Super zooms

I took these photos with the Tamron 70/300 lens on the Kr recently. Over the course of the day I found the lens falling short of the focal length to get some shots that would have been nice. Considering this and the ability for a new lens to deliver a good IQ can I ask what members choices would for a puurchase of a new lens in this situation. I have to say though in my estimation the Tamron does not do a bad job some may differ in opinion.






Regards Ian

Hi Ian

I would not argue with you at all - these shots are far from being bad, in fact IMHO the first shot is very good indeed and the Tammy did a reasonable job given the subjects and distance - I think you probably coaxed the best you are likley to get out of that lens.

As you know - I was there with my Sigma 120-400 HSM and I have to say that I did not get a better photo of the helicopter than you did.

I rate the Sigma very highly indeed - in fact it is one of the 2 best lenses I own IMHO. the other being at the other end of the spectrum - my Sigma 10-20.

That said - I also have the Pentax 55-300 which I genuinly believe £ for £ is the best value super-zoom ever made. The IQ for a lens of it's modest price tag is superb.

I didn't have it with me in Sunderland as I generally carry either the Sigma or the Pentax rather than both - but I have used it succesfully shooting other fast moving sports including show jumping and surfing.

I strongly suspect that it would have given you much sharper images with better contrast than you got from the Tamron at the air show - and being such a light and compact lens is a joy to hand hold at events like this - unlike the Sigma - that literally I have to take a rest from pointing skywards every so often to get some feeling back in my arm!!

regards
Carl

When is a zoom a super zoom because i actually didn't the lenses named here superzooms to be honest?

Isn't a zoom covering a range of over 200mm in it's range a superzoom?

We are talking about zoom here so i guessed the range of zoom rather then the focal length.

So 70-300 is a 4,2x zoom 55-300 = 5,5x but for example a 18-250 which is certainly a super zoom we are talking about 13,8x

Anything over 5X then.? Is a superzoom.

Does it really matter? I think we know what Ian was asking - or have I got it wrong Ian?

No it doesn't really matter but just wondering.
Ian didn't use the term but you did actually and my question was therefore somewhat directed at you.

I've used the Sigma 100-300 and that was a very fast lens to focus, if it works well with a 1.4x converter that one would be great as well although i'm talking in a very different price range now...

No not at all Carl let me clarify what Im asking is what lens would members recomend to get the shots I missed with the 70/300 not being able to cover the range needed. Lets not get boged down in technical jargon.

Hi Stefan - I think you must have missed the title of Ian's thread
and that 100-300 is definatley on my "one day" list

Carl

It's on mine too, i thought the DA*60-250 would be able to stand up against it but the IQ of the Sigma is better, the Bokeh is smoother and it focus 4 times as fast, only the build quality is slightly less.
I wonder how the Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 will be...

But those are not super zooms though

As for other zooms longer then 300mm there is only a short list.
Sigma has the 120-400, 150-500 and the 50-500 so pick one of the three, although maybe the Sigma 100-300 might stand up to some cropping.
Tamron has a 200-500 which is pretty good but they don't make them in K-mount

Will try to see if i've some images with the sigma 100-300 to show on here.

A "Super Zoom" is generally one which covers all eventualities from wide angle to telephoto. An example would be 18-250mm, 18-270mm, and so on.

Quality can be pretty good, although it may not measure too well technically, but maximum aperture will certainly suffer.

Well I've recently acquired the Sigma 150-500mm and good as it appears to be I wouldn't want to be pointing at the sky for long. It's blooming heavy!

Nwver realy thought about the wait and support needed but with spinal damage it looks like I will also have to take this point into consideration as well. Thanks for the feed back so far guys.
Ian

That would be good Stefan if you have also photos using the 1.4 converter attached to the lens.
Ian