[entax scope and adaptor = 1100mm F12

On top of my current lens dilema I've recently been to the Birdfair at Rutland Water and had a play around on the Pentax stand.

They've got a spotting scope and adapter arrangement that fits on the K5 and, depending on the model of scope, provides a manual focus lens at a constant F12 of (quoted) up to 1,500mm (not clear if this is 35mm equivalent or not) for between £700-£1,000. Details are in the scopes section on SRS website if anyone wants more info.

I had a play around with it and the results, even hand held, were better than I would have expected.

In the past F12 would have ruled the thing out pretty much, but with the K5s low light performance it's not so clear.

Has anyone got/used this type of arrangement? I'm sorely tempted - but something tells me I'm probably expecting a lot more that is really achievable.

Martyn

People get great results with spotting scopes, providing they are good scopes. Even simple point-and-shoot cameras can be attached via adapters and give syurprisingly impressive shots. The K-5 will of course be much better and have a faster response time too, so some action can be caught.

In good light f12 should be fine, just increase the ISO to ensure a high enough shutter speed.

Hopefully in the future there will be some direct comparisons. Bearing in mind the scope set up limits you pretty much to slow moving birds in the open it would be interesting to see how the results compared to a cropped Sigma 150-500 at 500mm or maybe same with converter. Interesting because I have seen some stunning shots with a Swarovski scope and a cheap Samsung compact.
Dave
P.S Why haven't Swarovski ever made camera lenses? ;-(

Well I resisted the temptation... having taken to the woods with my 120-400mm to see how useful F12 would be the answer was - hardly at all, even with ISO 12800 - allowing for a reasonable shutter speed.

I also seriously thought about how often I would be in a position to take a shot the setup would be useful for and, again, the answer was not often - unless I'm in a hide somewhere on a reserve.

Always comes back to the same old thing - a £1,000 of lens won't give you good pictures of wildlife if you can't track and stawk it and get close!

I do think though, as dcw said, a cheap compact attached to a scope would probably be as good, if not better, an option than attaching an SLR

Pretty much my thoughts really. I'm in a learning process but am finding that small fast moving birds are sometimes easier to get with my 55-300 than the Sigma 150-500. Although it may focus faster it is less manoeuveable so even that may get relegated to mainly hide work.