[photolady95]

ou want cheap, light, and sharp at 300mm

That's it in a nutshell. But I don't want an older manual lenses either. It has to have the ability to AF.

[Laurentiu Cristofor]

I shoot manual everything. I don't like AF because sometimes it takes too long to find the focus, and shooting butterflies, bees, dragon flies, etc, they're long gone by the time the camera gets the focus right.

Yes, MF is the way to go for such small subjects. I also found that the rotating front element is very helpful, because I can hold the lens by the hood and focus by rotating the hood. Holding the lens by its front is more stable than if I hold it by the focusing ring. I expect your Sigma also has a rotating front element.

I missed the focus on the dogs eyes because I was focusing on his nose, not his face.

I was talking about the butterfly shot. I thought you were talking about that one too. It looks to me like the focus in that shot is somewhere on the left wing, behind the butterfly's head.

sample 2 = tammy.

Good catch. What gave it away - the fine detail on the back of the dragonfly or the slight PF in the same area? And what about the Sigma? Can you figure that one too?

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Unfortunately, prioritising cheap and light construction is usually not giving you a sharp lens.
If image quality on a budget is the goal I'd suppport the advice to go for a K300/4, but it is heavy compared to plastic budget zooms from the 90's. And you will need extension tubes to shoot macro with it.

Among Pentax budget zooms that reach 300'ish mm, the DA55-300 is by far superior, the others aren't really worth owning. It's actually a small miracle that the DA55-300 is that good for those money.

The Tamron has low contrast at 300 (can to some degree be post processed), but it has a 1:2 macro reach that you might like.

[Frogfish]

Frogfish, is this the one you're talking about:

70-300 F4-5.6 TAMRON LD DI TELE-MACRO BLACK (62) (A17) 35MM SLR AUTO FOCUS ZOOM TELEPHOTO LENS

That's the one.

At KEH

Pentax Autofocus 70-300 F4-5.6 TAMRON LD DI TELE-MACRO BLACK (62) (A17) WITH CAPS 35MM SLR AUTO FOCUS ZOOM TELEPHOTO LENS - KEH.com

Tamron USA (currently offering US$50 off new)

AF70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di LD Macro Zoom; Tamron USA, Inc.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

You want cheap, light, and sharp at 300mm. That's a tough one. How about a Tamron sp 300mm f5.6?

That is actually a good suggestion. But you need to tell the lady a bit more about that lens. Tamron SP Adaptall-2 300mm F/5.6 Model 54B
Though not large, due to it's all metal construction it is still some 600g.

[Frogfish]

The lady has said multiple times she doesn't want heavy !

[sjwaldron]

The lady has said multiple times she doesn't want heavy !

Yeah, I think this is kind of an impossible request. A 300mm focal length will always be a certain length whether it's a zoom or not. It's just that zooms have multiple barrels and are generally cheaper materials and slower by having less glass (hence lighter in weight).

So basically:
- Plastic construction
- 300mm
- good resolution
- has the ability to AF
- budget

The only lens even remotely close is the Pentax DA 55-300mm.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Yeah, I think this is kind of an impossible request. A 300mm focal length will always be a certain length whether it's a zoom or not. It's just that zooms have multiple barrels and are generally cheaper materials and slower by having less glass (hence lighter in weight).

So basically:
- Plastic construction
- 300mm
- good resolution
- has the ability to AF
- budget

The only lens even remotely close is the Pentax DA 55-300mm.

Good summary! But then again, the lady says that it is out of her budget. So there is no lens that live up to all of this.

[yeatzee]

Good catch. What gave it away - the fine detail on the back of the dragonfly or the slight PF in the same area? And what about the Sigma? Can you figure that one too?

the large gap in apparent IQ even at that small size.....

[civiletti]

The lady has said multiple times she doesn't want heavy !

As is often the case with ladies, she wants a combination of attributes that does not exist on this planet. [I am in trouble if my wife sees this.]


BTW, the heavy, manual focusing Tamron sp 300mm is quite good at close range.

[Laurentiu Cristofor]

Among Pentax budget zooms that reach 300'ish mm, the DA55-300 is by far superior, the others aren't really worth owning.

That's harsh. I didn't notice such a big difference between the DA 55-300 and the FA 100-300/4.7-5.8. Here are 5 images from the FA - click right to see them.

the large gap in apparent IQ even at that small size.....

Yes, it's similar in this respect to the DA50-200@200mm, although I think the Tamron is a bit more useful because of the higher magnification it gets.

For the other two: sample 1 is from Sigma 105 and sample 3 is from Tamron SP adaptall 300/5.6.

@photolady: Note that the Tamron is also available as a rebadged Quantaray.

There is also a new Tamron 70-300 that is an SP version. It was awarded European Zoom Lens award by EISA with the mention "Its greatest asset is the razor-sharp image quality that makes full-frame photos look like medium-format images". Sounds promising.

[photolady95]

What does the SP stand for?

[boriscleto]

@photolady: Note that the Tamron is also available as a rebadged Quantaray.

There are also Quantarays that are rebadged Sigmas.

There is also a new Tamron 70-300 that is an SP version. It was awarded European Zoom Lens award by EISA with the mention "Its greatest asset is the razor-sharp image quality that makes full-frame photos look like medium-format images". Sounds promising.

Doesn't come in Pentax mount. Canon, Nikon, Sony only.

Lens Test: Tamron SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DIVC USD AF

[boriscleto]

What does the SP stand for?

"Super Performance"

Tamron's "SP" designation stands for "Super Performance". Tamron's original SP symbol is shown above left. Tamron's current SP symbol is shown to the right of the original symbol. In the past, Tamron's lenses received the SP designation for any of or a combination of the following reasons:

Superior sharpness and contrast due to an advanced or unique optical design.
Low dispersion element(s) for apochromatic or near apochromatic performance.
Internal focusing (compared to similar lenses of the era).
Superior macro performance (compared to similar lenses of the era).
An exceptional zoom range compared to similar lenses.
A larger maximum aperture compared to similar lenses.

[Laurentiu Cristofor]

There are also Quantarays that are rebadged Sigmas.

I would expect to be able to differentiate them by exterior design. The ones I saw looked very much like the Tamron. I would expect the rebadged Sigmas to look different.

Doesn't come in Pentax mount. Canon, Nikon, Sony only.

It was made available first for Nikon, then for Canon and Sony. I just hope they'll bring it to Pentax as well sometime next year. It seems to get 1:4 magnification at long end, which is decent.