I think that's a great first post on the Forum and very eloquently explained. Hits the nail on the head.

Regards
David

Why do you think the two things are mutually exclusive? There's absolutely no reason why everyone can't strive to capture the image as best they can, then apply processing afterwards.

That's the best quote on this thread so far by a mile! Good on you Stuey, that sums it up for me

Cheers
David

I'll keep an eye on the forum too and will come at short notice if the date is suitable.

Regards
David

These images sparkle - a good sign for the K-1 and this lens if they are anything to go by. Colours and sharpness are really nice.

Regards
David

Thanks to George and Steve also for the informed comments, I know it's 'horses for courses' when it comes to choosing the best lens for the job. If I had more time to justify taking up wildlife photography more seriously no doubt I would be considering a 150-450, but as it is the DA*300 takes some beating for price / performance ratio, especially considering you can buy used examples in fine nick for pretty sensible money.

Regards
David

Thanks for the clarification Nigel, I can see where you are coming from. With the DA*300 we are fortunate to have a lens that produces the smooth out of focus effects without the need to replicate them in post processing, which is important to me. I can see too the possibilities with all manner of processing techniques, but personally I don't have enough time or dedication to apply them!

I am very impressed with the results people have posted from the 150-450 lens, it looks to be an impressive piece of kit, bokeh aside. I would be interested to see your processing efforts to improve the bokeh, but not sure if the forum image size would be big enough to show this to best effect.

Regards
David

Some gorgeous images in this thread....all of the lenses used look pretty stellar, they are so sharp (good light would have helped too I think). I particularly like all of the Damselfly images.

Regards
David

Hi Nigel, appreciate your viewpoint on this, but how do you mask off individual whiskers and hairs? I don't think this technique would work very well on wildlife images?

Regards
David

There's been a small amount of debate on here recently about the Pentax 150-450 lens and how good it is, with some comparisons to the DA*300. I've been a long time supporter of the DA*300, either on its own, or paired with the Pentax 1.4TC and today I brought it out for the first time this year to give it a quick go in the garden (paired with the TC).

After reviewing the images, I was struck by their sharpness and also the lovely smooth out of focus backgrounds. Now the controversial bit comes when I think back to some images posted on here that were shot with the 150-450, which illustrated what might be its' only achilles heel, i.e. the slightly messy bokeh that a couple of people including DrOrloff and myself have noticed.

Here's an example, a picture of our cat Bella, shot with the K-3 at ISO 200, 1/640 second, F6.3:




So, what do you think in terms of the 150-450 vs. the DA*300 & 1.4TC? Which would you choose?

Personally, I'm sticking with the DA*300 and TC, partly on cost grounds, but also for the wonderful smooth bokeh, which for me, is an important ingredient.

Regards
David

I'll add my support to Bill for these images along the same lines as everyone else has already commented. It's refreshing to see something different. It's also nice to see shots with the 55-300, which is a great lens, but often gets forgotten nowadays.

It struck me also that it would be interesting to see some images on a similar theme, but of reflections in the standing water on the beach, then turned upside-down to make it look like sky..............

There's a challenge for you Bill.

Regards
David