The real question is "How much are you willing to spend?"
For a something in the order of US$300 - US$500 you can get a Sigma
300/4 or 100-300/4 which is a damn good lens for the money. For
somewhere over US$1000 you might be able to find a Pentax F, or FA
300/4.5 or maybe an A* 300/4. All these I have experience with and all
these are totally INADEQUATE for birds. The key is adding a
teleconverter. I currently use a 300/4 with either 1.4x or 2x TC and
wish to god I had US$7000 lying around to buy a 600/4.
Seriously, for "real" bird work you need a 600/4. I personally think
I'm doing ok with the 300/4 and teleconverters but I understand the
limitations. A 300/4 with a 2x TC will not autofocus (if you care) and
the viewfinder is a little dark (effective f8 min aperture). Image
quality may suffer depending on the TC.
Mr. Stenquist does quite well with his A 400/5.6. I've found that my
300/4 with a 1.4x TC gave better results than a 400/5.6 but I didn't
have a good Pentax SMCP-A 400/5.6.
Another option is the Sigma 170-500mm (US$700) or better yet the Sigma
50-500mm (US$1000) they are a little slow (f6.7) at the long end but get
good reviews.
I don't like mirror lenses.
Of course you can ignore all this and have a go with what you have.
Only your results can tell you if you need something else.
--
Christian
http://photography.skofteland.net
Markus Maurer wrote:
Hi Pentaxians
I do not have a "real" tele lens for bird photography but would like to try
to get some cormorant shots soon and therefore seek for your advice:
I understand that around 400-600mm on film would be a good start for such
big birds, do you agree?
Anyway, all I have at the moment is listed below, the flashes I own will not
be powerful enough for more than 12-20 meters fill flash. I'm prepared to
invest in a better lens when I like that kind of photography but for a
start:
Which lens or combination would be the best for that task, I know that all
of the combinations will be rather slow?
a very old Soligor 350mm F 5.6 M42 tele
Tamron SP 70-210 3.5-4 + Tamron SP 1.4
or Tamron SP 2x converter
Pentax M 200mm + Pentax A 2xS converter
Pentax A70-210mm + Pentax A2xS converter
or still the Tamron SP 500/8 mirror lens despite it's shortcomings?
Or just forget about bird photography with that poor equipment?
thanks for any recommendations
greetings
Markus
