Hi Christian - the real bird man I hoped to get an answer from you and I understand your recommendations and conclusion very well. But frankly, I not convinced that I am really into bird or wildlife (in Switzerland ;-) photography in the longer run but more into landscape and people shooting. That's why I first want to experiment a bit in this field and not invest any money.
For the price of a good long lens as you recommend I would prefer buying my first digital Pentax body for seldom paid photo jobs, because there, working with film is getting too expensive and never fast enough. For my private use, I still like film. So, for the first trials, I will go with the M200/4 + converter and the mirror lens and better only on *big* birds ;-) greetings Markus >>-----Original Message----- >>From: Christian [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >>Sent: Monday, March 20, 2006 12:28 AM >>To: [email protected] >>Subject: Re: Which tele lens for poor mans bird photography >> >> >>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 >>> >>> >>> >>> >>
