Any stupidly cheap LONG telephotos that really work?

I found my Sigma 170-500mm on Craigslist for $300. It's not the sharpest lens and it's got the loud, slow screw drive AF but it's decently sharp until just past 400mm. After that it starts getting soft pretty quickly wide open.

Find a used non OS Sigma 50-500mm.

The trouble with the "Pre-EX" SIgma lenses like the above 170-500mm is that many were made before the Canon DSLR was invented, or early on, and could not be stopped down or focus properly by the Camera. The 50-500mm never had this problem, no matter how old of a copy you get.

Myboostedgst wrote in post #16979653
If I remember correctly there is a thread on this forum about this lens.

http://www.amazon.com …eywords=Opteka+​lens+canon

I have one, but have not used it - can't find my T-mount adapter, and I've been too much of a procrastinator to get one. If you're interested in it, let me know.

msowsun wrote in post #16979712
The Samyang 500mm f/8 preset telephoto is a "stupid cheap" $100 lens which gets better photos than the price would suggest. I find it quite a bit better than the 500mm mirror lenses mainly because it allows you to stop down and increase sharpness.

I have a very old copy of this lens, and it did a really amazing job for the $30 I paid when it was new. Sadly, the cement holding the doublet elements together has degraded and the lens is really no longer usable. It's probably not worth the effort to repair, but it looks like a new copy would be worth grabbing!

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #16979850
Find a used non OS Sigma 50-500mm.

The trouble with the "Pre-EX" SIgma lenses like the above 170-500mm is that many were made before the Canon DSLR was invented, or early on, and could not be stopped down or focus properly by the Camera. The 50-500mm never had this problem, no matter how old of a copy you get.

+1, wide open as compared to the 100-400, the Canon beats it, but step it down to f8, and they get very, very close to each other.

Myboostedgst wrote in post #16979653
If I remember correctly there is a thread on this forum about this lens.

http://www.amazon.com …eywords=Opteka+​lens+canon

I bought this lens just for fiddling around and it actualy isn't too bad for the price. I paid about $300. Image quality is for sure not great, but it can perform under certain circumstances. I haven't played with it enough to really figure it out, but it seems like I get the worst pictures when there is a large temperature difference between me and the subject or somewhere inbetween. Here are some examples of what I have done with the Rokinon, Samyang, Optica, Bower..... 650-1300mm. Note the mountain goat shot over 1.5 miles away. I was standing on 20ft of snow and shooting across mountian sides mid day. Major temperature difference and resulting "mirage" diffraction. You can see it throughout the photo. The major issues I see with the lens, besides image quality, is massive CA and color saturation. It takes some tweaking.

Not bad at 1 mile away

IMAGE LINK: http://s257.photobucke​t.com …media/_MG_1585-1.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s257.photobucke​t.com …ildlife/_MG_336​0.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s257.photobucke​t.com …ildlife/_MG_170​5.jpg.html

Oh, and I also had a Rubinar 1000mm mirror lens converted to an EOS mount, that actually worked pretty well, minus the crummy bokeh.

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=537136

tkbslc wrote in post #16979654
Canon SX50 HS. 1200mm zoom and good daytime quality.

This!

And you will look less "creepy", without a big lens.

1Tanker wrote in post #16980200
This!

And you will look less "creepy", without a big lens.

Well, we don't know about that without seeing a selfie...

Another vote for a superzoom.

Panasonic FZ200. Constant 2.8 to 600mm. <$400 used.

Or the Canon previously mentioned (or others) if you want 1000mm and beyond.

A super zoom P&S would probably be the best IQ for the money. My girlfriend just got a 30x Sony for around $400. It's range is something like 24mm-720mm FF equivalent. And it has IS. It is actually a pretty good camera, but I hate the menu controls. I'd search around for something easier to use, but I wouldn't mind having a P&S superzoom for hikes and overnights when I want light weight and still get decent pictures.

kawi_200 wrote in post #16980190
I haven't played with it enough to really figure it out, but it seems like I get the worst pictures when there is a large temperature difference between me and the subject or somewhere inbetween.

Especially if you're using the lens to take photos of distant objects, you are going to have problems getting sharp images. There's a lot of air/moisture between you and the subject, and temperature inversions can and will destroy the collimation of the "light rays" on their way to you. At some point, even the best telephoto will only deliver a mediocre image when used this way. Most telephotos are at their best at moderate distance, used to isolate the subject. And there, what you're paying extra for is lack of CA, fast autofocus and maybe IS.

if you don't want a super zoom p&s, i think the sigma 50-500mm is going to be a good bet...although you may have to go to $600 for it...there's also the tamron 200-500mm that that guy limbwalker swears is better than any other lens out there ...i wouldn't bother with a mirror lens...the bokeh will make things pretty ugly

I bought a 70-200 f2.8 l and had the salesman sell me on a 2x teleconverter. 140-400 f5.6 is the result. If you have a decent zoom already just get the tele

You know what? You guys pushing the superzooms are right. It didn't even enter my mind.

Thanks. I think I'll do that. I had the Canon SX110 once that was a 10x zoom equivalent to about 300mm or so, and now they have the same cameras with 20+ zoom (as mentioned).

Thanks. I'll go that route.