Thanks for the replies everyone! I'm leaning pretty hard on getting the 55-300. I'm going to do key. If I don't like it I can just send it back. I can think of worse ways to waste my money. ;)
Jack Davis <[email protected]> wrote: >Considering the price and the image quality it delivers, I'd not >hesitate to go for the DA 55~300. > >So many times, when voting for images offered for the PPG, I see a >quality long lens image and upon checking, it turns out to be this >lens. >It may be a bit sharper at 250mm, but the difference I find generally >insignificant. >I do find it so light weight that when racked out to 300mm, it can >be tricky to hold steady. >If necessary, I'd replace mine without hesitation. > >Jack > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: Zos Xavius <[email protected]> >To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List <[email protected]> >Cc: >Sent: Tuesday, June 4, 2013 9:07 PM >Subject: 55-300? > >I'm looking at getting a 55-300 for birding. On the flipside I'm >looking at a K 300mm f4 for a bit less money. My primary use would be >birding and portraits and the occasional landscape where the 55-100 >end of the range would get used mostly. I hear the the 55-300 is f4 up >to 135mm or so, which makes it actually kind of ok for portrait use. I >have a fairly beat up copy of a Takumar 70-200 f4 from the 80s that >I'm finding quite useful since I long ago retired my dust-pump Tamron >60-300 SP. The Takumar lacks SMC but is multicoated, and is >surprisingly sharp stopped down to F8 and seems to be optimized for >the long end. I'm actually liking this lens and for portraits its kind >of a sleeper. Not bad for a $30 kit consisting of that lens, a K1000, >an M50 f2, and a Tamron 2x teleconverter (in KR mount) as well as an >old mini flash and crap wide angle lens adapter. The tamron was junk >(rebranded chinese crap), so I knocked the elements out and have a >nice 25mm extension tube with contacts. I'm getting off topic from my >post though here.... > >I guess I'm looking to see what you all think of the 55-300. I would >like to get a couple of long primes eventually like a 135mm and a >300mm, but to me such lenses are only to serve specific purposes. A >zoom would be somewhat more convenient and would give me a kit that >stretches from 12-300mm. I know that the 300mm end isn't the sharpest, >but would it be ok for birding? I'm half tempted to just get another >70-200 that's better and maybe pick up a decent 300mm prime later on. >I'd love an FA* 300, but that's certainly a bit out of my price range >right now. One day though..... > >any thoughts? https://www.facebook.com/zosxaviusphotography -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
