Should I stay or go

After advice pls. I have a k500 which I do love but I am a bit frustrated with I take wildlife pics and birds mainly where do I go now from a 55-300 lens for better pics or do I move brand and go for a canon ( more lenses available).look forward to some answers. Thanks.

i cant really comment at the moment as camera less but me personaly would stick with pentax but possibly look at a third party lens like a sigma or tamron posibly a 70/200 on a 2.8

don't know the K500 but if you look at the "birders" on here the main lens seems to be the DA*300mm plus ,sometimes, the Pentax 1.7Xaf converter and they get excellent results.

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odd lens or 2

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Never owned a Canon but I switched to Nikon and then came back again.
The lesson I learned was the grass is not greener and whole thing was very expensive!
This time around I have invested in far better but less lenses and am enjoying my Pentax more than ever.

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Andrew

"I'm here because the whiskey is free" - Tyla

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Flickr link

In the recent past Pentax was a bit light on wildlife lenses, however with the addition of the DA 1.4x converter and the recent drop in price of the DA 560 F5.6 I'd say it's a lot better for us. For example
Using the DA*300 F4 and 1.4x, gives you a 420 F5.6
DA*60-250 F4 gives approx 80-350 F5.6
And sigma is still selling us their 500 F4.5 and 300 F2.8 which would presumably work with the Pentax 1.4x.
However perhaps you could get more specific advice if you explained why you are frustrated with your wildlife and birds photos?.

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Walt
My newer photos google photos
My older Flickr photos Flickr
Even older ones Picasa

Hi wait.maybe it's me I just want more detail better pic,your just limited by lenses for Pentax where other brands you can get secondhand from company's like mpb.

I would suggest improving the glass, I get decent results from all my Sigi lenses, but they aren't the cheapest ones in their range.

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Chris

www.chrismillsphotography.co.uk

" A Hangover is something that occupies the Head you neglected to use the night before".

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K1 - Sigma 85mm F1.4, Pentax DFA 150 -450 F4.5 / 5.6, Pentax DFA* 24 - 70 F2.8

Samyang 14mm F2.8, Pentax DFA* 70-200 F2.8

K3iii + K3ii + K5iis converted to IR, Sigma 17 - 70 F2.8, Pentax 55 - 300 F4.5 / F5.6 PLM

Not sure I follow your logic here. You say you love your K500 so why consider changing it?

You have already identified the real issue - the 55-300 - which in my experience is not a great lens for wildlife - too slow to focus and hates anything but bright sunshine (yes I know some will disagree - only stating my experience with all 3 I owned).

There are a number of better options available, Sigma 120-400, Sigma 150-500 and the stunning Pentax DA*300 to name but a few.

Carl

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No matter how many lenses I have owned - I have always needed just one more

Thanks for all your comments. The sigma 70-200 f2.8 looks a good choice or Pentax 60-250 f4

If 200 is long enough for you - you should also consider the Tamron SP 70-200 2.8 - stunning lens - until a few month ago - these were £800 - now available for around £550. I bought one of these a few months ago and have been delighted with it's performance.


Carl

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No matter how many lenses I have owned - I have always needed just one more

200 is probably a little short I do prefer to stick to Pentax lenses rather than 3rd party. Thank you for all your comments I will be sticking with Pentax ..... I think

I agree, there are more choices and more opportunities for good AF telephoto's for others. I would recommend a 2nd hand FA*300 F4.5 that I have as a good step up in quality over the 55-300 if you were looking for a cheaper telephoto than the DA*300 F4, but they just don't come up often enough. Whereas looking on mpb at the moment they have 7 2nd hand canon 300 F4 L IS lens available. Plus they have 3 Sigma 100-300 F4 HSM's available which are a pretty rare beast in Pentax mount.
When I added Canon I was in a dilemma about upgrading to the K5 which was £999 at that time, whereas I got a Canon 30D new old stock and a new Sigma 100-300 HSM F4 for less than the price of the K5, bearing in mind my reasoning was to test Canon's AF for birding I thought this was a great deal.... So I can appreciate your reasoning.
I'm not sure that there is a sharper telephoto lens available for Pentax than your 55-300 until you step up significantly in price in pentax land though. If you don't want the newer pentax telephoto's I'd suggest you patiently troll the used market for either a Sigma 100-300 F4, a Pentax F*300 4.5 or FA*300 4.5, although others may feel different.....

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Walt
My newer photos google photos
My older Flickr photos Flickr
Even older ones Picasa

DA*300 and 1.4TC works great for me, this would be my suggestion, although it's not cheap. However, for IQ the combination is unbeatable for Pentax cameras.

Regards
David

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Flickr

Nicola's Apartments, Kassiopi, Corfu

Some cameras, some lenses, some bits 'n' bobs

Hi, I am one of the new members by the way just learning more but looking to add the Tamron 70-200 ( 2. and you are saying its a good lens. Do you have any photos using it to direct me too please ? Also what TC would you add to K5ii to get some more reach. However, its not clear what works best or at all pentax is premium price but any idea how Kenko shapes up. Cheers, Patrick

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Pentax : KP + K 5 iis : M 28 mm , M 50 mm , K 135 mm , DA F 100 mm , DA 12 - 24 mm DA 16 - 85 mm & DA 55- 300 mm .
Lumix : LX100

Hi Patrick

Here are a few random recent images taken with the Tamron. I never use TCs so will leave that question to somebody else to answer
Carl

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No matter how many lenses I have owned - I have always needed just one more