Pentax A*300 on ebay

There is A*300 on sale here ebay

Is this really a legendary lens and it is better than the DA300? I'm looking for a 300 prime for my aviation close-up shots. Does anyone have pictures taken with this baby?

Starting with the M* and going through the A* F* FA* and DA* 300mm lenses I would say they are all pretty close IQ wise but of course they were all upgraded slightly feature wise (not sure of difference between F* and FA*).
I would say the DA* has to be better because of the coating, AF and weather sealing but then you are likely to pay twice, if not 3 times as much.
I bought a F* 300mm f4.5 from someone on here and I would never let it go unless I could afford the DA*.

If MF is not a problem for aircraft shots I would def have a go at getting it.

Yes, it's an extremely good lens. No, it isn't better than the DA* (it is a bit lighter though). The main optical advantage of the DA* is that it focuses down to 1.4m as opposed to 4m for the A*. Shouldn't think that makes much difference with planes though...

Have you given up on changing to Canon then?

Taken from the for sale thread.

Thanks Mike, I missed that!

Yep. Actually I just bought the battery grip for the K200D as it should improve the handling and vertical shots.
My dream set up is two bodies: one with a fast zoom or the current 55-300, and another body on tripod with a prime. Thats why i'm interested in getting this A300

I recently sold my M*300 (optically the same as the A*) and bought the DA (see this thread for some pictures taken with the M*).

In my opinion the DA is a much better lens, although the M* is still good. In terms of sharpness they are about the same, but the DA has much better contrast and colour. It also has very nice bokeh and a complete absence of fringing (what you want for things shot against a bright sky)!

The M* & A* are the same optically, as are the F* & FA* (although there are coating differences). The FA* is actually a downgrade of the F*, as it is missing the tripod socket and has the easily scratched silver paint

R

Just as a point of interest I do still have my A*300 f2.8 which would be excellent for aviation photography providing M/F is not an issue. However I have promised a forum member that I will hold it for another couple of weeks pending finance for its purchase. If this is not forthcoming I will advertise it for sale on the forum. It is considerably larger than the lens in question !!

Richard S

Richard's lens can be seen here.

BTW Richard, sorry I didn't manage to set something up. My transport has been out of action for a few weeks after an incident involving black ice... The amount it has cost to fix would have paid for the lens

Oh well, I can dream.

Cheers, Kris.

Sorry to hear that Kris. Thats bad luck. Maybe we could still do something within the next few weeks. Let me know if its possible.

Richard S

Hi Richard,
what a dream lens... pity that my budget is a bit short