[TOUGEFC]

The street price I get for the Nikkor 500mm is $7739AUD so not too much different.
But I dont think 60mm difference in that focal range isnt much of a differnce?

[Mrpentax]

I could be wrong here but the 7k offering of this Lens seem reasonable to compared to other lens systems out there. I have seen Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM (used on a fullframe mount) advertised on Australia Website for around 13k. When you look at the conversion on my K5 that is about 840mm lens. You do the maths. I would love to see a review comparing the New Pentax DA560 to the Canon's or Nikons. I guess you can use a Teleconverter on a 500mm sigma....but doesn't this degrade image quality. Something to think about.

[Docrwm]

It will have a large enough image circle (according to Falk Lumo any lens with a FL several times greater than the required image circle will do so) but the questions are whether or not the optical quality is reasonably good out at the edges of the FF circle, and whether or not it is an entirely moot point given the current lack of a Pentax FF DSLR option.

I think that as usual many posters have seized on the negatives without pausing to look for positives. Sure I was surprised at the price, and I won't be buying one, but not because I think USD7000 is necessarily unreasonable for this lens. Of course we have to wait to see how it performs optically, but if it turns out to be superb, in the best Pentax tradition of *-grade supertelephotos, it is an intriguing offering. For one thing, in classic Pentax fashion there is no other manufacturer with a similar lens. The most similar option I can find is the Canon 400/4 plus 1.4x TC, a combination costing nearly as much. Optical performance being more or less equal I'd certainly rather have a 400/4 with matched TCs, especially given the oddly unweildy length of the DA 560, but if (and it's a big if) the DA 560 is a winner optically then I say good for Pentax.

How noisy is the DC motor going to be, though? That's important for wildlife photography, the main market niche for this lens.

DC motors in the 18-135 are silent, I would expect the same in the DA560.

[robtcorl]

$7,000 divided by 24 = $291.66

How about 24 members putting op $291.66 to buy one, then each gets to use it for one month, every 2 years.

Nah, for long shots I'll just keep cropping the 300mm end of my 55-300.
But I would like to shoot with that beast, even if only for one day.

[rawr]

The street price I get for the Nikkor 500mm is $7739AUD

Is that a grey import? The closest non-grey I can see is about $9800 AUD.
I wouldn't buy a lens like that grey

[baro-nite]

You do the maths.

You could also mount that Canon 800/5.6 on a Canon APS-C body, with 1.6 crop, for an even smaller angle of view. An 800/5.6 lens is an 800/5.6 lens, and not a good comparison with the DA 560. An 800/8, maybe.

[Skog]

The dc motor is a huge plus, and with wr I got all I wanted (exept f4). Dc motor in the 18-135 is dead silent and feels much quicker then sdm. Now price will decide. It HAS to be quite a bit cheaper then the sigma 4,5 to be a viable option.

[Docrwm]

The dc motor is a huge plus, and with wr I got all I wanted (exept f4). Dc motor in the 18-135 is dead silent and feels much quicker then sdm. Now price will decide. It HAS to be quite a bit cheaper then the sigma 4,5 to be a viable option.

Sadly, B&H has it listed for $6999.95.
Pentax DA 560mm f/5.6 ED AW Lens B&H Photo Video

[Mrpentax]

You could also mount that Canon 800/5.6 on a Canon APS-C body, with 1.6 crop, for an even smaller angle of view. An 800/5.6 lens is an 800/5.6 lens, and not a good comparison with the DA 560. An 800/8, maybe.

That is true that you can mount the Canon 800/5.6 body on a cropped sensor (that still doesn't discount the price of 13k)....maybe fairer to compare a 500mm or 600 mm on a Cropped body. The pentax is still competitive with the 500 and 600 Canon primes.