Opteka lenses

[lonleyppl]

So does anyone have any experience with Opteka lenses, especially their 500mm mirror lens or their fisheye lens? The fact that it's a 500mm zoom lens for ~$80-90 is a little concerning, but I'm looking to get a zoom lens and don't have too much to spend. I couldn't really find many reviews either.

[JustAnEngineer]

That 500mm catadiatropic lens has a fixed focal length. It is not a zoom lens. It also has a rather slow fixed aperture.
http://www.adorama.com/PRO50063EOS.html

Does the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS have enough reach for your application? It's a much better lens than the cheap 75-300mm options.
Used
Refurbished
Grey market

[lonleyppl]

That would likely have enough reach. All I have now is the 18-55mm kit lens, which wasn't cutting it for football, or nature photos.

[Airmantharp]

I found the 55-250 to be more useful than not, and quite nice for a 'kit' lens. I passed it to a sibling with the T1i I bought it for and am using a refurbished 70-300 with micro-USM (quieter but still have to switch to MF). If you're shooting anything other than on a tripod with a remote shutter, you'll want the IS on the 55-250 II, which the 75-300s lack.

[JustAnEngineer]

The EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM is better than the 55-250, but it's also much more expensive. I sold my 70-300 IS USM after I got the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM.

[Airmantharp]

The EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM is better than the 55-250, but it's also much more expensive. I sold my 70-300 IS USM after I got the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM.

Don't think anyone can say no to L glass, but I paid around half retail for a Canon-refurbished unit, which is also why I mention it .

[ludi]

There's an old thread of mine here that talks about my experience with, colloquially, a "mirror lens" of the same construction and quality as the Opteka. Most of the image links are still working, too. The tl;dr version is that any decent-quality 200mm zoom can get roughly the same level of focus and detail after cropping to equivalent size.

The 55-250 that JAE pointed you to, would be a much better option. Since it's an EF-S lens, it's also smaller and lighter than a lot of the used higher-end zooms that you can pick up on Craigslist or eBay.