Would I ever! Very kind offer and thanks very much

Mat

Thanks Don that's useful stuff (especially the bit about whisky...). It looks like it could be quite a rigmarole, but then equally I reckon I could get some really great pictures! Nothing ventured...

Regards

Mat

Hello all, I hope I am putting this thread in the right place... I don't have a problem (yet at least) but am looking for tips. Next year I am off to Colorado for some ski fun in the Rockies and, having been there before, I know there are some incredible views and other things which would make excellent subjects. I am also (I think/hope) competent enough on a snowbaord now to not have to worry (much:shock about falling over and splatting everything in my back-pack. So I am thinking this year that I might take along my camera. However, I am concerned at how it might handle the potentially very cold temperatures and whether anyone has taken their cameras into some place very cold and what measures they took to protect it...

I have a K-7 and would take only a couple of lenses - probably DA* 16-50 (for landscape) and maybe sigma 70-300mm (for action). I would anticipate getting a small(ish) padded camera bag to go into my back-pack which would hold the camera + spare lens and maybe put a hand warmer pad (or similar) in there with the camera to try and stop it getting freezing cold. However, I have been in the Rockies before at sub-minus-20 temperatures and am am certain this is well below the design envelope of the camera and kit. I would also be concerned about it getting cold/wet and then getting condensation or similar...

Any tips appreciated!

Many thanks

Mat W

Really fantastic pictures!! best moon-shots I have seen. Nice one

Mat

I'll have a go. I was out looking for bricks for the weekly comp yesterday and I came upon this... 'hello...' I thought so here's my offering of a rather splendid bench in Richmond park:




Exif data:

Pentax K-7 with 16-50mm DA* lens
1/10th second
f13
focal length 16mm
Aperture priority
ISO 400
Date and time: 2009:11:28 14.14.56Z (although actually 13.14.56Z as I haven't changed my camera since the clocks changed...)

There's a lovely view all the way out to Windsor from this bench, so I was getting a few quizzical looks snapping the bench rather than the view

Regards

Mat

I agree - an excellent shot! what lens did you use... was it the 90mm tamron?

Mat

What about the DA* 300mm f4 prime lens - I love mine and whenever I see pictures taken with one of them the quality of the lens seems to show... Mind you, it won't add any further reach than you have already with the 55-300..., although it is weatherproof. might be worth a look? Should be able to get a second hand one and still have some change for something else (maybe a teleconverter).

Regards

Mat

That's right, the pentax version does not have the optical stabilisation in the lens because the pentax digital bodies (certainly the K10/20/7) have the shake reduction built in. I think that makes the pentax fit variant a little cheaper (although I could be wrong)...

Mat

I have to agree - simply magnificent. I love the shot of the chap walking across the log with all the straight trees tapering in the background, and the gulls staring at the camera... but I would be so proud (and frankly amazed) to have taken any of these!

Mat

Hello all. I have a sigma 120-400mm lens and I think it's pretty good. I must confess that I have not used it that much, mainly because I tend to travel around on a pushbike and although the 120-400 is smaller than a bigma or a 150-500, it is still quite a lump to lug around..., and I also managed to get hold of a DA*300mm for a bit of a steal and have been so enamoured with that I tend to take that around given the choice.

I haven't tried it with a teleconverter although I have half a mind to get hold of a 1.4x to see what it is like - I understand that the autofocus will not work with a teleconverter fitted. I like the fact that it is a 77mm thread on the front as I have three other lenses that size so no need to buy a new suite of filters. I also have a (very cheap) sigma 70-300mm and I reckon on the whole that the 120-400mm is perhaps a little sharper at 400mm than that is at 300mm.

I saw an article recently in Digital camera magazine (autumn 09 edition) which compared 8 'super-telephoto' lenses and the 120-400mm was their 'winner' (beating the 50-500mm, the 150-500mm, and tokina, tamron, nikon, olympus and canon lenses) although the example on test was not the pentax variant, rather a version with built in optical stabilisation - the pentax one not requiring because of the stabilisation built into the pentax bodies.

Here are a few images I have taken with mine:
















The first four of these are all at 400mm, the first three hand-held. The fourth (the boat sailing in front of the isle of wight) is 400mm from a tripod, and the final image (the mallard) is at 270mm. I tend to find I generally use the lens at 400mm. These were all taken earlier this year when I was not very au-fait with photoshop elements (I still only manage the basics:shock so I don't think there's been a great deal of post processing - mainly just a bit of a tweak and a crop. All were taken on the K10d, although the lens works fine on the k7. The HSM is very quiet and not too sluggish...

Don't know if that helps - hope so. I really ought to make a resolution to take mine out more

Regards

Mat