Welcome to our Opteka 6.5mm review, if you are one of our regular readers then you will probably know that we have published a fair few fisheye lens based articles recently. Due to this, we have noticed a number of people reaching out for advice on the Opteka 6.5mm so we decided to publish this dedicated review.
Fisheye photography is one of those photography niches that many photographers want to try their hand at but usually aren’t considering taking it seriously. This is where the Opteka 6.5mm comes in as it serves as a great, entry level, budget friendly fisheye lens that lets you try your hand at fisheye photography without having to shell out a ton of money for a lens. You can sometimes reduce the costs even further by picking up a refurbished or second hand Opteka 6.5mm lens (Click here to check for product prices and availability).
That said, we think that you will be surprised at how well it performs for a budget-friendly lens and you will see how good it actually is from the example photographs throughout our article like the one below. We have chosen to share the photo below as a part of our review as we feel it does a great job of showing the landscape photography potential of the Opteka 6.5mm while giving a good representation of what you can expect from the lens.
Click Here To Check For Current Prices On The Canon Variant Of The Opteka 6.5mm Lens!
Click Here To Check For Current Prices On The Nikon Variant Of The Opteka 6.5mm Lens!
Table of Contents
Build Quality
The build quality of the Opteka 6.5 mm really is excellent considering its price point and it can easily hold its own against some higher price tag lenses too. The majority of the body of the lens is made from high-quality plastic and rubber to ensure that it is as robust as possible to take all the knocks coming its way while also being as lightweight as possible coming in at only 0.91lbs.
The front lens element on the Opteka 6.5mm is made from high-quality glass with an aspherical design to help it act as optimally as possible as a fisheye lens. The aspherical design uses a fair bit of glass and can make the lens feel a little top heavy when in use but you quickly get used to the slightly different weight distribution to a regular lens.
The build of the manual focus ring on the lens has a textured rubber around it to make it as easy as possible to quickly and easily find it within seconds. This allows you to focus on looking through your viewfinder to get the best possible photograph while adjusting the focus of the lens. The rubber ring also makes it easy to grip when wet or cold to ensure that you are able to operate the Opteka 6.5mm in all conditions.
One thing we would like to point out is that the two main variants of the lens on the market have been optimised for Canon or Nikon cameras so always ensure that you pickup the correct variant for your camera of choice. If you are trying to pick the lens up in a second hand store this can be a bit of a pain as some of the store clerks may not know much about photography. The links below will take you directly to the correct variant of the lens for your camera brand.
Click Here To Check For Current Prices On The Canon Variant Of The Opteka 6.5mm Lens!
Click Here To Check For Current Prices On The Nikon Variant Of The Opteka 6.5mm Lens!
Performance
Being a prime lens with a 6.5mm focal length it should come as no surprise that the ultra-wide angle of the lens can offer a great and unique angle of view for your photographs. You are able to use this to your advantage if you are wanting to add something unique to your own photographs of commonly photographed locations for your Instagram or social media pages. Gone are the days when a regular photograph would catch someone’s attention, your photograph now has to stand out and a fisheye photograph is a quick and easy way to do this.
The f/3.5 aperture on the Opteka 6.5mm also allows it to perform well in various low light conditions as well as hold its own against some of the higher price point fisheye lenses on the market who try to use the best aperture possible for low light performance. This lets you save your money while still picking up a great little all-round fisheye lens for your camera.
The photograph below was captured using the Opteka 6.5mm and does a great job of showcasing its low light and nighttime photography performance.
Our Verdict
That concludes our Opteka 6.5mm review, we hope we have done a good job of pointing out just how good of a lens this really is an for its price, it is a steal, especially if you are only wanting to try your hand at fisheye photography while keeping your costs as low as possible. Adding the lens to your collection of camera accessories will make a great little addition in our opinion, just be sure to pick up the correct variant of the lens for either your Canon or Nikon camera via the links below and you will be good to go.
Click Here To Read Independent Third Party Reviews Of This Product!
Click Here To Check For Current Prices On The Canon Variant Of The Opteka 6.5mm Lens!
Click Here To Check For Current Prices On The Nikon Variant Of The Opteka 6.5mm Lens!
The video below offers an additional third-party, independent review for the Opteka 6.5 mm review to offer our readers an independent opinion of the product.
