Re: Why my lens doesn't work.
Look for a Vivitar series 1 600mm f8 or a Sigma 600mm f8 both are mirror lenses so they don't have quite the contrast of non mirror lenses but I find the Vivitar at least to be acceptable if I accept that at close to infinity the contrast will be less than I'd like. I have a few bird photo's taken with the Vivitar at a distance of about 100 yards and I found them to be more than acceptable. I'll take a look and see if I can them and post them on the web. I also have a lighthouse photo you can see here. http://www.mindspring.com/~palling/photography/gallery9/photographs/Old_Saybrook_LIghthouse.jpg It's taken around dusk and as you can see it's a bit flat. I don't have direct experience with the Sigma but it has a better reputation for contrast than the Vivitar and is a bit lighter. Either would fall within your budget and there's a Vivitar on e-bay (t mount) and an older Sigma in Pentax K mount. There's also a newer Sigma in Minolta mount. Unfortunately I don't think the Sigmas have interchangeable mounts. At 08:37 PM 3/8/2003 -0500, you wrote: I think I figured out why my Kalimar 500mm reflex seems to give washed-out pictures. Because it's crap. I took pictures of the same scene, one with an old Sears 80-200mm with cheap 2x TC, and one with the Kalimar. The zoom plus TC combination had better contrast and colors. So now I'm starting to think of a new lens in that range, even though it will take some time before I can work it into my finances. I plan to spend around $600. So what are my options? At that price point, the Sigma 170-500mm f/5.6-6.3 looks like about all there is. There's a Sigma reflex, but I don't think I want to go with another manual focus reflex, I want AF and adjustable aperture. And I'll probably use it with a TC, I do want to be able to get somewhere in the 1000mm range. I know there's the Pentax 600mm's for around $2000 and up... ain't gonna happen. Are there any treasures that I've missed? Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. --Groucho Marx
Re: Why my lens doesn't work.
On Sat, 8 Mar 2003 20:37:47 -0500 (EST), you wrote: >I think I figured out why my Kalimar 500mm reflex seems to give washed-out >pictures. > >Because it's crap. > >I took pictures of the same scene, one with an old Sears 80-200mm with >cheap 2x TC, and one with the Kalimar. The zoom plus TC combination had >better contrast and colors. > >So now I'm starting to think of a new lens in that range, even though it >will take some time before I can work it into my finances. I plan to >spend around $600. So what are my options? At that price point, the >Sigma 170-500mm f/5.6-6.3 looks like about all there is. There's a Sigma >reflex, but I don't think I want to go with another manual focus reflex, I >want AF and adjustable aperture. And I'll probably use it with a TC, I >do want to be able to get somewhere in the 1000mm range. > >I know there's the Pentax 600mm's for around $2000 and up... ain't gonna >happen. > >Are there any treasures that I've missed? Treasures: Pentax F* 300/4.5 - you'll never regret it. Sigma 300/4 Macro plus a good 1.4x TC: very versatile, very close focusing, very good optics. Sigma 400/5.6 APO Macro (not the non-Macro version): same family as the Sigma 300/4 APO Macro: very good optics. But the 300/4 Macro plus TC combo is slightly smaller and more versatile. For just a little more money, there's the Tokina AT-X 300/2.8 plus Pentax 1.7x AF Adapter. It's not fully an autofocus lens, but it does pretty good. At 510mm/f5, it's a very fast long lens for under $1000. If you really want the Sigma 170-500 or Sigma 50-500m be sure to test them first. The 50-500 is very unwieldy, and I've seen a couple of owners report it is a poor lens. Plus it's slow at the long end. If you really want 1000mm, just stack some TC's. Stacked TC's won't hurt the image quality, compared to any other 1000mm option out there. -- John Mustarde www.photolin.com
Re: Why my lens doesn't work.
On Sat, 8 Mar 2003 20:37:47 -0500 (EST), Gregory L. Hansen wrote: > Are there any treasures that I've missed? The Sigma APO Macro 400/5.6 should be well within your US$600 limit. I got mine new on closeout for about US$525 or US$550. I've been very happy with it, and the 2.9 or 3m close focus is handy. Removable tripod collar and built in hood. 77mm filters, IIRC. AF limiter and AF/MF switch. In MF mode it can do trap focus, unlike some AF lenses. TTYL, DougF KG4LMZ
Re: Why my lens doesn't work.
On Sat, 8 Mar 2003, Gregory L. Hansen wrote: > At that price point, the Sigma 170-500mm f/5.6-6.3 looks like about > all there is. There's a Sigma reflex, but I don't think I want to go > with another manual focus reflex, I want AF and adjustable aperture. > And I'll probably use it with a TC, I do want to be able to get > somewhere in the 1000mm range. [snip] > Are there any treasures that I've missed? Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 APO EX RF. Used ones run about $600 on eBay. A bit shorter (and less money): Tokina AF 400mm f5.6 AT-X SD. One just sold on eBay for $250 in Pentax AF. chris
Why my lens doesn't work.
I think I figured out why my Kalimar 500mm reflex seems to give washed-out pictures. Because it's crap. I took pictures of the same scene, one with an old Sears 80-200mm with cheap 2x TC, and one with the Kalimar. The zoom plus TC combination had better contrast and colors. So now I'm starting to think of a new lens in that range, even though it will take some time before I can work it into my finances. I plan to spend around $600. So what are my options? At that price point, the Sigma 170-500mm f/5.6-6.3 looks like about all there is. There's a Sigma reflex, but I don't think I want to go with another manual focus reflex, I want AF and adjustable aperture. And I'll probably use it with a TC, I do want to be able to get somewhere in the 1000mm range. I know there's the Pentax 600mm's for around $2000 and up... ain't gonna happen. Are there any treasures that I've missed?
