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Which Telezoom ??

Anonymous
Posted 25/10/2004 - 18:40 Link
Hi folks,

I've looking to purchase a consumer Telezoom for my *ist. The current shortlist is....

Pentax 80-320 f4.5-5.6 FA Zoom
Pentax 75-300 f4.5-5.6 FAJ Zoom
Sigma 70-300 f4-5.6 Macro Super II (probably APO version rather than DL)

Has anybody got had any experiences (good or bad !) with the above, or can provide a recommendation ?

Cheers

Morning Glory
johnriley
Posted 25/10/2004 - 19:15 Link
I would suggest the Pentax lenses will be a better bet, which eliminates the Sigma.

The FA-J zoom has no aperture ring, so aperture must be controlled by the camera. If the camera body enables this, fine, otherwise this will eliminate this one.

The FA zoom should be fully useable on Pentaxes of all ages, so this might be the most versatile choice from that point of view.

Otherwise, I would expect a similar performance level in all these lenses.
Best regards, John
Anonymous
Posted 11/11/2004 - 03:58 Link
The Sigma isn't that bad - perhaps you'll give it a try (esp. if you find the APO-version).
But as been said: Avoid the FAJ-lens. The 80-320 should be much better (although above ~240mm it's getting soft)
Paul
George Lazarette
Posted 11/11/2004 - 21:15 Link
I fear you might regret buying any of these lenses.

All else being equal, the greater the zoom range, the greater the fall-off in quality.

I would recommend an F 70-210 f4-5.6 and the best 300mm prime you can afford. Both second-hand. I am assuming that (like most of us) you are not made of money.

George
Stephen
Posted 12/11/2004 - 10:26 Link
I find myself agreeing with George on this. I have the 80-320 Pentax but despite its undoubted versatility the 70-210 comes out of my gadget bag more often. For focal lengths of 300mm upwards I tend to use prime lenses (picked up a Pentax-M 300* cheaply from Ebay - stunning lens)
Stephen
mattie
Posted 12/11/2004 - 10:43 Link
George Lazarette wrote:
I fear you might regret buying any of these lenses.

All else being equal, the greater the zoom range, the greater the fall-off in quality.

I would recommend an F 70-210 f4-5.6 and the best 300mm prime you can afford. Both second-hand. I am assuming that (like most of us) you are not made of money.

George

Along with Stephen, I'd agree with this.

Am I right in thinking the 70-210 has low dispersion elements? It's certainly very well thought of.

Matt
George Lazarette
Posted 12/11/2004 - 12:43 Link
Mattie,

Pentax don't mention LD glass in their blurb, but the lens is widely reputed to contain such glass, not least by Boz, who describes it as an ED lens.

G
MattMatic
Posted 12/11/2004 - 14:01 Link
I'd agree about the SMC-F 70-210.
A wonderful lens, very contrasty with great detail. (Picked mine up along with an SMC-F 37-70 which is really quite good too!)

Matt
http://www.mattmatic.co.uk
(For gallery, tips and links)

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