0

I'm considering purchasing a Vivitar series 1 650-1300mm lens for my Nikon D50 as I'm interested in getting better photos of wildlife from far away. Can someone direct me to the correct adapter ring for this pairing?

Any other suggestions for a good zoom lens to pair with a Nikon D50 would be greatly appreciated :) I'm on a tight budget so looking for a reasonable price (preferably under $500) and don't mind used at all.

SaiLeigh
  • 1
  • 1
    You can buy these specifically for F-mount. Adapting anything else to Nikon is usually a no. See https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/62000/can-i-use-lens-brand-x-on-interchangeable-lens-camera-brand-y – Tetsujin Apr 08 '22 at 12:40
  • 1
    Can you rent/borrow one before buying? Fortunately/Unfortunately in photography, you get what you pay for. This lens looks to be about $170. A zoom lens at that price...I would expect to be a piece of junk. I wonder how many satisfying photos you will get for your money. The unfortunate truth is that photo equipment that's good for wildlife is expensive. No two ways about it. – osullic Apr 08 '22 at 16:26

1 Answers1

1

A 650-1300mm like this is about unusable, especially on a D50.

It is a very "slow" lens (small aperture, f/8), and there is no image stabilization, so:

  • your only way to check focus is to eyeball it in the viewfinder (which is going to be quite dark), because you cannot even expect the focus confirmation to work.
  • given that your D50 is an early DSLR generation, its sensor isn't very sensitive (ISO 1600 max) so even at high ISO you will be using rather slow speeds (likely under 1/100s) while at 650mm you should be using at least 1/1000s to have some probability of not getting too much motion blur.

So, technically, you need a tripod, and very calm wildlife. And a tripod stable enough for a 650mm (not speaking of the 1300mm end) is going to be more expensive than your camera and lens combined.

And I didn't even comment on the optical quality of that lens, which is likely not so good (though it could be good enough for a D50)

From personal experience, even a more recent DSLR with a stabilized 400m requires some decent skill.

My recommendation is to find a second-hand 300mm lens that can work at f/5.6. And then a $50 ghillie suit can be more effective than a $500 lens.

xenoid
  • 21,297
  • 1
  • 28
  • 62