A big decision

As some people are aware on the forum virtually all my photos are of birds and animals. Its something that I really enjoy doing and have some work lined up in the near future - nothing major just a few birdie shots for a website.

Next year I want to make a few purchases (if i can afford it) and obviously I am concerned about making the wrong move.

I would like to hear your thoughts on what gear I should buy.

Here is what I currently have:

- K-x
- Sigma 150 500
- K-x kit lenses (18-55 50-200)

And this is what i would like

- K-5
- DA* 300
- 18 - 200

Does anyone have any thoughts on what I could do?

I really dont want to change to Nikon or Canon and would appreciated more experienced views on the matter.

Cheers

QC

Upgarding to the K-5 makes sense for its low light capability and faster AF.

The Sigma 15-500 could be usefully upgraded to the 50-500, which I am told by some very experienced users is a better lens.

It would be useful to have the 18-135mm lens for its range and WR. If the lenses you currently have are DA-L versions then you would also gain QuickShift.

Nikon and canon don't need to come into it at all, you can do just fine with Pentax, Sigma, Tamron and Samyang.

A lot could happen before next year, new pentax DSLR, DA560 ?

Theres no doubt the DA* 300 is a cracker and I lens I would like but cannot justify. Certainly a nice choice for larger birds and animals plus a lot smaller/lighter. Coupled with the K5 in lower light/wet conditions makes it a nice combination.

I'm not sure if you'd get much benefit of the 18-200 over the kit lenses other than changing lenses less. I would stick with quality and buy the best or save up for the best you can afford.

Regards

George

not a birder myself but from what i have read on here the bird people who have the DA*300 also marry it up to a GOOD teleconverter for extra reach. no doubt one will be along to confirm or deny this

K5 - no brainer, an absolute must have ahead of all else ! I wonder just how good the Bigmos or the Bigma would be in comparison to a DA*300 (cropped or with TC), certainly the K5 has the edge in speed but when shooting birds I'm almost always f8 to f5.6 (unless dusk has set in and you still can't drag me away - and I now have another solution for that).

The DA*300 alone isn't quite as good cropped as with the Tamron x1.4 (one of the best TCs, for 420mm) and neither of those cropped (300 or 300+x1.4) is quite as good as the 300+AFA x1.7 for 510mm.

I looked at the M400/5.6. Shaaarp lens ! However the focus throw is looong and needs a bit of muscle, unlike the DA*300 which is a one finger operation (I almost always shoot small birds with MF, or AF with AF cancel on the rear, and CIF) so sadly I ruled the M400 out. Bargain lens for around £200 if you want a great lens for birding and don't have the cash for a more expensive lens.

I have just bought a Tokina 300/2.8 MF lens (the Tamron 300/2.8 MF would be almost as good an option and around the same price for excellent/ perfect condition used copies, ca. $750-1,000) and plan to try the AFA x1.7 (ca. £250) on it for 510mm @ 4.85. So that may be something to try .... I'll let you know how that goes when my wife's friend brings it over here from Hong Kong ! Beauty of this of course is you have an f2.8 300mm lens too (though I'd never be shooting birds at that aperture). MF is absolutely the way to go when birding, I have faar more keepers and no AF racking in and out trying to find the subject.

However an absolute must is the piece of equipment I was trying out in the back garden today, the Better Beamer. I'll post some comparison shots later but it's roughly a 50% improvement in flash alone. On full power with the Better Beamer the Metz 50 was illuminating detail at 35m ! 1/16 power (and almost instantaneous recharge) was good for 10m. Can't wait to try this in the field and it would improve almost any birding lens within range and with a good quality powerful flash !

As far as your other lenses go, I wouldn't change them for the 18-200.

The DA*300 on the K5 is a formidable bit of kit. I sometimes use it with a 1.4 Tamron converter.

The K5 AF is much improved with the latest firmware onboard.

cedric

WOW

A lot to go over there.

Thanks for EVERYONE that responded.

Now some questions that come out of the above.

1) Is AF available when you stick the teleconverter onto the DA300?
If not how can you work with it?

2) Is the 50 500 really better than the 150 500?

3) I know nothing is guaranteed but do you reckon the new Pentax 550mm might be under £3000?

Thank you all so much.

QC

1. When you put the AFA x1.7 on any lens it's immediately semi-AF. That is it is manual focus until you are in the vicinity of the range that the AFA covers by itself (it has a tiny focusing motor built-in) then the AFA takes over and snaps into focus. When shooting birds at infinity this means it's virtually an AF lens.

2. Most reports say so. But the 150-500 still looks amazing value for money.

3. Supposedly, because of the form factor and optical formula and with a slowish max. aperture (f5.6) the 560mm will be in the US$2,000 - 3,000 range. So no more than £2,000 tops and probably a lot lower. Whether that is the reality we'll just have to wait and see. However there's no way it can get near the Sigma 500/4.5 which is around £3,000 as that would be suicidal .... oh hang on

Thanks Frogfish

Can you explain thought the first part a little easier for me

I dont quite follow you. do you mean you can manually focus first to help the lens and then kick autofocus in at closer range?

If the 550mm lens is around 2 grand I am def buying it

Sure !

Once you attach the AFA any AF mechanism is cancelled and you have to MF the lens, however the mini-focusing mechanism inside the AFA can focus itself over a very small range therefore e.g you have a bird at 30m, if you MF the lens to 28m (this is only an example not the actual distance) the AFA will then take over to pinpoint accurate focus on the subject. When the lens is set at infinity then of the course the AFA is also within it's small range and so you now have an AF lens !

I hope that is a little clearer - if not I'm sure Google is your friend

The Bigma (50-500) is a better lens optically than the 150-500 OS HSM but you will miss the OS for sure when you use the lens at the long end. The newer 50-500 OS HSM is not a better lens optically than the 150-500 OS HSM but has a somewhat longer range that could be usefull if you need the range at the short end.

My advice would be to check which focal length you use the most with the 150-500mm. If you use the range 400-500mm a lot I would recommended to keep the 150-500mm. A fast prime is better optically but worthless if you lack the range you need in most circumstances.

I use the 150-500mm a lot and I don't want to miss the range at the long end. Most of the time I use the range between 400-500mm for either nature photography or capturing action sports like kitesurfing. With a 300mm I would lose too much range for smaller animals.

As said above - the K5 will make by FAR the biggest difference to your wildlife photography - I upgraded from a K10D and am now able to take SO many pictures I couldn't do before, as most are in shaded woodland and low light.

For two years I've used a Sigma 120-400mm non-os with reasonable results, but have recently acquired a DA*300mm, which hasn't been off the camera since I got it. The actual difference between 300 and 400mm isn't that great - and the resolution of the DA*300 is such that a crop is often better than a larger image from the 120-400mm

I'm just (today as it happens!) waiting for a Kenko 1.5x converter to arrive for me to try with it, giving 450mm. I'll also give it a try on the Sigma to see what 600mm with that looks like - I suspect very soft.

But I'd certainly say K5 first then maybe the DA*300mm - which, incidentally is great for butterflies and flowers too, as it has such a close focus distance (and a great bokeh!).