James; Save your money. This lens and lenses like it are absolute crap. How can it cost only $300 when a 600/4 Pentax goes for $6000?
The MAXIMUM aperture at 1300mm is F16. Get your longest non-reflex lens. Set it to F16, stop it down (if you have DOF preview on your camera) and try to focus on a small bird or, hell, anything smaller than a MAC truck. Now, if you are serious about nature photography, you'll be using slow film. Think about how slow your shutter speeds will be at F16 ISO 50 film and the normal dim light associated with stalking wildlife. (even with the sunny 16 rule you'd be shooting a long lens at 1/60 which while not bad you'll never see because lighting is rarely ideal and again, focusing will be a nightmare). Save your money for a good 300/4 300/2.8 (if you can save that much) or 400/5.6. Learn to get closer to the subjects without disturbing them. Wildlife photography is more about field technique, stalking and timing than about getting the longest lens possible. I'm still saving for that 600/4..... Christian On Thursday 09 May 2002 14:29, James Adams wrote: > I've been watching these same lenses on Ebay for some months, and there > have been quite a few on offer. I'm sure I've seen different 'brands', but > I suspect they are all made in the same factory. > > I would love to have this lens for my wildlife photography, but as yet > can't afford it. Yesterday, I took a load of pictures of a pair of Bald > Eagles taking turns sitting on the nest or feeding their young. I used a > 400mm Vivitar, and 500mm Centon Mirror Lens, but these were not really > adequate. My new metal hood on the 500mm, plus using mirror lock-up(SPF) > and two tripods gave me a much better result. When I have time, I will scan > a few shots and put them onto my web page. > James > - > This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, > go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to > visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org . - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
