<< I'm interested more in telephoto than in wide angle. I like to take
pictures of birds and fuzzy animals, with all that implies.>>
The bottom level telephoto for shooting bird would be 200mm. The 200mm
F:4.0 Super Takumar is a beautiful piece of telephoto design that will do
well. Filter Size is 58mm.
The fuzzy animal stuff could start off with shorter telephotos
85mm F:1.9 Super Takumar (85#) <- Not much magnification and a steep
price. It wouldn't be my first
choice.
105mm F:2.8 Super Takumar (49#)
135mm F:3.5 Super Takumar (49#)
135mm F:2.5 Super Takumar (58#) <- Little more speed and a beautiful
optic.
Asahi made - I believe - a 300mm F:4.0 Super Takumar that would be
good for birding.
I just don't recall that much above 300mm that Takumar made. Anything
Takumar above 300 would tend to be (1) rare and (2) expensive. Vivitar optics
were a terrific value up through the late 70's.
The real question at 300mm or above is whether you want to go with a
conventional telephoto stovepipe, or compact mirror designs. Do some reading
before you get into this realm of really long telephotos. If you are
intending to shoot small birds, though, you'll have to go there sooner or
later.
I agree - avoid tele-extenders wherever possible.
Paul
SP
28 / 50 / 85 / 135 / 200
So I'm looking for any advice, experience, confirmation of the legends,
recommendations on specific peices of equipment. I don't really know the
equipment well enough to ask specific questions, just that I want good
stuff for cheap, normal lenses are easy to find but there seem to be
several types, and I want good telephoto for cheap. What should I expect
to pay? What about teleconverters; are there Takumar and non-Takumar
teleconverters, will a TC ruin the advantge of a Takumar lens, is the 3x
TC as horrible as that huge modifier leads me to believe?
Can you help?
