I managed to acquire one of the Amazon DA*300 lenses at the special price they were selling for a couple of weeks back. The lens is absolutely brand new and has only been on my K-3 once to test that it works and that focus is calibrated correctly, both of which I can confirm are the case. It comes wrapped in its original packaging, with all associated documents, soft case and box. I was planning to keep it but my discretion has got the better of me so I am willing to sell to someone on the Forum for the price I paid, subject to the buyer paying postage costs. This means £639.99 plus postage.

If it doesn't sell it will either go on ebay, where I would expect to turn a profit, or it will go back to Amazon.

Anyone that is interested, please PM me, no silly offers please below what it cost as I won't entertain them.

Regards
David

Thanks for the feedback Nigel, it's always appreciated. I agree with you about the 'natural landing supports', I always prefer this too, the only trouble is that sometimes it's impossible to get the shot you really want. The Bullfinch is a case in point, the only time it came close enough for a decent shot was when it landed on the wire and I got a good sharp image of it there, so this has to make do.

Regarding the Blue Tit, I only got 5 shots of this bird and all of the others have blurring due the bird's movement, so again this was the best one. The shutter speed on these shots was pretty low, between 1/60th and 1/200th of a second, so subject movement (and camera movement for that matter) is always a risk. I seem to have got quite good at holding the camera steady but I can't stop the birds moving yet!

Regards
David

A lovely set of images, it's difficult to pick a favourite, but I rather like number 6.

Regards
David

I didn't know they flowered either John! It's quite a nice flower too, shown off well with the nice dark background. A successful shot I would say.

Regards
David

Looks great Nigel, very sharp and clean with great colours and plenty for the eye to explore.

Regards
David

Cheers Jim, much appreciated

Best wishes
David

The Sigma TC's are not better than the Pentax 1.4 TC, they will not be any more effective with your 55-300 than the Pentax one will. The problem is not with the TC, it is due to the reduction in light transmission which affects the ability of the AF to focus quickly / accurately and will be the same with any TC.

I can recommend the Pentax 1.4 TC without hesitation, but only if you have the right glass to partner it. I would not buy it if I were you, unless you plan to upgrade your 55-300 to a zoom with constant F4 aperture at worst, or better a constant F2.8. Alternatively, as Bill says, it is superb with a DA*300.

Regards
David

Great shots Peter, both you and the camera seem to have performed well here!

Regards
David

Hi all, thanks very much for the great comments. I love your humour Stuey!

Regarding the way they present on the Forum:

I agree in part, although there seems to be a big difference based on the Browser and resolution the Forum is viewed at. My biggest gripe is the image sizes, on click through they are much better in the new Gallery than they are on the Forum, but at least they are retaining their true colour and contrast now, which wasn't so in the past.

I would go stronger than that about the DA*300/1.4TC combination, I would say it is stellar in IQ terms and also pretty darned good for AF. There can be a tendency to hunt a little in AF and I find it works better for me in AF-S than AF-C, but once it locks on it's usually right. The beauty for me with this combination is the ability to use it wide open and get sharp results, all of these were at F5.6 I think, which is widest effective aperture available with the TC attached. It's also very usable without a camera support; all of these were hand held at shutter speeds between 1/60 and 1/250. I guess this also speaks volumes for the in-body stabilisation.

Regards
David

It's not a question of whether the K-3 is entry-level or not, it's a question of differences in the metering between cameras of the same model. The metering on my K-3 is superb, very accurate and reliable. I use it extensively, but yes, I am one of those people who is quite capable of shooting in total manual, no metering or AF and yes I can get great results like that. The point is I don't want to, the camera is faster to use when some of the automatic capabilities are utilised, like AF and metering.

Alan (Blythman) says his K-3 requires up to +1Ev to get a decent exposure, whereas his K-5 is used with a minus Ev adjustment. I don't have this problem with mine, I get consistent and comparable exposures with those I get on my K-5iis, so this makes it easier for me 'in the field' so to speak.

I don't think the thread misses the point at all, I think we are debating precisely what the issue is.

Regards
David