300mm mf recommendation?

hi all,

i'm soon to be a happy owner of a 1.7x af tc, which i managed to source through the other forum. i'd like to get a decent 300mm piece of glass to couple it to, one that will give a compact 510mm set up with decent iq, and will couple with my 200/2.8 beautifully as a wildlife set-up.

any ideas? i looked at smc-a 300/4s, and they are really expensive. i thought that i might as well get the 300/4.5 instead of it at those kinds of prices. the old smc 300/4 has really pronounced longitudinal ca, so i'm going to say no to it.

i'm quite new to pentax, so i don't really know all the options so well, and appreciate any advice you might have.

cheers!

You're likely to end up spending big money on any 300mm prime to be honest - I've seen the K 300mm f4 go for £150 or so on a couple of occasions. Very few people bought lenses that long on film, and even fewer bought primes (the standard telephoto was a 135mm prime, then the 80-200mm zoom took over). As a result they're rare and sought after.

If you can stand dropping to 200mm then the M 200mm f4 is an excellent lens as is the A series version although the latter is hard to find. SMC Pentax A 70-210mm is also f4 and apparently loses nothing to the prime at the long end, so may also be worth considering.

thanks for the quick reply, Matt.

i already have the 200/2.8 da*, so i'm pretty sorted with regards to that. i wanted mega reach for birding.

i'll just save the pennies for a decent 300mm.

thanks for the advice!

The cheapest is probably the A Series 300mm f/4. It does have
a slightly narrower FOV (about 10%)than either the FA or DA.

I recently picked up a M42 mount Takumar 300 f4 for £120.
I've since found my manual focusing skills with the k100D aren't really up to using it reliably and since I've also got a AF 100-300, it's not likely to get used much.

If it's of interest I pass it on for what I paid for it. (I'll throw in the lens cap I got for it FOC)

I haven't found any problems with the lens (or I would have returned it - it had a 1 month warantee)
It does have a small dent in the M42 thread, but the adapter screws on easily enough, and it has no impact on it's use.
Mike

Hello Gillbod

There's no point in me pretending to be able to advise on 'good' glass but I have some experience of the third party types of the 'not so good' nature.

My Flickr account shows what I have managed so far using an M42 Tokina RMC F5.5 300mm (and others), in fact my last two posts in the 'your photo's section are using the Tokina.

Whilst this is not a 'good' piece of glass it is at least a starting point from which you good judge how much better the results may be compared to the extra expense required

For the record the Tokina cost me £16.00(ish) plus postage from flea bay.

Regards




Stu.

I meant 'could judge' not 'good judge' - sorry for the typo - I was rushing

hey stu and mike,

thanks for the suggestions. the thing is that i am actually a little bit fussy, and have a budget to look at something more expensive, but want to avoid looking at a 300/4 da* since the af would be a waste of money since i'd only use it with the 1.7x tc.

the 300/4 takumar has too much fringing for my liking. i understand after a bit more research that i have to look at newer glass that has the ed elements to counter this. i reckon that means that that i'm looking at the autofocus stuff out there.

the tokina, while probably a great piece of glass, won't autofocus with a 1.7x af.

i'm being pretty fussy here. i apologise for dismissing lots of your suggestions straight away, and perhaps not having explained what i was after clearly in my first post.

i might have to try and track down a well-priced 300/4.5 fa*, is my conclusion. it won't be cheap, but it'll stil be an exceptionally high quality and portable rig...

I only posted my recommendation as your title includes the term 'MF' but no problems my offerings are there to be dismissed at will

No problem to me - however there are a few af 400mm lenses around on the second hand market as well

The 1.7x AF adapter works well with the lens above. I posted a
few shots in this thread

I use my 1.7x tc with a Pentax A* 300mm f2.8.

Works superbly.



Powerboat Asia Event 2011-2015 - A8 by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr

Not half bad with the F* 300mm f4.5 either.



Moon 500mm Take 2 by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr

Superb moon shot, Mike.

sorry if i seemed a bit brash. it's just that i do want a bit of extra speed on the lens for the 1.7x af converter to kick in, which means i'm looking at f/4.5 and faster.

i reckon i'm going to try and hunt down a good deal on the 300/4 a-series. the 300/2.8 a* is a bit heavy for me.

thanks all for the tips!

No problem Gillbod

I can't blame you wanting that little extra speed expecially as you will be using the lens with a teleconverter

woohoo! my 1.7x af adapter is here.

first tests on the 200/2.8 show that it is still great one stop down.

now, to hunt down a 300/4 smc-a.