preparing for patagonia

Hi there everyone, been a while. My wife and I are going to Patagonia in 6 weeks time. To accompany my K5 I am taking with me my 16-50 lens for landscapes etc which will suit me finely. Being more of a landscape photographer I have never had the opportunity to dive into Wildlife. I have an old sigma 18-200 that I used back in the 35mm days but the lens doesn't perform to my expectations today. Therefor I will be looking for a nice zoom, i.e. 50-200, 70-300, that doesn't break the bank but performs on an amateur/pro level. With all the zooms out there today from pentax to sigma to tamron, does anyone have any suggestions on what could be a good lens for this trip. Any ideas on where to get one at a good price online?

Really appreciate the feedback

http://www.mattbishopphotography.com/p532217924/e4e801e9e

I was in exactly the same situation with an upcoming trip. I had the DA* 300mm for a while which is a great, if pricey, lens, but found the weight excessive, especially for traveling. I now have the DA 55-300mm instead. It's heaps better than anything else in the price range - you should be able to pick up a good used one for around £190 or so. The 50-200 is nice, but not on a par with the 55-300mm and the extra reach is useful. It's relatively small and portable as well - another bonus for traveling.

Amazon at £225 is the best new price at the moment, I think

Good price on amazon at the moment.

link

This is the lens I take on holiday with the 17-70.

edit - just realised milamber quoted the amazon price.

Regards

George

SRS have an unboxed one on offer for 199GBP too.

You also get a £20 voucher to spend at Amazon if you buy in the next couple of days.

That will be fantastic. A 50-200WR could be useful in Patagonia. Otherwise 55-300 for IQ. Good IQ for the price and not much money to risk in a rugged environment. I'm about to sell mine. Because it has a replacement Chinese hood I'll be knocking a fair few quid off the price, let me know if you're interested.

I love my 55-300 - prob my joint fave lens for my pentax kit

how much? could be interested?

thanks everyone. So i take it that means that third party models aren't quite as good as the 55-300?

Hi... I went trekking/camping in Patagonia (Chilean side) a few years ago around the Torres del Paine...

Firstly, congratulations... you'll have the most amazing trip...

Secondly, can't really comment on zooms, I'm afraid, but I'd definitely suggest taking at least one lens that's weatherproof... the weather in Patagonia is genuinely remarkable... it really can change on a sixpence... expect your DA*16-50 to come in very handy indeed... it's at its best when it's at its wildest...

I was there in November, just after they'd reopened some of the trails after winter... very cold, very wet, very windy and quite magnificent...

Enjoy

I think the 55-300 is best in class. It will be great for longer focal length landscapes. The SRS one is the DA-L version.

I'll have a think about a price and PM you. Otherwise Darkskies is flogging one too.

Make me an offer!

link

To suggest and alternative - I've always liked the Tamron 70-300 in the past. Don't need it now as I have the 55-300, which ever so slightly trumps it but it used to give great results, and a decent macro mode too which may give you more options that the 55-300.

Purple fringing appeared in high contrast situations though, but the upside is that you can usually get the 70-300 for around £70.

Here's a shot I took a while back now with it:

thanks for the helpful advise. I can t wair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice shot. Looks very clean. I will do a bit of research in to that one and get back to you. Cheers and thanks for the time