First trip out with HD 150 -450 today ,

Hi All,

Thought I would share a couple of images taken today with the new HD 150 -450 (on K3II ) all taken hand held with the lens zoomed out fully (450).



(ISO 400, F8 @ 400th)




(ISO 400, F8 @ 250th)




(ISO 200, F8 @ 80th)




(ISO 400, F7.1 @ 800th)

Originals
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/chfcbnmu6ayggt8/AAA33FvrFCcgC7rm_ZXbjqlya?dl=0

Daronl what do you think of the lens now you have used it?

I don't think that these are as sharp as I would hope for.

Dave

1 tend to agree but remember it is absolutely flat out (450) hand holding and all but the last one are at shutter speeds are much lower than I would use on a 675 mm lens which is what it is at 35mm.

Also bare in mind these are large crops in each case so on tha tbasis I have posted what I think is the worst case scenario with the lens and as such I am very pleased with it.

A better example is the shot of a young sparrow I posted the other day which shows how good it can be (link below).

https://www.dropbox.com/s/387ktksl8nnft0m/young%20sparrow%20%281%29%2030pc%20crop.jpg?dl=0

The reason I posted these photos is simply because most of us will use that lens fully extended; according to the test that is where it is optically at its weakest .

I did a trial the other day with. Nikon D810 and their 80 -400 and the new tamron 150 - 600. Both of those lense were very poor fully extended based on what I expected and compared to this lens in the worst case set up as above

I am actually very happy with this lens based on the mixed bag of pictures I have taken ( I even posted some macro shots last week under the post " how much resolution do I need" which were very respectable and also those images posted were massive crops.

Watch this space as I will post a few more specimen shots in coming weeks hopefully showing how it performs in ideal conditions.

Hello DaronL

Thanks for the explanation. It all makes sense now. I think that the sparrow is great.

It seems to cope better than the bigma. Upgrade wish list time.

I look forward to seeing and hearing about your experience.

Dave

After downloading the originals I don't see much wrong with those considering the shutter speed and fact they were hand held. The last Heron shot is much better though and (after downloading it and trying) could certainly take a bit more sharpening with very little extra noise being added.

Thanks for your wisdom here guys, I think the results are aligned to the conditions and I have no doubt this lens can do the job but my calibration standard has been the DA*s ( 200 faultless and 300 doesn't get better) but they are primes .

This is why I wanted to post some images taken spontaneously "on th hoof" because it seems to me the DA* primes are really special regardless of wether they are used as serious telephotos or for " grab shots" that come out of the blue and require immediate reaction, when there is no time to consider the set up or all the "niceties"

i have been through a period of doubt and re-evaluation of the various brands recently, before committing more money going forward and from recent field tests I have undertaken with the big zooms on offer! over the spring I can honestly say Nikon and Canon don't offer alternatives regardless of £s; neither do Tamron or Sigma

None of them match the performance of primes; all have weakneseses but this Pentax has less weaknesses, better build quality and more potential in ideal conditions, and even though it cost enough to icreate a potential divorce or prolonged matrimonial punishment it is not expensive compared to the others for what it is

One thing that is clear fir me already though is, more care is needed with big zooms as we all know, but given the stunning results we can achieve with the 50-135 and the 60-250 DA*s the difference between zooms and primes can overlap and in the case of the 150-450 it will be the same.

This lens is a special " tool" , moreso than those that have gone before; it is not a normal telephoto zoom, it is a challenging lens, and basically my expectations regarding it's potential have been consolidated in line with the overall opinion of the numerous reviews; I am very impressed with it.

The shots posted were very " honest" but also very encouraging given the conditions and I am certain with a little more attention I will get the best out of it and it will be a superb addition to the Pentax range.

I hope to do it justice through the summer so I will post regularly with some images