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09-16-2012, 12:20 PM   #16
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QuoteOriginally posted by rvannatta Quote
Amen. I've never seen a lot of value in the a400f5.6 as I see it too slow for an extender.
Some of us make do. Not that I don't dream of an A400/2.8...

09-16-2012, 01:09 PM   #17
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QuoteOriginally posted by Pål Jensen Quote
But the FA*600 weights more than twice as much. If I didn't already own one I would have gone for the 560....
The weight is an issue all right, but earlier this week I went out on a seagull shoot with by 600/f4. I took about a 1000 photos
over a period of several hours. With a gimbal head on a large tripod, I felt that I had good success. I even worked on birds in fliglht
and had resasonable success. With the gimbal I was able to balance the lense so it was pretty neutral, and set the swing and
elevation to a little drag, and shot freely and rapidly.




I'm not quite sure what the right of way rules are for seagulls.
09-16-2012, 01:53 PM   #18
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QuoteOriginally posted by baro-nite Quote
Some of us make do. Not that I don't dream of an A400/2.8...
the first long lens I ever owned was a slow 400. --- oneof those f6.3's that sold out of a small ad in back of pop-photograph--
preset with a T mount that I bught 45 years ago for probably $50. or so. I rarely used it because it simply wasn't fast enough
to be very usable.---profoundly when 'hi-speed' Ektachrome was ISO 160. Years later I got a Sigma 400-f/5.6 new enought to have AF.
but again, I never used it. I got it about the same time as I got my first Pentax exotic---- an A300/f2.8---and I've alrady told you which one
I didn't use.

I was very reluctant to buy the A400/2.8 after my dismal experiences with the first 2 400's I'd owned but the
A400/2.8 is a different animal.---not one that you want to take on long hiking trips, but it does the job, and with a converter reaches out there.
Moreover, unlike ethe 600's, it meets the size specs as carry on airline luggage.
09-16-2012, 03:03 PM   #19
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QuoteOriginally posted by rvannatta Quote
The weight is an issue all right, but earlier this week I went out on a seagull shoot with by 600/f4. I took about a 1000 photos
over a period of several hours. With a gimbal head on a large tripod, I felt that I had good success. I even worked on birds in fliglht
and had resasonable success. With the gimbal I was able to balance the lense so it was pretty neutral, and set the swing and
elevation to a little drag, and shot freely and rapidly.:

But you need to transport the lens to where the action is. It is not always close to roads. Also at 3kg you can handhold the lens. I shoot most of my images with the 600 semi-handheld; that means I support to my inflatable boat or to mother earth. This is no problem; in normal daylight I crank up the ISO to 400 and that with the SR ensure sharp images. In fact, they are tack sharp!

09-16-2012, 04:20 PM   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by rvannatta Quote
Amen. I've never seen a lot of value in the a400f5.6 as I see it too slow for an extender. OTOH the a400/2.8 is a dream of a lens.
It's fast enough to use any extender you want or even stack them, I used to have the a400-2/.8 and the a600-5.6 and the latter
was a real disappointment. --- not for its optical quality, but because teh 400 and a couple of converters would provide a variety
of choices of different focal lengths and it was still there if the light went low.
Have you actually used the A 400/5.6? It was optically improved over the M 400/5.6. The biggest issue with it was keeping a fast enough shutter speed of 1/400 or better OR a tripod.
09-17-2012, 09:35 AM   #21
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What is there to compare? The Pentax 560mm is simply too expensive, too long size wise and too slow in maximum aperture. One can buy the excellent Sigma 500mm f/4.5 for less, new and easily available. One can also use another brand and use original or third party long teles for a whole lot less. The 560mm is a non-starter and will be a commercial flop.
09-17-2012, 09:57 AM   #22
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QuoteOriginally posted by creampuff Quote
What is there to compare? The Pentax 560mm is simply too expensive, too long size wise and too slow in maximum aperture. One can buy the excellent Sigma 500mm f/4.5 for less, new and easily available. One can also use another brand and use original or third party long teles for a whole lot less. The 560mm is a non-starter and will be a commercial flop.
I hate to agree, but I've been waiting to see how this played out, I was thinking up to 3.5 K, I might be able to scrape up the coin. The price made me wish I hadn't waited. I'd already decided the Sigma 500 4.5 was more than I wanted to pay.. back to the drawing board. Sigma 300 w/ TC? The options are getting thin.

09-17-2012, 10:01 AM   #23
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QuoteOriginally posted by creampuff Quote
One can buy the excellent Sigma 500mm f/4.5 for less, new and easily available.
For how long? The latest version isn't made in Pentax mount...
09-17-2012, 12:02 PM   #24
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QuoteOriginally posted by Pål Jensen Quote
Well, Pentax is going to make 400 units a month according to their web site....they must expect someone to buy it
You must remember that the dollar have become almost worthless since the FA* days...
I think you may want to recheck that "400 a month"...i believe the quote was something to the effect that they had the capacity to produce 400/month, or thereabouts.

Do you honestly think that Pentax will sell 400 lenses that cost $7000 IN A MONTH? I have my doubts whether 400 total will be sold.
09-17-2012, 12:02 PM   #25
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Apparently, they don't have a working proto-type at the Show for people to try.

QuoteQuote:
All of Pentax's new products, with the exception of the 560mm, which was only demonstrated upon request, were readily available for us to test and photograph.
09-17-2012, 03:01 PM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by boriscleto Quote
For how long? The latest version isn't made in Pentax mount...
Huh? Just to be sure, I just looked at the Sigma site and the 500 4.5 is in fact shown as available in Pentax mount. This is the first time I've heard this.
09-17-2012, 03:07 PM   #27
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Well down to the money I can buy about my whole photoset. This one is just to long for what I'm doing at the time.
09-17-2012, 03:19 PM   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by stormtech Quote
Huh? Just to be sure, I just looked at the Sigma site and the 500 4.5 is in fact shown as available in Pentax mount. This is the first time I've heard this.
The specifications show it available for Sony & Pentax, but the pop-up menu only has Sigma, Canon & Nikon

Name:  Screen Shot 2012-09-17 at 6.16.56 PM.png
Views: 542
Size:  159.9 KB

Note that the Pentax version lacks HSM.

Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX DG APO Autofocus Lens for Pentax AF 184109

Last edited by boriscleto; 09-17-2012 at 03:25 PM.
09-17-2012, 03:47 PM   #29
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I was also waiting for that DA560mm, i still would like to have one, the price and the MFD are not what i was hoping for. The long MFD is probably due to the telescope design.

I will continue to use my Pentax-67 M*400mm/4, not a bad lens
09-17-2012, 03:57 PM   #30
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QuoteOriginally posted by boriscleto Quote
The specifications show it available for Sony & Pentax, but the pop-up menu only has Sigma, Canon & Nikon

Attachment 140838

Note that the Pentax version lacks HSM.

Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX DG APO Autofocus Lens for Pentax AF 184109
I stand corrected! Thanks for pointing that out. Now what worries me......I can nowhere near afford one of these right now, but it is one of those lenses I dream of having some day, and sometimes that dream will materialize. Now I get to wondering if I would even be able to buy one if I wanted at a later date if they stopped making them..........
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