteka 6.5mm f/3.5 HD Aspherical Fisheye Lens


It would actually work pretty well for certain kinds of shots.

https://www.google.com/search?q=opteka+6.5+images&biw=1604&bih=1065&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ZuL8VO-ONNHtggSGmIOIDw&ved=0CB0QsAQ


This is the kind of lens a lot of people might buy and then tired of. I'd look for one on ebay first.


Kent in SD



Mar 08, 2015 at 07:00 PM
pbraymond
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Thoughts on the Opteka 6.5mm f/3.5 HD Aspherical Fisheye Lens


I actually just got one delivered this past Thursday. Plenty sharp for what I would use it for. Be aware that it is fully manual including the aperture, including the fact that there is no automatic aperture stop down on shutter release. Focus at f3.5, then shoot at f3.5 (lower quality) or stop down (viewfinder gets dimmer) for better quality. The camera should still meter in aperture priority mode, but I find metering unreliable probably because of the really wide angle of view.

What else, anything more than a few feet away the focus indicators in the viewfinder is kinda useless. Finally, the focusing scale seems more a suggestion than fact. I have to test this out more, but it seems like the in focus shots are focused at around 1.5 to 2 feet on the distance scale. Some pics in the next post.



Mar 08, 2015 at 07:12 PM
pbraymond
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Thoughts on the Opteka 6.5mm f/3.5 HD Aspherical Fisheye Lens


For what it cost, I'll keep it for the time I need it. Here's something from yesterday.





Original shot







Defishing to taste (deliberately left some dark corners) in LR using a 15mm lens profile







Defishing to taste in LR using a fisheye lens profile







Defishing in PS using defish plug in




Mar 08, 2015 at 07:32 PM
pbraymond
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Thoughts on the Opteka 6.5mm f/3.5 HD Aspherical Fisheye Lens


Finally, a couple of 100% crops from a D700. Not the best example since this shot was at ISO 1600. Hope this helps.

(note edited to show the correct camera used, it was a D700)





100% crop, D700 at ISO 1600 (left side of picture)







100% crop, D700 at ISO 1600 (bottom center of picture)



Edited on Mar 09, 2015 at 07:00 AM · View previous versions



Mar 08, 2015 at 07:40 PM
Andre Labonte
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Thoughts on the Opteka 6.5mm f/3.5 HD Aspherical Fisheye Lens


Two23 wrote:
It would actually work pretty well for certain kinds of shots.

https://www.google.com/search?q=opteka+6.5+images&biw=1604&bih=1065&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ZuL8VO-ONNHtggSGmIOIDw&ved=0CB0QsAQ

This is the kind of lens a lot of people might buy and then tired of. I'd look for one on ebay first.

Kent in SD




The e-bay price is higher than the Amazon price. :P Special sale going on .. $150 ... or I would not even bother considering it.



Mar 08, 2015 at 07:52 PM
Andre Labonte
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Thoughts on the Opteka 6.5mm f/3.5 HD Aspherical Fisheye Lens


pbraymond wrote:
I actually just got one delivered this past Thursday. Plenty sharp for what I would use it for. Be aware that it is fully manual including the aperture, including the fact that there is no automatic aperture stop down on shutter release. Focus at f3.5, then shoot at f3.5 (lower quality) or stop down (viewfinder gets dimmer) for better quality. The camera should still meter in aperture priority mode, but I find metering unreliable probably because of the really wide angle of view.

What else, anything more than a few feet away the focus indicators in the viewfinder is kinda useless.
...Show more

**********************

Interesting ... not sure I'd get $150 out of it ... still on the fence. Thanks for posting.



Mar 08, 2015 at 07:54 PM





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