300 DA* .. also an excellent lens for macro photographing

here are some examples ..

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senn
my flickr gallery
my PPG

Impeccable quality.

Superb

Phil

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K-5iiS; K-r; ME Super; ME; DA* 16-50 f2.8; DA 18-135 WR; DA 55-300 WR; HD DA 15mm F4 ED AL Limited; FA 50mm f1.4; A50mm f1.7; DAL 18-55mm; M40mm f2.8; + assorted non-Pentax lenses

My Flikr Page link

Wow! excellent stuff.

Those are really nice.

If I had to be really picky then the background colour variations in #1 (purple splodge) and #4 (red splodge) are a bit distracting. Similarly the out-of-focus leaf in #3 tends to draw my eye away from the main subject. This is all really picky stuff though - I would be proud to capture images like these.

#2 is well captured - is that a spider it has grabbed?

What was your setup - tripod? Are these 1-1 crops?

Again, all very nice.
EM

I have done similar in the past and also with a x2 Teleconverter added. Results are not always as impressive as those, though.

I would guess that they are all "live" so no chance to sort out any extraneous leaves &c.

HI EM, .. don't remember crop ratios; .. except there is no crop with #2, .. all are taken with SR mode.

Regards, ..

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senn
my flickr gallery
my PPG

Those are superb. I know what all are with the exception of number 3, is this some sort of festoon butterfly? Was it taken in the wild in Belgium?

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Walt
My newer photos google photos
My older Flickr photos Flickr
Even older ones Picasa

#1 and #4 are taken in my backyard, #2 in northern France, #3 in a butterfly park in Switzerland (Kerzers/Bern)

regards,

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senn
my flickr gallery
my PPG

These are the type of shots that I am looking forward to taking with my DA*300 Nuri, also teamed up with the 1.4 TC, which I think will be a great combination for butterflies and dragonflies.

They are all very good indeed, my favourite being possibly the Dragonfly.

Regards
David

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Flickr

Nicola's Apartments, Kassiopi, Corfu

Some cameras, some lenses, some bits 'n' bobs

HI David,
From now on I'm really impatient to contemplate your pics taken with the couple 300 DA* & 1.4 TC .. To be honest, so far I'm rather hesitating about the 1.4 TC as I was always dubious about any TC.

Regards,
Nuri

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senn
my flickr gallery
my PPG

Hi Nuri

From what I've seen in the few days since the TC arrived, there is no need to worry about image quality, especially when used with good glass like the DA*300 or the 100 macro. There is a minimal reduction, but the results still outshine something like a Sigma 150-500 and the aperture is faster too! Contrast and colours are great and AF appears to be unaffected with these lenses. I am going to try it with some zooms, I'm sure the IQ will suffer more with these but I'm keen to see the results.

You might have seen the thread I posted a couple of days ago, containing some test shots with the TC and the DA*300 / 100 F2.8 Macro WR. I was pleased with the sharpness of these, especially considering they were shot outside in breezy conditions. The TC performed very well indeed and is easily the best I have ever used, in fact it's the only one I've used that I would say the IQ is better (at equivalent image size) with the TC than it is without it and scaling up the image to match.

Regards
David

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Flickr

Nicola's Apartments, Kassiopi, Corfu

Some cameras, some lenses, some bits 'n' bobs

Sorry to rain on the parade, but this thread is an example of the sort of unalloyed praise that has been commented on extensively recently.

Certainly the pictures are sharp and well-lit. Certainly they demonstrate that a long lens can be used unusually close and give good results. Respect to the OP for demonstrating this - the DA* 300 isn't usually thought of as a macro lens, and giving some examples of how it can be used in that capacity is a very helpful addition to the Pentax canon.

It's the gushing responses I take issue with. The fact that a particular lens was used doesn't make any difference to the fact that (as one brave commenter has noted) there's a distracting purple splodge in the first, OOF green background (leaf?) above the wing in the second, white OOF stripe through the main subject in the third, and a distracting red splodge in the fourth. For macro shots to be really excellent, there really needs to be no distractions, so these detract.

Now, I'm not for a moment to be claiming to be able to do any better. Very nice, and a good insight into what you can do with the DA* 300, certainly. No criticism of the OP at all.

But superb, excellent, impeccable, no.

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Pentax K-3, DA18-135, DA35 F2.4, DA17-70, DA55-300, FA28-200, A50 F1.7, A100 F4 Macro, A400 F5.6, Sigma 10-20 EXDC, 50-500 F4.5-6.3 APO DG OS Samsung flash SEF-54PZF(x2)
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I stand by impeccable. I think you're being overly critical Chris, when the images are quite delightful. It doesn't matter what they were shot with, but if we think they are good there's no reason not to say so.

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Best regards, John

Here we go again. You think I'm being overly critical, I'm offering a genuine, honest point of view. No one is required to like it if they prefer the anodyne.

I didn't say they weren't good (or delightful). I said they weren't excellent, superb, or impeccable.

From dictionary.com: impeccable means 'faultless; flawless'

They simply aren't that. It's no wonder we get mostly "great shot" around here, when any contrary voice is simply stomped on. Don't worry, I'll probably crawl back into my box again soon, and you can turn your dissent-detector back down again.

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Pentax K-3, DA18-135, DA35 F2.4, DA17-70, DA55-300, FA28-200, A50 F1.7, A100 F4 Macro, A400 F5.6, Sigma 10-20 EXDC, 50-500 F4.5-6.3 APO DG OS Samsung flash SEF-54PZF(x2)
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