D7500 and Ultimaxx zoom
- Thread starter Cliffg
- Start date
BF Hammer
Senior Member
I had to look up Ultimaxx. I see now it is a current generic brand. Those kinds of all manual T-mount telephoto lenses have been around for decades available through cheap import company catalogs before AliExpress and Temu existed.
You can take photos with them. There is no image stabilization. It is impossible to hand-hold without motion blurred photos. A good tripod aimed at a very static subject will work best. Since the aperture is f/8 at it's widest the viewfinder is going to be rather dim and focus harder to see. And there will be optical deficiencies. Contrast poor, edges of things will be soft with color-fringing. I have looked at video reviews of similar items over the years.
What this means is you have a quality camera body but get all the limitation of a sub-standard lens ruining the potential. I know you see focal length numbers of 1000mm and more and the idea of going to a lens of maybe 150-600mm zoom range looks disappointing, but I recommend shopping for something like that as soon as your budget allows for it. Tamron and Sigma made quality F-mount zoom lenses in this range. Wider apertures, superior glass in comparison, auto-focus that works nearly as well as a native Nikon lens, and Image stabilization that also works. They have the electronics to talk to the D7500 also so no fiddling with non-CPU lens settings. Widely available at the respected used photo outlets.
You can take photos with them. There is no image stabilization. It is impossible to hand-hold without motion blurred photos. A good tripod aimed at a very static subject will work best. Since the aperture is f/8 at it's widest the viewfinder is going to be rather dim and focus harder to see. And there will be optical deficiencies. Contrast poor, edges of things will be soft with color-fringing. I have looked at video reviews of similar items over the years.
What this means is you have a quality camera body but get all the limitation of a sub-standard lens ruining the potential. I know you see focal length numbers of 1000mm and more and the idea of going to a lens of maybe 150-600mm zoom range looks disappointing, but I recommend shopping for something like that as soon as your budget allows for it. Tamron and Sigma made quality F-mount zoom lenses in this range. Wider apertures, superior glass in comparison, auto-focus that works nearly as well as a native Nikon lens, and Image stabilization that also works. They have the electronics to talk to the D7500 also so no fiddling with non-CPU lens settings. Widely available at the respected used photo outlets.
Clovishound
Senior Member
As BF said, this lens is likely to be a frustrating experience and agree something in the 150mm-600mm range by a quality manufacturer would be a wise move. If you are going to be using this lens in the meantime, I have a few recommendations. My assumption is that this is a fixed aperture lens, IE, you cannot change the aperture. I would recommend putting your camera into manual, with ISO set to auto. Manual with auto ISO is a very popular mode for wildlife shooting. You will need to keep an eye on your ISO, as they can become excessively high in poor light, resulting in noisy images lacking a lot of detail. How high is too high? That depends on your camera's sensor, your personal preferences and your post editing capabilities. Some professional wildlife photographers will shoot at ISOs as high as 25,000 when needs must. Of course, they are normally using top of the line camera sensors and good denoise software. I rarely shoot over 10,000, and am using a stacked, full frame sensor and Topaz denoise software. The software makes a huge difference. The difference in sensors is minor, compared to the use of denoise software.
How do you get your ISOs lower? Since you won't be able to open your lens' aperture up, the only two choices are to go to lower shutter speeds, or move to subjects with more light. A tripod will allow sharp images with quite low shutter speeds, as long as your subject is still. The faster your subject is moving the higher you will need to push your shutter speed. If you are going to try handheld shots on still subjects, the rule of thumb is your shutter speed should be no lower than your focal length. IE, if you are shooting at 1000mm, your shutter speed should be 1/1000 second or higher.
To put things into perspective, in full sunlight your exposure at 650mm will be F8, 1/400 sec at ISO 100. If your change to a faster shutter speed, like 1/800 sec, your ISO will raise to 200. At 1300mm your aperture drops to F16. This will result in an ISO of 800 at 1/800 sec. These exposures are very doable, however, your light levels become reduced significantly when your subject is in shade, or early/late in the day and with cloud cover.
How do you get your ISOs lower? Since you won't be able to open your lens' aperture up, the only two choices are to go to lower shutter speeds, or move to subjects with more light. A tripod will allow sharp images with quite low shutter speeds, as long as your subject is still. The faster your subject is moving the higher you will need to push your shutter speed. If you are going to try handheld shots on still subjects, the rule of thumb is your shutter speed should be no lower than your focal length. IE, if you are shooting at 1000mm, your shutter speed should be 1/1000 second or higher.
To put things into perspective, in full sunlight your exposure at 650mm will be F8, 1/400 sec at ISO 100. If your change to a faster shutter speed, like 1/800 sec, your ISO will raise to 200. At 1300mm your aperture drops to F16. This will result in an ISO of 800 at 1/800 sec. These exposures are very doable, however, your light levels become reduced significantly when your subject is in shade, or early/late in the day and with cloud cover.
BF Hammer
Senior Member
@Clovishound I suspect he has one of these which pops up at the top of a search:
650-1300mm zoom typically with a 2x teleconverter included for 2600mm. Even the act of pushing the shutter release will motion blur photos. Also not even addressing the 1.5x crop factor of the camera sensor so 3900mm equivalent on the reciprocal rule, photos need to be taken at f/8 and 1/4000 shutter speed handheld. The novelty of the magnification wears off fast.
Amazon.com : Ultimaxx 650-1300mm (w/ 2X 1300-2600) Telephoto Zoom Lens Set for Nikon D7500, D500, D600, D610, D700, D750, D800, D810, D850, D3100, D3200, D3300, D3400, D5100, D5200, D5300, D5500 : Electronics
Amazon.com : Ultimaxx 650-1300mm (w/ 2X 1300-2600) Telephoto Zoom Lens Set for Nikon D7500, D500, D600, D610, D700, D750, D800, D810, D850, D3100, D3200, D3300, D3400, D5100, D5200, D5300, D5500 : Electronics
www.amazon.com
650-1300mm zoom typically with a 2x teleconverter included for 2600mm. Even the act of pushing the shutter release will motion blur photos. Also not even addressing the 1.5x crop factor of the camera sensor so 3900mm equivalent on the reciprocal rule, photos need to be taken at f/8 and 1/4000 shutter speed handheld. The novelty of the magnification wears off fast.
Clovishound
Senior Member
Feel free to come here and ask questions as they come up. There is a wealth of information and experience here, and a willingness to share.
Wildlife photography is tech intense. You'll be hard pressed to just put you camera on auto and run out and take great pictures without paying attention to the nuts and bolts of photography. You don't have to become a photography gear head, but you do have to master some basic principals. Having said that, it is a blast, and when you get it right, it is very rewarding. Often, just getting out in nature, looking for subjects to photograph is it's own reward.
I would also recommend to look and see if there is a local photo club, especially one that is nature oriented. My daughter and I joined one about 2 years ago, and it has been a tremendous asset in the learning process for us.
Wildlife photography is tech intense. You'll be hard pressed to just put you camera on auto and run out and take great pictures without paying attention to the nuts and bolts of photography. You don't have to become a photography gear head, but you do have to master some basic principals. Having said that, it is a blast, and when you get it right, it is very rewarding. Often, just getting out in nature, looking for subjects to photograph is it's own reward.
I would also recommend to look and see if there is a local photo club, especially one that is nature oriented. My daughter and I joined one about 2 years ago, and it has been a tremendous asset in the learning process for us.
