Improving on DAL 55-300

I'll look forward to seeing anything Neal can find to show the two Pentax lenses.

Has Stefan anything from the 100-300? I must admit that the 250mm end is where i'll be much of the time, tho the zoom is good for when the action comes closer.

Thanks all, Geoff

From the Sigma 100-300mm f4



Sea Kayaking at Highcliffe Beach by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr



Common Tern by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr



Spitfire Flypast Hengistbury Head by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr

From the 60-250mm



The Red Arrows - Hurn Airport 25/07/09 by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr



Barn Owl by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr



It's Behind you !!! by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr

Mike, where do you hire the stuffed owls from?

I spent half the weekend looking for a real one without success

From the DA 55-300mm ... Are the other 2 worth more than 3 times the price of the budget zoom ... debatable.



Squirrel in a tree - New Forest by Mike.Pursey, on Flickr

Love the Tern shot Mike...

Sorry don't have photo's my uncle has the lens and i've played with it a bit but nothing serious so far.
I'm now convincing him to get a Sigma 1.4x TC to expand the lens, i really wish Pentax would come with a TC

Here is a review for the Nikon version, not preciesly the same but should give you a good idea.
http://www.photozone.de/nikon--nikkor-aps-c-lens-tests/369-sigma-af-100-300mm-f4...

The 100-300 is also not too heavy and large so you can handle it quite well when you handhold it. Also all the zooming and focusing is intern so it doesn't extend which is nice.
I can't compare directly but I believe the DA*60-250 is just a bit lighter and also easier to handhold but Mike should be able to answer that question precisely

Sigma is also coming with a 120-300 f/2.8 but it has a high price....

I haven't used the 55-300 that much at all, but I had a go at birds recently and I was very pleased with its performance, much better than I was expecting. I think I'd have to seriously get into wildlife or long distance action before considering upgrading. In fact I think I might look beyond Pentax in that case.

Thanks to DrOrloff and Mike P for their super pictures. Mike's squirrel shot with the 55-300 shows what i also seem to get. Its very slightly soft and shows that blue mist in places (maybe not the best way of describing it -its not CA I don't think)

The two birds above are just so sharp it would be hard to imagine how you'd improve upon them. Have they had some added sharpness in PP?

I must confess to starting this thread having been advised on the DSLR section to change my lenses before thinking about the upgrade to K5 (from KX and K10) on the basis that the glass would make a bigger difference than the K5 would -using my existing lenses (and the option to change everything is not an option price wise!)

Thanks everyone -hope this thread will also beenfit others with tele-zoom interests.

Geoff

I have a Pentax M 200 f4 and love it - there are a few pic's on my flickr site if you want to take a look

Sorry I can't comment on the 55-300 or any of the da* lenses as I have never had the chance to play with one

Apologies for failing to dig anything out today - only just got in from work
Neal

Well that was a bit harder than I thought - I didn't have the 55-300 long and so it was tricky finding meaningful comparisons. And the ones I found aren't particularly good as images. And - well I've hopefully lowered expectations enough by now



_IGP3444 by neal_harman, on Flickr. DA 55-300 @ 190mm, 1/125, f4.5, ISO 800. SR was on and I was leaning on a railing. Also this was live view for no particularly good reason other than I was on my own and didn't have any time pressure.

Crops from edge and centre:


IGP3444-edge by neal_harman, on Flickr



IGP3444-centre by neal_harman, on Flickr



_IGP4397 by neal_harman, on Flickr. DA* 60-250 @ 250mm, 1/30, f4.0, ISO 800, SR on but given the shutter speed I suspect there's a bit of shake.

Crop from centre:


IGP4397-centre by neal_harman, on Flickr

A couple in better light.



_IGP3124 by neal_harman, on Flickr DA 55-300 @ 260mm, 1/1000, f8.0, ISO 400, SR on.

centre crop:


IGP3124-centre by neal_harman, on Flickr



_IGP3628 by neal_harman, on Flickr. DA* 60-250 @ 250mm, 1/1500, f4.0, ISO 200, SR on.

Centre crop (not 100% but the full-size version is on flickr - goofed the cropping and made it a bit big):


IGP3628-centre by neal_harman, on Flickr

Thinking in a purely utilitarian way, and ignoring potentially-subjective issues like rendering, the DA* 60-250 gets you about two stops over the DA 55-300 (because, for me, the 60-250 is OK wide open and the 55-300 needs stopping-down a bit). It does this at the cost of a shed load of cash and about 600g.

[quote="Mike-P"]From the DA 55-300mm ... Are the other 2 worth more than 3 times the price of the budget zoom ... debatable.[/quote]Well the prices have changed, and like me you could always 'come across' a used one, and I'm very glad I've got it (apart from the weight...). But no - I don't think it is now, for something that isn't real life for most of us. Even when I add the personal, subjective things (my 60-250 images do seem to stand out to me compared to the 55-300 ones) I can't imagine spending that much. The weight is a bit of an issue too - though maybe not if you're coming from a 70-200 f2.8.

Newer cameras have much better high ISO performance, and DOF is still pretty narrow on a 300mm lens at f8.

[quote="Stuey"]I have a Pentax M 200 f4 and love it - there are a few pic's on my flickr site if you want to take a look [/quote]Thanks - I did and am now officially very tempted.

Regards
Neal

There are some 55-500mm shots in this thread.

I think it's and excellent lens and often use it instead of the 300mm A* or 300mm DA* because of the versatility of the zoom.

I recently picked up the DA * 300mm and I think it was money well spent. One thing is the 300mm is sharp even wide open. Also paired with the AF 1.7 I think it does a good job wide open. So I think the 60-250 would be worth purchasing.

I've only been taking pictures for a few months now, so my pictures don't show the full capability of this lens but I'm happy with it and looking forward to growing into it.

Wide open @ f/4:



Here's one with the TC wide open @ f/6.7:




I also like the bokeh with this lens. The brown bokeh comes from dormant spirea bushes about 10' behind. Again at f/4: